Vegan recipe log
Hi all. I cook as often as I can and thought it might be fun to chat about any recipes you’ve tried or would like to try! I’m vegan so anything I post in this thread will be too. Maybe even share snacks or restaurants that are you’ve tried that you’ve liked!
To start is a simple sauce/stir fry recipe I make when I’m pretty tired after a long day:
Spicy salty sweet sauce:
1-2 tbsp gochugaru
1 tbsp white or black rice vinegar
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp agave or maple syrup
1 tsp corn starch
I usually put all of the ingredients together except for the corn starch and then set aside as I do the rest of the prep.
The rest of the recipe is a bit more variable as I have certain ingredients but looks like this:
1 cup cooked white rice OR hand pulled noodles
Noodle recipe:
250g all purpose flour
125 ml water
1/4-1/2 tsp salt
Canola oil
I add the flour, water, and salt to a bowl, mixing with my fingers. It starts to form pretty quickly into a mass. I knead the mass of dough into a ball until uniform. With the large, smooth dough ball I cut it into 8 pieces with a knife, roll them into a sort of prolate spheroid shape, and coat with canola oil. Put the oiled dough shapes into a bowl and cover with a damp towel. Let them rest for about an hour or so.
Heat a pot of water. Flatten the dough pieces into rectangles with a rolling pin. Use the rolling pin (if it’s a thin one, otherwise I use large chopsticks), to press the dough lengthways to create a sort of seam. Hold each end of the dough and slowly pull to stretch. Slap on counter as you pull a few times. Stretch it as long or short as you’d like. On the seam you made with the rolling pin, split the noodle apart so that the noodle is now a large loop. Put into the boiling water and wait roughly a minute /or until it’s floating. Can cook a few noodles at a time, though I usually do one or two and roll/pull while they boil.
With the noodles or rice done or going and the sauce almost ready, start to chop vegetables, maybe a cup or so of 2-3 types. I like Napa cabbage, squash, green onions, bell pepper, and carrots but really get whatever you’d like or have on hand at the time. Sauté the vegetables in a tbsp or so of oil (I use canola or olive), starting with onions/garlic and then adding others as you see fit. Once the vegetables are done to your liking, add the noodles or rice, then the sauce (adding in the corn starch to the sauce at this point) and stir.
Often I’ll actually fry a half block or block of tofu I’ve cubed before adding vegetables into the oil. I usually do this as the noodles (or if I’m doing a pot of rice, as it begins to cook) are about done resting, maybe with 15-20 mins to go, since frying tofu can take awhile.
I like to serve in bowls, topping with a dash of sesame oil, black sesame seeds, and fresh green onion.
I’ll post more recipes in the thread as I make them but this is probably the most frequent thing I make in a given week. Feel free to share your own!
I'll share my super secret pasta sauce recipe because I want my new friends to eat well:
Ultimate Vegan Red Sauce
8 Roma Tomatoes (about 2 lbs/1 kg), or two cans diced tomatoes
1 Poblano Pepper
1 Red Bell Pepper
1/2 sweet onion (or a whole small one)
3 cloves garlic (1Tbsp minced)
1 small bulb Black Garlic (ex: Polar), or 1 Tbsp dried (Trader Joe's)
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Dried Basil or 1/4 cup fresh basil
1/2 black pepper
1/2 tsp or 1/2 cube Better than Bouillon vegetable base or other vegetable bouillon
a pinch of MSG
a pinch of brown sugar
Optional (but recommended) - a block of tempeh, crumbled, beyond beef grounds, or other protein (tofu crumbles should be marinated, or you can add more bouillon)
Roast the poblano, red bell pepper, onion, and tomatoes/garlic (if using fresh) at 205C/400F for 20-30 minutes or until the skin starts to peel off, then peel the skin all the way off. Remove any stems.
While those are roasting, if you're adding tempeh or other protein, fry it up with your oil in the pot you'll be using to cook the sauce in, then deglaze the pan by adding the balsamic vinegar before the rest of the ingredients)
Combine all ingredients, and cook at low temperature for up to an hour, but at least 20 minutes. Mash up the veggie guts with a wooden spoon while stirring every few minutes.
https://imgur.com/a/cPFJYmY some photos! I tempted myself to make it for dinner after making this post. I added some vegan meatballs I picked up to try on sale... they were alright.
Everyone should learn to make homemade humus.
Agreed, here's a "master recipe" I use for mine, with no added flavoring (add what you like)
Hummus
Drain chickpeas (you don't have to be extra about it though) - combine all ingredients and pulse in a blender or food processor until at your preferred consistency (I prefer it a little chunky, so I don't go for a puree)
For flavoring, I've had a few great successes:
Add 1-3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce for a smoky, spicy hummus
Chop up a small or half of a large onion and grill it (with the garlic is good too) for a sweeter, tangier hummus
Blend in 1/4 cup fresh, chopped basil and top with pine nuts for a pesto-esque hummus
If you like your hummus really smooth, you can try skinning the chickpeas before blending - personally I think it takes a lot of work for little reward but to each their own (presentation matters in some circumstances?)
Your recipe looks super tasty! The base looks very similar to ours. Chipotle peppers sound like a great flavoring; I think we’ll try that soon!
Pro tip for the chickpea water: use it to serve as an egg replacement in a lot of vegan baking recipes (Aquafaba)
Yeah, absolutely a great tip! My only problem is I use more chickpeas than baking things that need egg replacement, but every few batches it comes in handy.
Eventually I'll be less lazy about using my instant pot to cook chickpeas from dried, because I've always wondered if that would amp the flavor up even higher.
You can also use aquafaba to make homemade vegan mayo if you have a good hand blender or strong arm. That opens up a whole realm of custom dips and sauces if you want to reuse it in other ways than baking.
Well now I definitely want to try that with Avocado Oil and make a tasty chipotle mayo with it, because every time I make chipotle hummus I have leftover chipotles in adobo I ultimately forget about.
Homemade hummus with freshly cooked chickpeas is as big of a step up from homemade with canned chickpeas as homemade with canned chickpeas is from store bought hummus. It’s sooooo good and only requires you to be home or to remember to start your pressure cooker before you leave for work.
Nice, well I guess I have to give it a shot now. I want to move to dried beans for most things anyway because they simply take up much less space than cans. And I don't have to recycle a bunch of cans, then.
We make loads of hummus. So much better and cheaper than pre packaged!
Did you come up with this recipe yourself? The sauce is almost a typical Korean one, but adding corn starch directly to the sauce is new to me. Normally the sauce is thickened by gochujang. This might be a good solution for my daughter, who likes just a little bit of spicy. I assume you have to cook the sauce before you use it, right?
Ever since a trip to NYC, falafel rice has been a hit at our house. The main ingredients are rice topped with chopped-up falafel, lettuce, tomatoes, and either a yogurt-lemon-garlic or tahini-lemon-garlic sauce. Like bibimbap, you can add other vegetables as well (roasted cauliflower, pickled onions).
It’s a combination of a few online recipes and trial and error. I have a bit of a sensitivity to spice as Ive aged so corn starch helps cut down on the heat. As long as the mixture is added to the stir fry while it’s still hot, it’ll thicken as you continue to stir.
Falafel rice sounds incredible. We often use a tahini-lemon-garlic sauce on bowl dishes or salads but I’ve yet to try making falafel on my own. Would be a great addition!
Vegan Cheese Sauce
We use this sauce on "mac-n-cheez" pasta, with whole wheat pasta, a can of chickpeas, and some frozen green peas cooked with the pasta. Also it's good in casseroles.
We often make a similar sauce. A couple words of warning: 1) Soak the cashews overnight unless you have a really powerful blender. Otherwise you'll have a hard time getting it smooth. 2) Make sure to use an unflavored, unsweetened soy milk. Even a hint of vanilla will make this disgusting. I've even had issues with some "plain" soy milks. Whole Foods plain, unsweetened milk is good.
This sauce works great for a baked mac and cheese. Mix with a chickpea pasta (like Banza), place in a deep, glass baking dish, and top with crushed vegan ritz crackers. Bake until topping gets golden brown.
Here is a low fat version I have enjoyed: https://www.forksoverknives.com/recipes/vegan-sauces-condiments/vegan-potato-cheese-sauce/
This one uses a base of cooked potato which, when blended, turns pleasantly gooey.
I'll share two of my go to recipes :)
Vegan Jalapeño Arrabiata
Punnet of cherry tomatoes
Can of diced tomatoes
Jalapeño
Garlic
Brown onion
Pasta of choice
Salt
Pepper
Balsamic vinegar
Dash of red wine
Olive oil
Dried basil, oregano, ginger, salt, pepper
No quantities or temperatures unfortunately because I just cook with vibes!
Vegan Foul
Can of fava beans
Dried cumin, coriander
Lemon
Garlic
Chili
Toppings:
Tomato
Cucumber
Jalapeños
Green olives
Fresh coriander (or partly if that's your vibe)
Whatever you like!
This is my go to brekky when I have it, super easy and healthy and tasty. The fava beans can be replaced with another type of bean if that's all you've got.
Excellent topic! Maybe we can have a no-stress vegan topic now and then (for a change!).
I'm fairly lazy and usually just cobble together different recipes with whatever's on hand. Here are some I use fairly often:
The One Sauce
Mix up these ingredients in whatever volume you find tasty:
Veganaise
Sauerkraut
Hot sauce
I typically go 2:1 on veganaise and kraut with a bunch of yellowbird sauce or whatever I can find in the fridge. I'll sometimes chop a tomato in there for good measure. If I'm out of kraut I chop a pickle instead. If I'm out of hot sauce I've made do with tomato sauce.
I use this as a dip or topping for potato dishes, beyond burgers, the dry-ass falafel from Costco, and whatever else needs a bit of sauce.
If anyone else got a similar lazy sauce let me know what you use! I eat an unhealthy amount of veganaise :_)
Lazy Dave's Bread Machine Seitan
Just follow this recipe:
https://vegannosh.me/2009/03/15/lazy-daves-5-bread-machine-turkey-flavored-seitan/
I substitute garbanzo flour with almond flour, I guess anything non-glutinous should work? I go nuts with herb selection. I've also tried liquid smoke instead of vegan Wooster, and also made my own Wooster. All is fine and good, it's very forgiving. I even put some black beans in there once.
Vegan Chibata (bread machine dough)
1 1/2 cup water
1 T oil
409g flour (3 1/4 cups)
1 t salt
1 T sugar
1 1/2 t active dry yeast (or bread machine yeast)
Get that into a bread machine on a dough cycle.
Once complete, turn the risen dough onto a floured surface and get it into a rectangular-ish shape. Cover your hands in flour, helps with handling the sticky dough. Cover with cling or a big bowl and let rise again for 20 minutes or so.
Preheat oven 425. Prepare baking tray and parchment.
After second rise divide the dough into 4 squares and lay them on the parchment.
Go nuts with extras on top. I've tried vegan cheese crumbles and slices, scallions, oil, kosher salt, finishing salt. I would recommend at least coarse salt.
Spray the dough with water (important for crunchy crust!). I have small spray bottle to keep the cat away from the counter and crisp dough lol.
Bake for 25 minutes, cool on a rack.
It looks complicated and involved, but it's just a few actual steps, most of it is waiting. Can't keep this one on hand for more than a day, just evaporates into sandwiches or just plain.