What is one of your favourite plant-based dishes?

If someone says they don't like tofu, I make this dish to change their mind. It's great over rice or beside a salad. You can adjust the size of tofu cubes to suit your tastes as well as the heat level. I've sprinkled both sesame seeds or chopped green onions over it and both are great. It's a simple, tasty dish that's really good and people seem to think it's more impressive than it actually is.

Sesame Garlic Tofu

• 1 Block firm or extra firm tofu, drained and pressed
• 3 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1.5 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1/4 c soy sauce
• 1/4 c water
• 1 Tbsp hot honey
• 1-2 tsp sambal oelek depending on your heat preference
• 1 garlic clove; grated, minced or sliced thin
• 1 tsp rice wine vinegar

1. Cube the tofu, toss with 2 Tbsp of cornstarch
2. Heat the sesame oil on medium and fry tofu until it's browned
3. While the tofu browns, whisk together all other ingredients
4. Remove your pan from heat, add the liquid to the tofu and stir immediately until thickened

The first thing that comes to my mind is stir-fried bok choy and shiitake mushrooms. I could be biased because I ate it growing up and it's a somewhat of a "homely" taste to me, but my friends have tasted my very amateur rendering of that dish and they liked it.

IDK what others do for this dish but what I do is quite simple. You need bok choy and mushrooms (obviously), soy sauce, oil (vegetable, olive, canola, whatever), minced garlic, hoisin/oyster sauce, and green onions. You cut the veggies into whatever shape makes sense to you, and throw them into a cooking vessel in the order of oil -> garlic -> bok choy -> mushrooms -> all other condiments -> green onions. Timing almost doesn't matter because it's really hard to fuck this up. For more detailed instructions, you should look it up - I just go by gut most of the time and I have no idea what I'm doing.

Technically a paper plate is a plant based dish. I'll see myself out.

All of the things that I am avoiding eating for the sake of weight loss, obviously.

Carrot cake is the number one thing for me right now. If I were to make some I don't know how I would avoid eating the entire cake.

Asian style curry - particularly Japanese and Thai style - is another really big one. It's not the worst thing but the fat in it is really easy to overconsume.

Right now I'm hungering for some good seitan, which isn't really terrible in and of itself but most of the restaurants that serve it have it in very rich sauces and I have never had luck making it myself.

There's a restaurant near me that has a huge variety of Chinese vegan dishes, but they are positively swimming in oil. I want to eat all of it! Especially their three cup tofu.

Gobi Manchurian cauliflower. Not sure how but wife makes it and it's one of my favorite plant based dishes. First time I had it at a restaurant, thought it was chicken wings. Pairs great with brown rice too!

We love this Herb and Chickpea Stew with Rice. It's easy to make, keeps well in the fridge or freezer, and is a super fresh-tasting stew especially for the warmer months.

OP you can't include "homemade green curry paste" and not gove instructions on how to make it! Please share bc this seems like a good recipe to try at home.

Mine is also a Thai-inspired peanut curry I learned from my dad. I don't have quantities, strictly, butbwill give some measures. As a peanut curry you want an orange/yellow color.

Throw oil into a hot pan, follow with your chosen curry powder, cook til fragrant. Carrots, onions, bell pepper chopped however you want in a pan (I aim for bite sized carrots/pepper, coarse dice on the onions). Once fragrant throw your protein in to cook a bit to brown (I usually use meat, but this works with everything). Pour in one or two cans of coconut milk depending on how much you want. Put in 1/2 cup peanut butter* 1/4 cup hoisin sauce, 1/4 cup sweet chili, and sambal oloek (red pepper paste). Mix to incorporate everything, you want a rich glossy curry that tastes heavily of peanut, but where everything else is there. Obviously salt as needed.

When done, serve over rice.

*On peanut butter, in the US, and I hope Canada, get Skippy or something similar that is just peanuts, oil, sugar and salt. You could even get somethinf like Skippy "No Sugar Added" which just omits the sugar, or whatever simple peanut butter you already know. Same basic rule for other countries.

The flavor base also works as a great spring roll dip. 2 arts peanut butter, 1 part hoisin, 1 part sweet chili. If you go crunchy it adds nice texture. Maybe add a bit of water to thin it out, as you can yank parts out of the spring rolls.

One of the best meals I can think to make is this curry with spring rolls and the previously mentioned sauce.

My way of simple spring rolls, also from my dad just spring mix with matchstick-cut carrots in a wrapper. It just works with that sauce. Just make sure it's a green mix on the darker side, like arugula (rocket elsewhere), spinach, red lettuce. You dont want stemmy letuce like romaine or iceberg.

I love myself a really hearty veggie chili. I adapt mine from this recipe. I use regular ground chili powders and throw in whatever else spices/peppers I have on hand. Top with cheese, avocado, sour cream. Serve with tortilla chips, rice, crusty bread.

We have a weekly staple that we've been doing for a couple of years now, and we never get bored by. It's a Japanese inspired curry that takes me around 45 mins from hunger to table.

Ingredients:

• 1 pack of S&B Golden Curry blocks (or similar, in the UK we have Yutaka Katsu Curry Sauce which I think is just as good)
• 1 large carrot
• 1 medium-large Onion
• 1 Leek
• ~450g mushrooms
• 1 block extra firm tofu (don't bother pressing)
• A handful of frozen spinach (or a couple of handfuls of fresh)
• Rice cooked to preference (we use basmati)

Prep:
Tear up the mushrooms into pieces and add them to a hot pan with a little water and some salt, and cook them until all the initial water and their released water is boiled off. Cut the onions into wedges and add these to the pan with some more salt, and cook until soft. Slice the leek and carrot while these are softening and then add those and cook until the carrots have softened a bit.

Cut the tofu into cubes (or however you like) and add to the pan for a few minutes before adding 700ml of boiling water. Cook until the carrots are as soft as you want them. Now add the block of golden curry and cook until it has dissolved fully and the sauce has thickened to your liking.

Serve with rice.

Zucchini bread, eggplant parmigiana, & chickpea/cucumber salad.

I love this simple salad from the UK author Anna Jones. It has an amazing fresh flavour, and lots of texture. The rice gets cooked 3 times (which ends up being very nutty and crunchy), and the medjool dates bring in a beautiful sweetness and soft compliment to the acid. I first saw Anna's recipe on the Guardian UK website (there is a food column for vegan food). Lots of great recipes on there from Anna, and also Meera Sodha).

KALE, SUMAC and CRISPY RICE SALAD

INGREDIENTS:

● 100g brown basmati rice (uncooked)
● 200g kale
● zest and juice of 1 lemon
● 2 spring onions
● 2 tablespoons oil
● zest and juice of 1 lime
● 1 tablespoon sumac
● 2 tablespoons olive oil
● 1 tablespoon agave
● 6 medjool dates

METHOD:

• Cook the rice in boiling salted water until cooked (about 15 minutes)
• Shred the kale, put leaves in a bowl and add the zest and juice of the lemon and a good pinch of salt. Scrunch up.
• Chop the spring onion, and add to the bowl
• Once the rice is cooked, drain well, then dry fry in a large frying pan for a couple of minutes to get rid of any moisture
• In 2 batches, fry the rice with a little bit of oil until it is crispy. Drain on paper towel, and sprinkle with salt

MAKING THE DRESSING:

• Add zest and juice of lime, sumac, olive oil, agave and a pinch of salt and pepper to small jar. Shake to combine

ASSEMBLE:

Destone and roughly chop the dates and add to the kale. Once the rice is cool, add to the kale mixture, and toss in the dressing.

I have a spin on Ratatouille that I love. I make it "dry" with whole tomatoes, no extra tomato sauce or peeled tomatoes. And I make it in the oven instead of in the pan. It's still not really dry (plenty of liquid in the vegis, plus the oil), but its not a stew.

Just take every vegi that is vaguely mediterran. Any combination of onions, garlic, aubergines, courgettes, peppers, cherry tomatoes; and chop them into large pieces and spread them onto a oven tray. Sprinkle with olive oil, toss on whole branches of rosemary, thyme, sage, basil and lavender (or any subset). Salt, pepper, some sugar. Oven as hot as it goes, bake until things turn golden.

Goes classically with bread (if you can get good baguette) but rice or potato wedges (on the same tray) also work really well.

Some of the eternal low-to-medium effort favorites in our plant based household: Garam Masala, Cauliflower Buffalo wings, Lentil lasagna and various fried tofu dishes with veggie rice (roasted veggies mixed with usually brown rice).

A basic veggie noodle stir fry using shredded tofu noodles (not the shirataki tofu noodles, that's different). I love shredded tofu strands, they're so delicious! (https://omnivorescookbook.com/sliced-tofu-salad/ as an example of what I mean)

Or meatless Japanese curry with lentils instead of rice.

And not strictly vegetarian, but four seasons beans (干煸四季豆) that's light on the meat is always one of my favorite more-veggies-please meal to order in restaurants. Wonder if a facsimile could be made with the Impossible/Beyond 'meats' out now.

One of my go to vegan dishes is this mushroom and chickpea curry. Button and shiitake mushrooms work well in this. I like to add some garam masala for extra flavor.

Tofu pad thai is really good. Tofu, rice noodles, chopped peanuts, and a sauce that I made from scratch once for the Chef Street Cred™ but just buy in a jar now. It's supposed to include eggs too, but I usually leave them out (I'm not actually vegan, just forgetful).

Tofu doesn't seem to be common in Indian food, but there are a few paneer dishes that are also pretty good with tofu instead of paneer. Tikka masala and saag paneer are the two that come to mind.