We are sort of running out of ideas of what to eat, as new vegans.  Can
anybody tell us what vegan, or at least vegetarian, food they cooked and
ate recently?

63 responses total.

For lunch/supper we had pressure-cooked millet, stir-fried peapods and
new onions from the market with ginger, lettuce with olive oil and vinegar,
and a tablespoon each of brewer's yeast, after reading about folic acid and
deciding we might not be getting enough.  The RDA is 150-200 micrograms
(milligrams?) and the yeast has 300/tablespoon.  Not many other foods have
a lot, beans, nuts, and dark green vegetables are the highest.  Also had
some watermelon from the neighbors (who accidently bought an extra one after
Jim installed his air conditioner in their window).  We were going to have
some black beans cooked a couple of days ago but the power outage got them.
Even 7 hours at 85 is apparently disaster for cooked beans.  

Well, I'm easing towards a near-vegan diet, based on getting a veggie cookbook
that seems to replace meat in each recipe with 2x cheese (restaurant
cookbooks, vegetarian or not, are pretty unhealthy!).  I wouldn't be afraid
to backslide a bit while getting used to it though.  What I have read so far
makes it sound like a lot of work just eating enough to stay healthy. ;)

How much work it is to eat healthy depends mostly on you tastes and 
attitudes toward cooking.  Even in A^2, nothing healthy will be as easy
as ordering pizza, driving through fast food, and opening bags of chips
& bottles of pop.  For weekday lunches, i throw multigrain ingredients
into my bread machine Sunday eveving and buy apples.  It takes about 5
minutes each morning to make a jam sandwich and wash/quarter/core an apple
for lunch.  Breakfast is always a banana and cerial (fairly healthy cold
boxed stuff bought on sale if i'm busy, "home made" oatmeal/wheat bran/
dark brown sugar cooked cerial if i've the time) with skim milk.  Most
of the time, dinner is simple carrot salad, baked spuds, frozen or fresh
veggies (just boiled, nothing clever), brown rice, canned salmon or tuna
with some seasoning, fried eggs, and similar cheap/quick/easy fare.  If
i make something more involved (spaghetti with homemade meat sauce, baked
beans, sauerkraut & sausage, etc.), i make a BIG potfull and eat on it
for a while.  Going vegan wouldn't be much more work for me. 

(This ignores my chocolate desserts, but i don't make them to eat healthy.) 

Walter, FYI, milk, salmon and eggs are not vegan, in fact salmon is also
not vegetarian any more than are pork chops.  (and salmon are not even
vegetarians).  Tonight I pressure cooked kidney beans and barley together,
and also boiled potatoes and added lettuce salad with olive oil and vinegar.
We had leftover millet and peas for lunch and nothing for breakfast (except
Jim may have sneaked a donut at Kiwanis).
There is a vegan picnic tomorrow at the Burns Park Shelter, see the
Observer.  I think you can just show up empty handed and pay $5.  But
I would rather attend Scott's picnic for Clees.  The vegan picnic has
pretty tasty stuff except there is an awful of chili which I find too
hot to eat (Scott's is much milder).  Beans and green vegetables
are very high in folic acid.  I could not stomach another tbsp of 
brewer's yeast, have to find some way to disguise it.

The round steak & spuds i had last night aren't vegetarian, either.  I'm
not a meataholic because i'm not crazy enough about the taste of meat to
put up with the cost and hassles.  Many people i know have assumed that 
"i doesn't eat large amounts of red meat daily" implies "i is a vegetarian 
or vegan" and are quite surprised to learn otherwise.  

Did you really mean that your potatoes are not vegetables?  All of mine are.
Today we had yesterday's leftovers, it is too hot to cook except late at night
when we open the windows.

Sorry to have missed the vegan picnic yesterday. Everything I cook at home
is vegan, but sometimes it's impossible to avoid some cheese or egg at a
restaurant. I don't find that fast food is really fast, in comparison with
what I get at home. Most meals take less than 15 minutes, except for cooking
brown rice, which takes 45 minutes. Try baked potatoes in the microwave, 10-15
minutes, depending on size and number. Turn frequently. ... John Robbins has
some really excellent articles -- his dad was a founder of Baskin-Robbins,
and John was completely horrified at what they were doing to people's health,
to the environment, to the third world. Anyway, he showed that milk is not
needed for calcium, in fact depletes calcium, because of the high protein
content. You don't need milk for health, as population studies clearly show.
I discovered Egg Replacer recently (Ener-G brand at Whole Foods and probably
at Co-op and Arbor Farms) which makes for much better muffins. Soy milk is
fine. I use tofu all the time, but new users have to remember that it doesn't
have much flavor -- you have to add soy sauce or other flavorings to make it
taste like anything. There are a LOT of veggie-burgers on the market, but they
tend to be expensive on a per-serving basis. I especially like Garden Burgers.
If you fry them, be sure to keep the heat down. They're already cooked and
can burn easily. ... A typical vegan meal for me would be brown rice, a veggie
burger, and whatever veggies are in the refrigerator, raw in a salad, or
cooked in a microwave. If the rice is already cooked, that ten minutes at most
to prepare. ... Vitamin B-12 is missing from a vegan diet, and you ought to
take tablets for it. Remember that it is not well-absorbed in tablet form,
so you'll need far more than the MDR. Consider calcium-enriched orange juice
and soy milk. Eat a variety of foods -- veggies, fruit, whole grains, legumes,
and nuts. Try new things. The McDougalls have several cookbooks that are
excellent, in spite of their institutional-looking covers. Enjoy.

Are potatoes vegetarian after about 1.5 hours cooking in beef broth?  I
wouldn't say so, but, not being a vegetarian, i'm really not concerned...

I would call Walter's potatoes ex-vegetarian.
We are also not cooking refined foods (which would be tofu, soy milk), or
foods sold in the store and assembled by someone else out of several
ingredients including lots of salt (veggie burgers).  Orange juice is a
refined food, you lose the fiber and the vitamins are oxidized, so last
winter we bought 10 boxes (40 lb) each of oranges and grapefruits from
teh Western Kiwanis, and we froze strawberries and blueberries and peaches
and stuff.  Juice is a treat but not a frequent part of our diet, as we
still have the teeth to process our own fruits (thought we did freeze
grape juice rather than the whole grapes with seeds and skins).  Most
vegans seem to be cooking stuff that resembles typical American food because
they like familiar things, but I never did do hamburgers so have no need
to try veggie burgers.  Last night we did a pot of rice and a pot of red
lentils with new onions, and picked amaranth from aroudn the tomato plants.
We have learned to cook from friends from other countries and do a lot
of stir-fried vegetables on rice or millet (but frozen vegetables don't
stir fry well), or bean stews (canned and froze tomatoes).
Got to eat a quick breakfast and pack lunch now (a quart of leftovers, it
is much too hot to cook this week except after dark).

The ideal, of course, is to grow your own. Nothing tastes so good as carrots
you pull right out of the ground and eat on the spot. But it always hurts in
the fall to see the number of plots at County Farm where people have raised
their own tomatoes and then left them to rot in the field. Next best option
is to get stuff at the Farmer's Market. I wasn't particularly recommending
tofu, which as an acquired taste, or commercial soy milk. I was just
describing what I eat. There are some vegan frozen pizzas that I sometimes
get, but they're really too expensive and not as good as what I can make at
home. I do get tired of beans. Is there an alternative source of protein, to
balance the protein in grains? Again, my ideal is home grown organic produce
in season, but I'm still a long way from that.

Have you tried chickpeas, blackeyed peas, green lentils, red lentils, green
and yellow split peas, large and small white beans, small and large red beans,
azuki beans, soybeans, mung beans, black beans, yellow beans (from Kroger's),
assorted Indian small lentils and small chickpeas, fava beans, black soy beans
(Chinese), bean sprouts, lima beans.....  Much greater variety of beans than
there is of protein sources for carnivores.  Peanuts, tahini, cashews, Brazil
nuts, almonds....  Grains have lots of protein even without being balanced,
especially rice does.  Grains are also balanced by vegetable protein such as
brocolli.  We eat beans every other day or so.  You can add paprika and onions
and olive oil and tomatoes, or Indian spices, etc.  Potatoes and carrots and
onions and garlic.  Pickled turnips (Chinese).  Zaatar (Lebanese).  Stir fried
cabbage with peanuts on millet is good.  Potatoes that are cooked and then
peeled are high in protein (but missing some vitamins).

Yes to all of those, with the exception of a couple of the more exotic ones.
I generally use tahini in hummus, although sometimes use it straight. Have
you tried Anasazi beans, an ancient native American bean from the Southwest?
A particularly good flavor. Had mung beans with rice last night, first time
I'd tried them without sprouting. Okay just as beans. Try almond butter in
dishes that call for peanut butter -- one person at a co-op house made gado
gado sauce with almond butter and I fell in love with it. I like cashews
better than peanuts and have almost used up a bag I got to put in pesto when
I couldn't find any pine nuts. I generally eat the potato peels -- seems a
waste to throw them out. I like brocolli and the other crucifers but hadn't
thought of them as protein sources. ... Sorry, but I'm making myself hungry.
Probably chickpeas on pita for supper.

The potato skins contain something called solanin which is not good for you,
and since the protein and vitamins are just under the skin not in it, there
is little to lose by peeling after boiling.  Baking potatoes seem to have
less solanin (which is bitter).  Bad for the liver.  Fireside Store on Huron
just west of the railroad bridge has a large selection of nuts in bulk, and
often cashew pieces, raw, relatively cheap.  Also almonds, peanuts.  We use
the whole nut in stir-fries, in fact we try to use everything whole.
There was agood new library book on vegetarianism for beginners which
explained which foods lack which amino acids, and crucifers compliment
grains.  Have you tried millet, quinoa, amaranth seeds, teff, boiled wheat,
homemade tortillas, cracked rye cereal, baked oatcakes?

This is the time for salads. I had a wonderful ripe organic tomato, with whole
wheat pasta and some herbs -- oregano, mind, and chives were overrunning my
garden and were especially good. Soup for lunch was corn, cut from an ear
leftover from last night, a slice of onion, browned first, croutons from whole
wheat bread that was stale. Grex picnic yesterday had a couple of really
wonderful dishes ... I hope the cooks will pass along the recipes.

Oh yes!  Especially Mary's fruit and greens with toasted almonds!!  It was
divine!

At a recent potluck (which took precedence over the grex picnic) someone
brought in barbecued tofu 'ribs', which had a very dry and tough texture and
reminded people of ribs.  ANy idea how they got the texture?  Freezing,
baking?   We had pressure-cooked azuki beans on whole wheat noodles with olive
oil and cucumber salad.  The tomatoes at the market Saturday did not look ripe
to me.  To the potluck I brought zucchini, peapods, dried reconsistuted
shiitakes, and some flat squares of rice noodles that curled up when boiled.
Went well with all the mainly noodle dishes.

Freezing tofu and thawing gives it a somewhat rubbery texture, which is good
for some things. Try slicing it and browning (with oil and soy sauce) under
the broiler. Use a barbecue sauce, your own choice. At Corntree Co-op, where
I had dinner a few weeks ago, someone used gado gado sauce (see Moosewood
Cookbook for recipe), made with almond butter instead of peanut butter.
Incredibly good.

I'm glad you liked the salad.  Here is the recipe:


                            Tossed Apple Salad


  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
  20      ounces        romaine lettuce
   4      large         apples -- coursely chopped
   1 1/2  Tablespoons   lemon juice -- (1 whole lemon)
  15      ounces        mandarin oranges -- drained
   8      ounces        canned pineapple chunks -- drained
   1      cup           dried cherries
   2                    kiwi fruit -- peeled and chopped
   1      cup           sliced almonds -- toasted
     1/3  cup           red wine vinegar
     2/3  cup           canola oil
     2/3  cup           sugar
   1      teaspoon      celery seed
   1      teaspoon      salt
   1      teaspoon      dry mustard
   1      teaspoon      onion powder

Whisk together the vinegar, oil, sugar, celery seed, salt, dry mustard and
onion powder.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Chop the apples
and immediately toss them with the lemon juice to keep them from turning
brown.  Cut each pineapple chunk in half.  In a large bowl layer the
ingredients starting with the lettuce, then the apples, mandarin oranges,
pineapple, dried cherries, almonds, and kiwi.  Just before serving pour
the dressing over and toss.

                   - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

NOTES : Two 10 ounce bags of mixed lettuce works well here and I
especially like a mix containing radicchio.  It is not necessary to peel
the apples; choose a flavorful, crisp, red variety like Fuji.  I toast the
sliced almonds in a hot, ungreased pan but this can be done in a 400
degree oven too.  But watch them carefully as they go from pale to burnt
in a wink. 

We may be going camping for two weeks.  Any ideas of what to cook that does
not take much preparation (such as presoaking or rising) or much equipment?
We usually take a small cutting board, a knife, a pressure cooker for the
rice, and a frying pan and a chinese implement that is sort of like a slotted
spatula-spoon, works like both.  You can steam in teh pressure cooker and
stir-fry in the pan with the implement.  We eat out of the pan.  Have not
camped vegan before so cannot put cheese on the noodles and some small town
markets may not have tofu.  We can take dried tofu, I guess, and dried
mushrooms, and a gallon jug of rice and some pink lentils that don't need to
be presoaked, but it could get monotonous.  Some other grain?

You could take the tofu in those little space blocks that don't need
refridgeration.  I usually do spaghetti one or two nights when camping.  Also,
look for local produce!!!

We find that supermarkets rarely carry local produce even in agricultural
areas.  In Ohio they had green canteloupes.  One camping trip we picked and
ate milkweed pods, a bit like greenbeans if you pick them young.
We are thinking of soaking beans en route and cooking them the same evening,
since we will be in a car and don't have to carry the extra weight ourselves.
A pressure cooker saves a lot of fuel, and works for potatoes and corn.
We will learn by experience.

Tofu is also packaged in aseptic packaging.  Look for it on the grocery
shelves at an oriental food store.  

Thanks, have not heard of that.  We have dried tofu, also keeps forever.
It looks like our trip will not be camping in Iowa but visiting friends in
Northern Michigan, and cooking in a kitchen most of the time.  Part of it for
a friend who does not like to cook, and is looking forward to our visit.
We may try the camping trip in February instead (long story).

Well, we ended up tenting next to houses and using the stoves.  Our main host
learned to cook lentil stew.  We only brought one pressure cooker so made
combinations of grains (rice, millet, barley, wheat berries) with beans (split
peas, pink and brown lentils) flavored with potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic.
There was no place to buy fresh vegetables unless you count the CA stuff in
the supermarket, including week-old not-so-sweet corn.  It is wonderful to
be back near a farmer's market - today we bought everything that would fit
on our two bike baskets - okra, crowder peas, limas, a watermelon (I convinced
JIm to get the smaller one) a canteloupe peaches, tomatoes, peppers....  The
new refrigerator is full up, including the two bins I added and all the
shelves.  Vegetable deprivation for two weeks needs a quick remedy.
How does anyone cook crowder peas or freeze lima beans?

I used Mary's recipe for apple salad at a potluck with some local clergy. They
loved it. So did I. I handled the almond-toasting problem by frying them with
a little canola oil over very low heat. Made it easier to watch them and stir
them than baking them in the oven. ... I think I threw out my back issues of
"Simple Cooking," which probably had instructions for crowder peas. Somebody
should know.

I'm glad the recipe worked!

We are experimenting with a low-gluten version of the vegan diet for a month,
to see if we are allergic to gluten, found in oats, wheat, rye and barley.
That rules out oatmeal, bread, noodles.  Yesterday breakfast was boiled millet
with almond meal, today it will be potatoes with olive oil.  (I was getting
pretty tired of oatmeal every day anyway).  Other ideas?  We have millet,
quinoa, corn, rice.  Boiled leftover rice with chestnuts was good, cold rice
with apples less so.  (No eggs or milk, but rice, millet, flour allowed).

Potatoes also have a fair amount of gluten.

I thought only grains had gluten, potatoes have starch.
Other starchy foods would be taro (tapioca), sweet potato, amaranth, teff.

   try this one- Put some boiled potatoes into food processor. Process for
3-4 minutes. You will discover that you have an inedible gluey mass that looks
and smells like mashed potatoes.

The 'glue' is not gluten but starch.  Wallpaper paste is starch (I think from
wheat, at least originally).  Chocolate pudding is (or was) made with corn
starch as the glue.  Jim says not to eat wallpaper starch, it has something
inedible added to it.

(When I make chocolate pudding -- my favorite vice -- it's always from
scratch and always with corn starch.)

Has anyone cooked any sort of pastry without milk or eggs?  Ingredients could
include flour (wheat, rye, oat) or oat or rye flake or potatoes or rice, honey
and/or raisins, olive oil, chestnuts, cocoa, orange, apple, chickpea or other
bean flour, yeast (not an animal).  

There's a homemade granola recipe that I've made once or twice with no milk
or eggs, but it's not really pastry.  It comes out either as dense bars or
as a pile of crumble, depending on the humidity or the phase of the moon
or something.

Doesn't "pastry" basically mean things baked from a flour/shortening/water
"paste"?  I'd think that 'most any fruit pie would qualify.

Do you have a good recipe for pie crust mad with oil and whole grain flour?
I have tried apple fritter and apple dumplings and they taste like cooked
flour and apple, but I did not use oill in the dough.   I thought pastry was
related t pasta and meant a flour product htat is transiltionally a paste.
((awful telnet lag).

"Pasta" originally meant "dough," if I remember right, but the meanings of
food words tend to do a lot of drifting.

I've never run across a whole grain pie crust.  I imagine it would come of
very different from the traditional flaky white-flour pie crust,
especially since a lot of the flakiness in traditional crusts comes from
butter.  You might be able to do a good imitation of a graham-cracker
crust from scratch using whole grain flour instead of store-bought
crackers.  In general, I imagine you'll have better luck with dense crusts
than with ones meant to be light.  

Graham crackers are mostly sugar and fat with about as much whole grain as
the typical granola bar.  They are essentially cookies with a bit of fiber.
I have not heard of a graham cracker crust for a fruit pie, only for things
that the crust would stick to such as custard or cheese.

We've made whole-wheat pie crusts.  They weren't very good.  We've also used
a commercial one.  The verdict of the family on that one was that it was
pretty good for some things, not so good for others.  (I think OK for pot pie,
not so good for apple pie.)

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