Let’s be honest, no matter how much you LOVE spending time in the kitchen, creating new recipes, veganizing old favorites, some days you’re just not in the mood.
Takeout is always an option but if you live someplace that doesn’t have a lot of (good) vegan options, you still have to get in and out of the kitchen as quickly as possible…without compromising the nutritious deliciousness that’s going on your plate and in your belly.
My favorite combination when I’m feeling lazy is to just do an easy paint by numbers lazy vegan recipe.
That’s how I came up with today’s recipe.
Lazy vegan meals are super easy to create, just follow this simple formula: Veggies + protein + grain = YUMMY.
Simple, right?
That’s the point. You don’t have to over think it. At all.
Step One: Figure out what kind of cuisine or flavor profile you’re going for. Spanish? Mexican? French? German? Romanian?
Grab those spices and set them aside, or better yet, mix them in a small prep bowl so you can use it for the protein, the water for the grains and the veggies. I chose Greek because I wanted to use the orzo and I just bought some new Greek spices.
Step Two: Pick your veggies. It may seem counterintuitive to pick the vegetables first but it’ll help you figure out what grain will work best, if you need a sauce or not, and what protein you want to use.
For this particular recipe, I went with broccoli, onions, leeks (check out this mushroom, ginger & leek stir fry), red & yellow bell pepper. This is another oil-free vegan recipe so I heated up a few dashes of soy sauce and waste free broth, and added a tablespoon of the Greek spice mixture to the skillet. Sauté the veggies until tender.
Step Three: Choose a protein. For this dish I went with a textured vegetable protein because it is very receptive to all types of cuisines and flavors. But this would have worked with chickpeas, vegan chicken or even mince.
If you choose TVP, make sure you start the hydrating process first so you can either cook it with the vegetables, pop it in the oven for about 20 minutes, or the air fryer for 10 to 15 minutes.
Step Four: Grains, baby! Orzo is delicious and it’s so hard to find here so whenever I find it, I grab a bag. But I think bulgur or couscous or even rice would go well with this flavor profile. Just remember, season the water with salt and whatever else you like to make sure the dish has a complete flavor profile.
And that’s how you whip up an easy and delicious lazy vegan meal. You’ll love it so much that you’ll never turn your nose up at a lazy vegan meal again. And even better, you’ll stop using that greasy takeout place as your backup vegan chef. Mix it up and do it often. By the end of a month of laziness, you’ll have a ton of new recipes you can use whenever kitchen time seems a little too daunting.
the-spicy-spatula.com 
One thought on “Lazy Vegan Meals ~ Greek Spiced Veggies & Orzo”