quick and easy vegan recipes

Bowls, International vegan cuisine, Plant Based, Sides, Vegan

The CREAMIEST Vegan Polenta

Posted on September. 2022September. 2022 by writinstuff

I’m not sure if you guys know this or not but I kind of love polenta. When I grew up it was all about grits but now that I’m an adult, polenta is where it’s at.

If you’re not sure about whether or not you love polenta, check out some of these recipes to get you started:

Creamy Polenta & Oven Roasted Veggies
Sweet Potato Polenta
Vegan Meatball Stew & Polenta

As you can see, I’ve done quite a few vegan polenta recipes in an effort to get it just right. Some end up too grainy or chunky and I was striving for perfectly silky polenta that doesn’t leave you feeling heavy and bloated.

Today I think I’ve finally gotten it right!

The full recipe is Crispy vegan chicken & veggies with creamy polenta but I’m going to focus on the polenta.

So, let’s get to making the creamiest vegan polenta you’ll ever eat!

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Asian Food, Bowls, International vegan cuisine, oil free vegan recipes, Plant Based, Vegan

Vegan Fried Rice & Vitasia Veggie Spring Rolls

Posted on August. 2022August. 2022 by writinstuff

Here’s a secret I want to share with you all. Sometimes I can be a bit of a food snob and it’s not necessarily one of those instances where I believe that I’m too good for a certain type or food product but more so that I’m very distrusting of a lot of pre-packaged foods and it gives me extreme anxiety so I just avoid them. This is especially true when it comes to bagged or any other pre-packaged salad products, thanks to a childhood of recalls that left me deathly afraid of food poisoning and other food borne illnesses.

But the more this vegan food blog grows, the more I try to step out of my comfort zone to try new vegan food products because I know I’m not the only one. So when I was at Lidl this week and came across a package of veggie spring rolls from Vitasia, I took a long hard look at the ingredients list and decided to give it a shot.

What goes well with vegan spring rolls? Well to be honest plenty of things but my Hubs requested veggie fried rice so that’s what we went with and it was pretty dang delicious. Mostly.

I wanted to make a quick and easy vegan meal that was plant based and delicious, so I kept it simple but please, tell me what you prefer to eat with vegan spring rolls?

The pre-packaged spring rolls came with those little packets of what I still call duck sauce even though I have always and only eaten them with egg rolls, but I improvised and added a few things to them, which we will talk about.

DO you have a favorite brand of vegan egg rolls? Brand names & links welcome in the comments!

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Asian Food, International vegan cuisine, Plant Based, Salads, Vegan

Quick & Easy Vegan Salads ~ Cucumber & Wakame Salad w/Ponzu Dressing

Posted on August. 2022August. 2022 by writinstuff

For today’s recipe I’m going to get back to one of my favorite vegan recipes. Salads.

I don’t know about you but everyone in my life who isn’t vegan–which is most of the people in my life–loves to make jokes about salad being the only thing my husband and I eat. They think they’re hilarious but any good vegan knows just how delicious a properly made vegan salad can be. I’m not talking about a few tomato wedges or three slices of cucumber with some heavy creamy salad dressing.

Oh no.

If you’re interested in some delicious vegan salad recipes that are a meal on their own, check out these recipes:

(Mostly) Raw Vegan Cabbage Salad
Vegan Sushi Salad
Crispy Chickpea Rainbow Salad
Vegan Buffalo Chicken Salad
Vegan Potato Salad

Today’s vegan salad recipe is a side salad and it goes great with just about anything. In fact, this salad was a nice little addition to a pizza bread recipe, which you can find here.

Why You’ll Love This Vegan Salad Recipe:

*Just 8 ingredients (mostly ALL pantry staples)
*It’s delicious
*Packed with nutrients
*Uses wakame!

Let’s get to it, shall we?

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Plant Based, Potatoes, Sandwiches, Vegan

Easy Vegan BBQ Mushroom & Onion Sandwiches

Posted on June. 2022June. 2022 by writinstuff

Open or closed, that is often the question I have these days when it comes to making vegan sandwiches. On the one hand a regular closed sandwich is delicious and it has the potential to get really messy, which only makes a vegan sandwich even more enjoyable. On the other hand, an open-faced vegan sandwich allows you to get more sandwich insides without increasing the amount of bread on your plate.

So the question then becomes, open-faced or closed-face sandwiches?

In our house, it depends. When it comes to burgers I am strictly a closed-faced, two-handed juicy burger with the works kind of girl while The Hubs will almost always ask for me to split is Beyond burger into two small diner style patties and serve them open, which I’m happy to do. For him.

But when it comes to things like lentil Sloppy Joe sandwiches or Spinach & Artichoke Sandwiches, I prefer to keep it open face so I can have more creamy, spicy, Sloppy Joe goodness.

So when I found the most beautiful pack of oyster mushrooms I have ever seen, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them. Vegan barbecue shredded mushroom sandwiches. They’re like pulled pork but without the suffering.

Open faced vegan bbq mushroom sandwiches

This is an easy to make vegan recipe that can be ready in 40 minutes…or less.

Click here for more Easy Vegan Sandwich ideas!

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Asian Food, Bowls, International vegan cuisine, Vegan

Gochujang Spiced Vegan Chicken, Mushrooms & Rice

Posted on December. 2021December. 2021 by writinstuff

Okay guys, so I have just discovered the easiest, peasiest Asian style vegan dinner recipe on the planet. Maybe discover is a strong word, but I happened upon a few similar recipes that were decidedly not vegan and decided that they had the makings of a super delicious lazy vegan dinner.

Why lazy? Well, put simply, the past couple years have been exhausting. Not only did we move to a place with limited vegan food options right before 2019 got under way, but the only improvements in my small-ish town have been in terms of vegan options at the grocery store.

That means more cooking. More experimenting with vegan recipes. More time in the kitchen.

Which I love.

Mostly.

But it would be nice, every once in a while, to go out where someone else does the cooking. Where there are appetizers and cocktails and maybe even dessert before the bill.

But that’s not on the table unless we schlep all the way to Bucharest which…no.

So, anyway…here is yet another lazy vegan recipe. Gochujang spiced vegan chicken & rice.

When I say easy vegan recipe, I mean emphasis on EASY. The ingredient list in this recipe is short and sweet.

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Breakfast, Grains, International vegan cuisine, Potatoes, Vegan

Vegan Breakfast Recipes ~ Vegan Sausage & Potato Hash

Posted on November. 2021November. 2021 by writinstuff

I’m going to let you guys in on a little secret. I don’t eat breakfast. I drink about half a liter of water in the morning before I have my single cup of coffee (with brown sugar and almond milk), and a little later I pop a few vitamins. That’s it.

I know “they” say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but is it? I mean, most breakfast food isn’t really all that conducive to getting a productive start to your day. Pancakes or waffles? Tons of protein in the form of vegan eggs, meat alternatives, various types of vegan bacon which often include added fat and sugar to anything, whether it’s carrot bacon or mushroom bacon. Then there are potatoes, which can honestly do no wrong in my book, but who wants to feel sluggish and lethargic before you’ve even fired up your laptop to start working?

Not me.

I guess you could say that I am an intuitive eater, though not consciously. If the hubs makes the coffee a little too strong and I need something to settle my coffee, I’ll eat something. If I’m hungry, I will eat something. Otherwise, I skip the first meal of the day and I usually eat what I call ‘day meal’ and ‘evening meal’ with a snack or two tossed in there somewhere.

Do what that information what you will.

*Shrugs*

Now, does that mean i turn my nose up at all breakfast foods? No way, man! I have very fond memories of the days of brunch, and boozy breakfasts in college and my absolute favorite breakfast food in the world, the breakfast burrito. It just means that I don’t eat it first thing in the morning.

Breakfast for dinner is one of the greatest creations since the smartphone and e-books, and let me just tell ya, it is my JAM! American style breakfast, English breakfast, vegan corned beef hash or any other type of breakfast, it’s all right by me as long as it’s not in the morning.

So, let’s dig into this easy vegan breakfast recipe that you can eat for any meal you want because you’re an adult and you can do what you want.

Track Your Nutrition & Health Data with cronometer.com

Now the first thing I want to tell you about this easy vegan recipe is that it is SUPER easy to make. You don’t have to love to cook, be a proficient home cook or any of that jazz. All you have to do is collect four basic ingredients, raid your spice cabinet and you’re good to go.

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Bowls, Grains, International vegan cuisine, one pot recipes, Plant Based, Vegan

Crispy Fried Mushrooms, A Dipping Sauce & Vegan Dirty Rice ~ Take 2.5

Posted on October. 2021October. 2021 by writinstuff

I have tried to make dirty rice and even dirty rice & beans, but so far I have yet to perfect it. Let’s just say that it is a work in progress and some days, it feels as if it might always be a work in progress.

The good news is that I’ve been practicing rinsing and soaking rice grains. Using different grain lengths, colors and shapes. It turns out, the issue isn’t the rice. It’s me. Or maybe it was me, because I think this one came out pretty good.

If you’ve never had dirty rice, it is a southern staple that’s filled with vegetables, herbs, spices and delicious meat alternatives. The first few times I tried to make vegan dirty rice, there was too much liquid. The next time, the rice was too sticky. There may (or may not) have been an instance of burned rice too, but we’re not here to talk about that.

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International vegan cuisine, Italian, Pasta, Plant Based, Vegan

Spicy Vegan Tuna Puttanesca with Orecchiette

Posted on September. 2021September. 2021 by writinstuff

When it comes to pasta, my motto is, the more the better. That’s right. Despite my efforts to eat healthier over the years, the one thing I refuse to give up is carbs. I love spaghetti, mac & cheese, ramen, bread…all of it. But I’m also not afraid to add any of them to a bowl of raw veggies to balance it all out.

But I’ve recently discovered a brand of vegan tuna called Unfished, and you know that meant I needed a do over from my last vegan puttanesca dish!

There are a lot of variations on what it means to make a true puttanesca but this is a vegan food blog so we already know there won’t be any anchovies or other formerly living critters in this recipe, and that’s all right because that’s where the vegan tuna comes in.

This dish was pretty easy to make, especially if you already know the basics of building a good red sauce. Even if you don’t, you’ll find it easy…with a bit of prep work.

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Asian Food, Bowls, Curry, International vegan cuisine, Potatoes, Vegan

Aloo Keema ~ Vegan Mince & Potato Curry Recipe

Posted on September. 2021September. 2021 by writinstuff

I love a good curry. Who doesn’t? I mean, you get tons of vegetables and rice steeped in delicious and vibrant flavors, sometimes spicy with your favorite vegan meat alternative and it’s just a big bowl of goodness. Unlike soup, I am never opposed to eating a curry in the heart of summer of the depths of winter.

And I recently discovered Aloo Keema, a dish that originated in Pakistan/Northern India that has the simplest of ingredients: mince, potatoes and rice with bread if you choose to double-carb it.

The flavors of the dish really appealed to me so I figured, why not?

As far as vegan curry recipes go, this is a pretty easy one with a manageable list of vegan ingredients.

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Bowls, Herbs, Indian, International vegan cuisine, Plant Based, Vegan

Another Vegan Buddha Bowl Recipe

Posted on June. 2021June. 2021 by writinstuff

I have talked time, and time again about my love of the marvelous Buddha bowl.

I mean, what’s not to like about a bowl of food that contains tons of veggies, a heaping pile of grains and just enough protein to provide a well-balanced vegan meal that nourishes while tasting wickedly delicious?

I can’t think of one thing that’s unappealing about any of that.

So, here is (yet) another vegan buddha bowl recipe for you to enjoy. Or experiment with. Or try to top.

Whatever you prefer. 😉

It doesn’t matter if you’re a new vegan or an old vegan, the Buddha bowl is the perfect way to get you in the kitchen, cooking healthy vegan meals, and taking control of what you put inside your body.

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