recipes
**Disclaimer: none of these recipes are entirely original. All have been modified from the state I found them over time and with experimentation. Most were found on the internet in public domain.
Want to know more about veganism? Click here
Delicious, tried-and-true, your-omni-friends-won’t-believe-they’re-vegan vegan recipes:
Blueberry muffins
Cheesecake
Bruschetta
Chocolate chip cookies
Chocolate cake
Eggless salad
Broiled tofu
Manicotti
Banana bread
Almond-poppyseed cake
Berry crisp
Easy pizza dough
Chili
Minestrone
Recommended cookbooks:
The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson
A couple of other popular ones
(though I have never owned them):
Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz
Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz
My Sweet Vegan by Hannah Kaminsky
Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero
Online resources:
Vegweb.com is a great place to find new recipes. Look for ones that have reviews and read them for helpful hints and tasty modifications.
VeganEssentials.com carries just about everything you can think of, including-but-not-limited-to: food, footwear, clothing, bumper stickers, make-up, vitamins, condoms, pet care items (a.k.a. “companion animal” items), shampoo, candles, books, etc. They allow customers to review all of their items, which is extremely helpful, and they often have sales. It’s a good resource in particular if you live in a small town/remote area in which local stores do not carry many vegan items (or, vegan items at reasonable prices).
Recipes
Blueberry muffins
1/4 cup vegan margarine, room temperature/softened
1/2 cup applesauce, preferably unsweetened
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup soy milk, plain or vanilla
2 cups blueberries, fresh is ideal but frozen ones can be used if thawed and drained (very important!) first
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp cinnamon
Mix everything together except blueberries. Batter will be thick. Gently fold in blueberries, then spoon into a muffin pan sprayed with cooking spray or greased with the vegan margarine (if you use paper liners, spray/grease those). These muffins don’t have very much oil in them so they will stick badly to the pan. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-25 minutes.
Optional: Before baking, sprinkle a little bit of cinnamon and sugar and some slivered almonds on the tops of the muffins.
1 loaf vegan sourdough, Italian, or French bread, sliced and toasted
6 Roma tomatoes
3 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
3 cloves garlic
Dice the tomatoes. Put them in a bowl with the chopped basil and chopped garlic and stir. Spoon this on top of the toast.
Optional/variations: Top with a shake of vegan parmesan. The original recipe calls for 2 Tbsp of olive oil mixed in with the tomatoes but I have found that it’s not really necessary. Another variation: heat the tomato mixture for 5 minutes or so in a small skillet on the stove before spooning it onto the toast.
Chocolate chip cookies
Chocolate cake
Eggless salad
Broiled tofu
Easy/broke college student version:
1 block extra firm tofu
Soy sauce/tamari
Press the tofu: put it on a plate and place a second plate upside down on top of the tofu. Then, put something heavy on top of the second plate, such as a pot of water or a couple of cans of food, and allow it to sit for at least 15 minutes. This removes the extra water from the tofu. After pressing the tofu, drain the excess liquid and cut it into slices about 1 cm thick. Spread the slices out on a plate and pour soy sauce over them. Let it marinate for a couple of minutes, the transfer the tofu slices to a sprayed cookie sheet/jelly roll pan and bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit (or broil) for 5-10 minutes. Turn the slices over and return to the oven for another 5 minutes or so, or until the edges of the tofu are little bit crispy.
Fancy pants/extra tasty version:
1 block extra firm tofu
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp rice vinegar
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tsp dried chives
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ginger powder
Press and slice tofu as in above. Mix all the other ingredients together; stir until thoroughly combined. Dip each slice of tofu in mixture for ~10 seconds. Remove and set aside, allowing to marinate for about 20 minutes. Arrange tofu on sprayed pan and broil 5-10 minutes, flipping slices part way through.
Manicotti
Banana bread
Almond-poppyseed cake
Berry crisp
Easy pizza dough
1 cup warm water
2 Tbsp sugar
1 package active dry yeast
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
Italian seasoning: oregano, basil, flat parsley, etc
Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl and knead it until everything seems mixed in. Let it rise for 45 minutes to an hour or it’s until double in size, punch it down, and knead it again for a couple of minutes. Then squish it out flat on a pan and put toppings on it. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Ta da!
Suggestions for pizza toppings: Onion, green pepper, sliced fresh tomato, fresh basil, garlic, mushrooms, black olives, vegan “pepperoni”, artichoke hearts . . . and just about anything else you can think of . . . Also, contrary to popular belief, pizza is perfectly delicious without cheese! (For some info on vegan cheeses, click here).
Variations: If you’re feeling lazy, you can skip making dough altogether and just use those prepackaged pita breads from your grocery store as the pizza crust. If you’re trying to cut calories you can even use whole-wheat tortillas, which gives you a light, tasty, crispy crust.
Chili
Minestrone-like bean and pasta soup
1 cup uncooked small pasta
2 medium carrots
2 garlic cloves
1 can cannellini beans
1 cup green beans
2 cans vegetable broth
1-16 oz. can tomato sauce
1 can Italian stewed tomatoes
1 tsp basil
1/4 tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp salt
Ground black pepper to taste
