So I've had a lot if success helping my wife eat more vegan meals so i come to you for any recommendations. Would be nice if they arent super expensive but I will accept all recommendations, thank you comrades!!
Yoooo thank you for pulling me here! This actually sounds really good! 😍😍😍😍
Violife cheese is legit really good. I like it better cold than melted though. Tastes like mild cheddar
Oooh I do lots of cauliflower rice, yet another thing for the gold star of farming.
"If you can grow cauliflower you can grow anything"
Or just roast it with some broccoli tossed in olive oil and salt and pepper m wait till its done then forget about it for like an extra 10 minutes. Crispy burnt bits are insanely good
I’ve been in a veg roasting kick for the last 4 or 5 months. Broccoli and cauliflower have been staples as well as sweet potatoes (which caramelize nicely), onions, squash and zucchini. Lately though I’ve been doing Brussels sprouts and this week I’m also roasting green beans.
i don't really eat vegan "meat", but violife original is pretty good "cheese", melts nice and is a good replacement for a mild cheddar
I don't buy a lot of cheese/meat replacements and mostly save them for special occasions. Chao and Violife are both great across the board. If you have a Trader Joe's near you, they have some store brand stuff that's really good and more reasonably priced than what you can get at your average grocery. Field roast makes some pretty tasty seitan products, but you can also make seitan at home that's very tasty. Morningstar Farms has been transitioning some of their old stuff from vegetarian to vegan and they have good stuff and are widely available and pretty reasonably priced. Tasty stuff if not realistic.
For DIY:
My favorite easy vegan cheese for something like mac and cheese or nachos is this or something similar.
Seitan can be time consuming to make, but you can make a lot and freeze it and just brown it in a saute pan when you are ready to eat. Once you've got the basic you can tweak the seasoning to your liking
Do you stay away from cheese/meat replacements for nutritional reasons? I'm not always super imaginative so I often just go for fake ground beef.
I try to stay mostly whole foods as a matter of health, so that definitely is part of it, but they're also just pricier than vegetables and grains. I also have been working on minimizing waste where possible, so packaged, heavily processed foods don't fit the bill very well.
I do like them, of course, but they're "sometimes foods."
If you find yourself falling back on ground beef subs for creativity reasons, a good healthier option is a quick cooking lentil like a red lentil cooked in veggie broth and add some soy sauce. Sauteed mushrooms are also really good for sort of meaty umami flavor profiles.
Funny you mention that, this past week I've used mushrooms and lentils more than ever. Thanks for the tips!
Yes they are super expensive and you are right with those assessments, appretiate the seitan recipie! 😃
Oh damn this is a great idea, there was a local.mushrook.grower at the farmers market ima getsome this weekend
Can't offer much in the way of brand suggestions but:
- Liquid smoke: Makes any stew, stir-fry, curry instantly more meaty/hearty
- Seitan chicken: Needs to be made a day in advance but good for special occasions: The OG recipe
- Replacing the richness of cheese: 2Tbsp Tahini, 1Tbsp ACV, 1Tbsp Miso + bit of water makes super good rich dressing and is super easy
- Also cheese adjacent: Blended cashews + ACV/lemon juice + nooch is pretty good. Not cheese, but a decent sub.
- Tofu: Dust with cornflour, drizzle of oil and a ton of spices and bake
- Falafel: It's good ✅
- Jackfruit + BBQ sauce: Really fast and easy. Use a lot of BBQ sauce
Ooh I've done that cashew cream before and that's legit, especially a dollop on soup.
That salad dressing with the miso is a terrific idea, I eat alot of salad with vinaigrette but this is a good way of.mixing it up
Yea it's great. I think the key is to not try to replicate exact meat/cheese tastes and textures, but to replace their function in the dish. e.g. Falafel burgers last night with a Coconut yoghurt + tahini + ACV dressing. Gives you all the crunch, rich, fattiness and umami of a good burger without comparing it to previous cheeseburgers.
Having said that gardein burgers are amazing, and culturing cashews to make "brie" is quite fun.
Whoa coconut yogurt exists!?! And yea reorienting your perspective is important, for me realizing how much better my body feels without meat in my tummy helped alot.
Awesome suggestions so far thanks everyone, doing rice & bean + veggies & lots of salads most of the time so this is a special occasion / fighting craving kinda thing.
If it's hard to find vital wheat gluten, then making seitan from regular flour is actually pretty easy and tastes better imo. Does take longer though. Very long detailed video
https://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/the-best-vegan-mozzarella/ is amazing
My moms seitan recipe:
320 g wheat gluten
30 g nooch
450 ml strongly seasoned broth
3 tbs oil
2 tbs tomato paste
2 tbs Garlic
1 tbs Ginger
1 ts marjory or oregano
1 tbs soy sauce
any seasoning or spices to approximate the taste of flesh you might want to replicate.
Mix, let rest for 15 min, then process with a mixer if you have one or by hand. The longer the better. Cook in broth for 45 min, roast in oven for a tougher skin
Chicken fried oyster mushrooms are better than fried chicken to me and really easy to make
