If a vegan friend visited you today, what could you make for them?

It would be portabella-burgers. I scored some sliced small stems/pieces portabellas and some prebaked gluten free hamburger buns (ooh the carbs, we are ignoring that one tonight) and some successful vegan cheese, with herbs and garlic.

Only portabella caps I seen were HUGE so I got the stems/pieces/sliced and chopped them up. Charged pan with some of my fake vegan butter, added ground dried garlic, some fresh cracked pepper, and while the butter melted those got fried a touch. Then added 8 oz of well chopped mushrooms and tossed to coat them all with the fake-o butter then put about half a cup or so of water in, several good dashes of my low salt gluten free soy sauce, and put lid on for 5-10 min to get a really good simmer going. (see first picture) then uncovered and let cook down to nearly all the liquid gone.

Then came the part of carefully putting my glue goo cheese on it and letting that warm up and sort of stick everything together. I made a mostly soy based cheese as I don't seem to handle much coconut anything very well. I cut it into quarters in the pan and lifted two pieces to the buns that were carefully toasted-only way you can eat gluten free breads. I even let my omnivore husband have some.

I had to flip the buns over because even being toasted, the bottoms quickly sogged out from the juicy sort of crumbly filling. Really didn't need the brown sauce but it was nice to have. I will admit I made these the 7th and 8th (but the food was out of this world so if my friend visited those nights, nirvana on a plate) I had to use the mushrooms up plus the expensive bread so I cooked the same thing two nights running. Oh waaaay too many carbs and I was lazy by buying the 'bread' but so good!

Tonight it would be a totally righteous garbanzo bean stew, tossed together quickly.

Last night I boiled up some chickpea pasta and saved the liquid (scooped them out with a slotted spoon) for further cooking. Half a medium sauce pan full. To this tonight I added about 1/4 cup rice flour and maybe a tablespoon of tapioca flour, stirred it in well. Added a good dash of fresh ground black pepper, some onion powder and some powdered garlic. About a teaspoon of chili seasoning. About 1/8 teaspoon of liquid smoke (this is considered vegan). Then added a can of garbanzo beans, fluid and all (15 oz can) I let this heat up, stirring until it bubbled and thickened. Then added about 1/4 cup of old mashed potatoes and beat that in for thickening as well. Also added one small tin of tomato sauce.

This is so incredibly good. Or at least to me.

I took a loaf of gluten free bread that had been rising, baked it, and with that sliced and toasted, this was good. Tomorrow I will try adding some leftover carrots I have left, I wanted to taste it before I started adding veggies...

I have exactly one vegan recipe in my rotation, soba noodle salad. All of my warm asian salad contain either chicken stock or butter, or both. Vegetarians would be easier, but next to nothing I eat is vegan. Even my bread is made with whey.

Typically, if I want to visit with someone who doesn't eat like I eat, I choose something else to do. Whether it's a picky eater, or a medical condition,eating together rarely seems enjoyable for either of us.

Tofu Chocolate Mousse:

extra firm tofu, sweetener of choice, cocoa powder, melted coconut oil into the food processor to whirl til smooth.  I have not made this in forever because I don't eat tofu anymore, but it is a fun one,because people just don't believe it is not made from cream and butter and so on.

I hardly make this one any more either,except as a potluck item or gift

black bean brownies: black beans, egg substitute of choice, sweetener of choice, cocoa powder,coconut oil, and I like to add nuts and raisins or dried cranberries, coconut, what ever I have.

People like that one because it doesn't have any grain either.

Today a friend brought me back three HUGE portabella mushroom caps. I prepared to grill them slow over apple chips, (wood to smoke), and made a stuffing of rubbled 'rubber tofu' (I make and press this stuff so firm it about can be used like building bricks) sautéed together with low sodium gluten free tamari soy sauce, smashed garlic cloves, fresh chopped oregano, fresh cracked black pepper and a few flakes of last year's dried jalapenos, and the FIRST of the season's tomatoes chopped (salad tomatoes but we don't argue, yellow ones eat too). I used some of my vegan butter to moisten up the portabellas during their smoking/cooking and flipping, then put each one into a cake pan and stuffed with the stuffing, baked for another 20 min at 325F and gave the last five a crumble of my hard fake vegan cheeselike stuff (tastes somewhat like a cheddar, kinda sort of, with herbs and garli). I froze two, sliced up one, and scarfed wedges of heaven. Fresh squeezed lemonade with a little blonde sugar, and mmmm  This one does not have measurements because it's 'a little of this and a little of that and when it smells good, you got it' type cooking. Use a bamboo skewer on the portabella, you can tell when it's done.

Today we could eat a typical summer meal.

Garden stir-fry. The recipe today would be:

Kale flowers
Spinach
Cilantro
Egyptian onions
Turnip flowers
Garlic scallions
Oregano
Sage
Thyme

Seasoned with salt, turmeric, cumin, coconut oil, and muskmelon vinegar.  

Served with turnip sauerkraut made last fall, which also contains sunroots, beets, and carrots.

After super we could enjoy a glass of concord wine. For a sweeter wine, we could add a tablespoon of honey.

Today was a 'meat' day... More of those luscious portabellas. Cooked in vegan butter, smashed garlic, a bit of oregano, lots of cracked black pepper, and near the end as stuff carmelized, a sprinkle of brown sugar to set the color.
$2.50 for six ounces, labeled 'gourmet fillets' of portabella. Grown in-state. I get 14-17 slices a package. mmmmmm. Wish I had a root cellar so I could grow my own. Salad was lambs quarters, some curly dwarf blue kale that hasn't bolted yet, some carrot thinnings, FIRST cuke (a bug munched the end so I saved the rest) with cashew cream dressing made spicy (a few jalapeno flakes). Dessert was fresh strawberries picked out back with cold cashew cream dressing with vanilla and maple syrup. (it sorta kinda looked like light tan whipped cream...)

(edit, it didn't take the picture)

I've had vegan friends (family of 6) visiting for two weeks. We made: fried mushrooms, fried carrots and fried cauliflower w. garlic and onion salt (a favorite among all the kids paleo as well as vegan). Also tostadores - fried plantains. Loads of salads, load of different "slaws", loads and loads of smoothies, tons of hummus and guacamole, guaca-aïol, vegan pesto. Mountains of veggie-sticks (dipping stuff). Veggie curries, and oven baked potatoes, sweet potatoes and beets. They had nuts and nutbutters on the side - we had meat (we are allergic to most nuts).

Today it is mostly a dessertarian, I have another crop of strawberries that came in and... blackberries. Made some vegan whipped cream, managed to get stuff cold enough, and mmmmm  (I put a little vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg in the cream). I still have a good stand of Lambs Quarters, the dandelions are mostly being scraggly and bitter... and I did make a pot of black bean chili, totally righteous, with my first Italiano pepper (okay a corner, it's rated 300k scoville, and delicious)  (I put the rest of that pepper in to pickle for ultimate goodness later)

The grapes and watermelons are ripe, so I think everyone gets a fruit salad for lunch today!

Cukecumbers sliced and offered with a peppered vinegarette, the last of the blackberries. The apples... oh. My Pixie Crunch trees suffered majorly but they really produced this year. Suffered in that that was a lot of apples for those poor little trees. Pixie Crunch are really sweet, but a bit dry and tend to be a small 'kid's lunchbox' sized apple. Tomatoes grilled with olive oil and garlic. Squash, all sorts. They are coming in. Jalapeno poppers, those definitely came in. New B potatoes, going to refrigerate some survivor tubers and hopefully hold them to next spring. All my potatoes are ones that didn't get dug up last year (missed some) and overwintered. Plus the grapes... they are all doing bountiful sagging full.

The apples are too small to peel so I have been processing them by filling my two largest mixing bowls half full of water, a squirtzle of lemon juice, then quarter, core and take stem and bottom bit off then park face down in water. Lemon juice keeps them from browning. Fill both bowls to rim. Take out my 7.5 quart long oval caphalon slow cooker (was worth every penny) and pour apples and water into that. Add about another fifteen apples and put the top layer face down at least. Put about two cups of brown sugar (all my hard lumpies, been saving them) in there, half a bag of the sri-lanka cinnamon bark I bought at a Hispanic grocery store, and a goodly shake of nutmeg. Turn on to low and set auto timer to 12 hours. After a few hours I stirred to get all the spices definitely into the water and just let them cook. Then let them cool enough to handle. The skins pipped right off. I hand mashed them through a scimitar like noodle strainer (you hold it to the pot edge as you tip it, large holes and very sturdy) into a quart bowl and emptied that into a gallon jar as needed. For a batch I get about 3/4 a gallon of juice and pulp, and another half gallon of poured off cooked juice. I have done three batches and have at least one or two more, the trees aren't empty yet.  I hope I get the sauce put into lined jumbo muffin tins and frozen for use in cooking before it all gets eaten.

This time of year it would be curry of winter squash with red lentils.. Likely served over brown rice.

Frank Giglio wrote:This time of year it would be curry of winter squash with red lentils.. Likely served over brown rice.

Similar here.  With green lentils over rice for the kids and over wilted greens and sauteed onions for the grownups

No noodle lasagna.  Roast eggplant and zucchini instead of noodles.  Make layers with tomato sauce, crumbled tofu instead of ricotta, use vegan mozzarella and nutritional yeast to top instead of Parmesan.  Easy to switch to dairy products and meat sauce if preferred. Delicious either way.

There are SO many inspiring ideas in this thread! Could I ask those of you who might be interested to chime in over at at a new thread, specifically about favorite vegan roast or loaf recipes? I'd really appreciate your input there.

Rice, guacamole, tomatoes and spices.
😃

Some interesting ideas here :)

We actually eat a fair percentage of vegetarian meals that would be easy to convert to vegan by omitting cheese or butter.  Pumpkin and red lentil curry over rice was supper tonight, and all we'd have to do is switch from butter to olive oil for that one.  Refried bean burritos would be another easy one - switch bacon grease for a vegetable oil of some sort.  Stir fries (my stir fry base is soy sauce and red wine, so no issues with fish pr oyster sauce) are pretty easy, too.  Vegetable soup with crusty bread would be a nice winter meal.  I've made a lovely corn chowder using coconut milk, too, and smoked paprika easily makes up for the smokiness of the bacon or ham I would normally add.  

When my son was little (still nursing), we found out he had a bunch of allergies, including casein (so no dairy, beef, or any cow product), nuts, and gluten.  That was challenging to figure out recipes for, and more so because I couldn't eat any of that stuff either, as he would get the allergens through the breastmilk.  Accommodating multiple allergies can be a real struggle.  Vegan cooking is pretty easy.  

My vegan friend could have ate what I ate today: Spinach harvested fresh from the garden.  Steamed lightly. It was sweet as can be cause it did all of it's growing in cold weather.  And a maxima winter squash, harvested in September. Baked in the oven, and served with coconut oil, salt, and pepper.

For what it's worth, I'm putting a lot of effort into developing varieties, and teaching myself to grow crops overwinter, so that I can have greens at times other than when my cultural-training taught me to grow them. It's December, and I'm harvesting spinach, bok choi, chickweed, mallow, parsley, sage, thyme, kale, onions, etc.  

I have two vegan friends who visit fairly regularly, if it is not a surprise I do something special, we've had indian nights, sushi nights (cavi-art Is so much better than the real thing)  several BBQ's on the first one they DID NOT TELL ME they were vegan. Luckily I had made some vegi burgers for another couple and could add a tin of baked beans, some breadcrumbs and more veg to stretch them out, but really anyone vegi or vegan going to a bbq must tell the host!  They do make it slightly easier for me as they will eat my eggs, they object to the conditions commercial animals are kept in, but having the chicken who laid the egg under your feet trying to cadge crumbs kind of negates that.

I have however bought a couple of packets of tofu that live in the cupboard, so I am prepared!

I love tp cook! These are part of my regular repertoire:  vegan Bourani Banjan (Afghan style Eggplant,)  falafel, spanikopita using every green thing that I could find in the garden and substituting the feta cheese with a vegan cheese. nettles lasagna (again using vegan cheese.)  seaweed and mushroom soup with miso,  asian stir fry with peanut sauce, hearty minestrone soup, vegan burritos stuffed with beans, potatoes, grilled peppers and onions. polenta smothered in chunky, quick tomatoe sauce and stewed veggies,

I want to invite a friend who is not vegan, but has such a strict diet for her migraine, I think it's best to serve her a vegan dish. She doesn't eat wheat, milk or dairy products. She's used to eat meat, but I prefer not to. And I think she shouldn't eat meat at all ... but that's my opinion.

I figured out it will be lentil pasta (the pasta that's made of lentil flour, not wheat) with a sauce of mixed vegetables (including tomato sauce), topped with cantharel mushrooms ...

The problem is: I would like to add cheese sauce before putting it in the oven. But what can I use instead of cheese (or any other dairy product) to give a pasta dish that 'gratin' effect?

Palak Paneer - Indian spinach puree with tofu.
Garbanzo Tagine - my favorite Moroccan dinner.
Bean Sprout stir fry -  standard Filipino vegetarian fare.

I would make red lentil and butternut squash burgers, those are delicious.

Or curry lentils with chappatis.

I just made a vegan chili last night using tomatoes, lentils, chickpeas, kidney beans, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, garlic, onions, quinoa, cocoa powder, tobasco, cayenne, smoked paprika, and olive oil. Oh, and tumeric and black pepper, and a little salt.

I didn't even realise I had made it vegan. I just made a meatless chili, and happened to only use vegetable sources.

-CK

EDIT: Mind you, I topped my lunch serving off with a handful of cheese, and snuck a chunk of turkey in for myself from earlier leftovers, but I make meatless meals because meat that isn't from the grocery store is expensive, not because I have a wish to forsake my omnivorous heritage. But the meal I prepared is still vegan.

My vegan friend could have ate the same thing I did:

Beet greens stir-fried with coconut oil, turmeric, and black pepper. With a side of sauteed onions. Dr. Terry Wahls recommended this pattern of eating. Sure feels good to me. Dark leafy greens, and a sulfurous veggie.

My favorite quick stir-fry from my single days can easily be done vegan:
Heat together to saute temp:
- any veg. oil,
- curry powder
- ginger
- soy sauce
Cube or dice and add in this order:
- onions* and/or garlic (*until translucent)
- mushrooms, tofu*, or other brownable veg proteins if available (we often keep dried on hand if not fresh)
- hearty veg like carrots, squash, thin-sliced potatoes* or sweet potatoes* (*until soft)
- medium veg like favas, peas, tomatoes, green beans
- quick veg like greens, green herbs, sprouts (after *cooking, above, is done)
Cover and turn off heat to lightly steam the last delicate greens.

It is hearty, tasty enough to eat cold or hot (I usually made 2-3 days worth so I could take it for lunches to work).
Can also make steamed rice as a side dish.

...

Or if we're in a hurry, check the ingredients on my favorite store-bought roasted garlic tomato sauce, but I think it's straight veg.  Good enough to eat as a soup or dip.
So now while it's heating, we decide what to dip in it....  pasta is easy, or plain old toast or hot tortillas.

Vegemite or marmite are great toast spreads, with or without oil or "butter."  I think they're considered vegan.  (Black, tarry variant on brewers' yeast, a by-product of malts used in beer production, it looks like chocolate but tastes more like parmesan cheese, or concentrated boullion paste - it's almost that salty.)

If we are taking the time to make grilled cheese with the tomato "soup," a vegan visitor could be an excuse to try another variation of Ernie's savory nut butter sandwich filling.  For a nearly-cheese-sandwich dippable snack. (peanut butter or almond butter + miso paste + spices)

...

or if we're planning ahead, a 'spanikopita' variation: wads of spring greens, skip the usual cheese, plus rice, diced garlic sauteed with brewers' yeast and the usual pine nuts or cheaper nuts.  Probably skip the crust, use tortillas or pocket breads, or coat the pan in coconut oil and make a layer of rice/nuts on the bottom, a few sheets of phyllo with salted oil instead of butter on top.

...

Dessert options:
Fresh fruit smoothie (banana, OJ, freezer berries, vanilla and/or cinnamon)

Fruit and nut selection of the moment - possibly toasted pecans, home canned pear sauce and/or applesauce (we are low on fruit this season).
We have gobs of peanut butter right now, so maybe we'd look up recipes and bake some cookies or date/peanut energy bar things.  Coconut oil for the butter, date paste for the sugar, not sure about egg subs but some cookies don't need egg.

Or if we are getting fancy, possibly
-that avacado-chocolate mousse that our friends used to make (BYO avocado most of the year at our house),
-or a coconut-oil based "ice cream" (whipped coconut oil, coconut cream, raw cacao powder, vanilla/cinnamon/pinch of cayenne).  I loved this so much at friend's place that i have avoided making it ever since ... it's RICH! and I would eat it all.

or coconut-cream version of chocolate truffles.
but only if I like them a lot, and they are enjoying helping with the cooking. And eating. ;-)

I would probably make Italian orzo spinach soup (Check Recipe) for them since it's one of my favorites soups

m'jaddara (Idunno how to romanize this properly) which is lentils and rice cooked with onions, topped with salad (lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber) and dressing of olive oil and lemon juice. Could add tahini since I usually have a little yogurt with it, and yogurt is like... not vegan.

When I was vegetarian I found that a lot of the dishes were not satisfying/left me feeling hungry because they were heavy on starch and lacking in fat and protein. Legumes and fatty seeds like sesame help to offset this.

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:I want to invite a friend who is not vegan, but has such a strict diet for her migraine, I think it's best to serve her a vegan dish. She doesn't eat wheat, milk or dairy products. She's used to eat meat, but I prefer not to. And I think she shouldn't eat meat at all ... but that's my opinion.

I figured out it will be lentil pasta (the pasta that's made of lentil flour, not wheat) with a sauce of mixed vegetables (including tomato sauce), topped with cantharel mushrooms ...

The problem is: I would like to add cheese sauce before putting it in the oven. But what can I use instead of cheese (or any other dairy product) to give a pasta dish that 'gratin' effect?

I'm not sure if you received an answer to your question, Inge. See Deb's post here for some cheese alternatives.

Also, there are many vegan cheese alternatives in the stores these days, or some really quick ideas are to:

smash or blend tofu with salt, apple cider vinegar with or without some nutritional yeast to be a bit like a ricotta

cashews - soak them overnight (or boil briefly) then blend up, add seasonings* (lots of great recipes online for cashew cheese sauces, as well as Deb's linked to above)

coconut cream (I don't know if you have something like it in your neck of the woods) which I've put in white sauces (or a béchamel type sauce) if it has enough seasoning* it gives a "cheesy" thick texture and masks the coconut flavor a bit, and has a nice "gratin" effect, I think.

*cheesy seasonings - lots of salt, plus garlic, onions, and/or nutritional/brewers yeast, maybe apple cider vinegar if you need some tanginess, maybe some pepper (white pepper perhaps if you have it).

At our PDC we served a vegan mushroom bean bourguignon.


(picture from recipe link above, not mine - we were too busy to take a pic!)

It was SO delicious - a crowd of 20 folks loved it, and more than half of those are omnivores.

We made a few alterations to the recipe:

used half of the wine

quadrupled the tomato paste

cooked our own navy beans

used mushroom broth from re-hydrating dried mushrooms

used vegan veg broth from cooking veg scraps

because our beans and broths had no salt, we added a lot more salt than in the recipe

Served over baked potatoes or baked sweet potatoes.

One of the ATC class favorites this last week was Tadka Dhal. Which I converted to large group quantities here:

Tadka Dhal (in shareable-viewable Google Sheets document).

I would make cauli-rice for my vegan friends, and I'll make sure not to add any meat into it.

Well, since I already have the beans soaked for my vegetarian tacos, I'd just go with that. Omit the cheese for the vegan, and we're good to go!

Fry a chopped onion and 250 g sliced mushrooms in a pan with some olive oil  until the mushrooms have reduced and gone toasty, mix in 250 ml or so of tomato frito and set aside. Warm up the oven. Chop 1/2 butternut squash into 1cm cubes and put in a pan with a good pinch of salt, mix with 250 g macaroni, cover with water and cook until squash and pasta are al dente.
Mix with the other veg and pour into a shallow baking dish.
Make a topping with breadcrumbs, chopped cashews (or grated cheese of prefered kind if not vegan) and season - I use a blend of toasted seaweeds, toasted sesame and sea salt which I grind up and put on and in everything - drizzle with olive oil and pop in the oven until toasty brown.
Serve with fresh green beans or peas for colour and balance.
No photos cos we ate it all last night.

Far as I remember, everything on my table at market  is vegan.

Hmm. What we going to eat? So many choices!!!

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:Far as I remember, everything on my table at market  is vegan.

Hmm. What we going to eat? So many choices!!!

That is a wonderful display, Joseph. I wish we had similar oportunities here to sell produce. I suppose the great thing is, if it doesn't sell, you take it home and it goes back in the pantry.

Mandy Launchbury-Rainey wrote:That is a wonderful display, Joseph. I wish we had similar oportunities here to sell produce. I suppose the great thing is, if it doesn't sell, you take it home and it goes back in the pantry.

I have to drive 75 miles to get to a farmer's market that will allow me to sell that which is legal.

Rice & Beans of course.