In honor of National Vegan Month I wanted to share some of our favorite easy dinner vegan recipes. Cooking vegan doesn’t mean that you will have to sacrifice eating your favorite types of foods. Luckily, there are vegan alternatives that are healthy and delicious too. While we normally eat vegetarian food, vegan dishes are common in our home too. To save time, I often use our slow cooker to prepare flavor rich foods.
How is a vegan diet different from a vegetarian diet?
A vegan diet, means that the food you consume doesn’t contain any animal products. Unlike a vegetarian diet, which also includes fruits and vegetables, it also allows people to consume eggs, diary, and honey which originated from animals. Vegetarian is synonymous with meatless while vegan is synonymous with animal-free.
My children have been vegetarians since birth, but after we watched Forks Over Knives I don’t have any trouble getting them to eat healthy foods. They love their veggies and often challenge me to eat healthier, in fact, the hardest thing I had to give up was overeating chips. OK, don’t laugh. Yes, I said, “Chips.” Chips are loaded with unhealthy additives, they are quick snacks and are easily transported, but they are not healthy for our bodies, and I would love to give them up completely. Although, we didn’t give them up completely, but now we eat them much less and I teach my young ones that they are OK in moderation just not everyday staples. The recipes below are foods that my entire family, including my kids and husband, enjoy. If you try one of the recipes please let me know.
Easy Vegan Tofu Tortillas
- 1 cup of Spinach
- 1/2 cup of cooked Corn
- 1 Tsp of olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 tsp of nutritional yeast
- 2 cups of fried tofu (bit.ly/easyvegetables)
- A handful of Tortilla Chips (Optional - Garden of Eatin' Tortilla Chips bit.ly/ChiliandLime)
- Vegan Salsa
- Cook your tofu first, press out the water between two saucers, add olive oil into the pan and heat. Add your tofu and seasonings (salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast). Cook until brown on both sides. Next in your plate, create the tortillas salad by adding the chips, Spinach, Tofu, Corn, and salsa.
- Optional - You can top with your favorite vegan dressing
Easy Slow Cooked Vegan Ratatouille
- 1 medium eggplant (cleaned and diced small)
- 1 can of vegan organic diced tomatoes (bit.ly/CanOrganicTomato)
- 1 cup of organic spinach
- 1 large chopped organic stalk of celery
- 1 cup of chopped carrots
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tps of olive oil
- 1 Tbs of basil/ 1/4 cup of fresh organic basil (cleaned and chopped)
- 1 Tbs of braggs liquid aminos (bit.ly/BraggAminos)
- 1/2 of organic mushrooms
- 2 cups of water (or enough water to cover the veggies, which should be about 2 inches above the vegetables).
- Add all of the ingredients into the pot in the order listed.
- Feel free to sauté your onions prior to putting them in the slow-cooker, but it's not necessary.
Easy Vegan Slow Cooked Lentils
- 1.5 cups of brown organic lentils
- 1 cup of kale (cleaned and stripped from its stalk)
- 1 can of diced organic vegan tomatoes
- 1 cup of onions
- 1 Tbs of olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- 1/2 cup of carrots
- 2 cups of organic vegan vegetable stock
- Add everything to your slow cooker in the order listed under ingredients.
- Make sure that your vegetable stock or water covers your ingredients above 2 inches.
Easy Vegan Black-eyed Peas Hoppin John with Quinoa Recipe
- 2 cups of organic black-eyed peas (picked and soaked overnight)
- 1 small onion (chopped)
- 1 can of organic diced tomatoes (bit.ly/CanOrganicTomato)
- 1 tsp of paprika
- 2 tsp of olive oil
- 1tsp of dried thyme
- 1 cup of quinoa (rinsed)
- 2 cups of organic vegetable broth
- 1 tsp of vegan worcestershire sauce (bit.ly/VeganWorcestershireSauce)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Saute the onions garlic until softened. Add all of the other ingredients to the slow cooked in the order listed. Cook in your slow cooker on high for about 5 hrs.
- Slow cooking times vary, but check after 3.5 hours if you're cooking the meal on high.
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