Creative Vegan Meals

 This week, I will be going through some of my favorite recipes I have come across so far being vegan. My focus when I am making a vegan dish is the amount of protein it contains. The stigma around being vegan is that the food does not contain protein. This is a big misconception- vegans simply must be more creative with their dishes. Beans have a lot of protein, so most of the meals I make have either black beans or garbanzo beans.  

 

The first recipe is what I meet most days for lunch or for a snack. It is called a chickpea or garbanzo bean salad, and beans are the base of it instead of lettuce.  

• 2 cans of chickpeas, drained, rinsed, and mashed 

• 1 can of black beans, drained, rinsed, and mashed 

• ½ bag of frozen sweet corn 

• ½ sweet red and/or orange bell pepper chopped fine 

• Celery chopped fine (sometimes I substitute a cucumber) 

• Vegan mayo 

• Lemon juice 

• Spices of your choice, I use turmeric, garlic salt, and chili powder 

I love this recipe because I never get sick of it, it is super quick and easy to make, and you can make enough for it to last about three days. Being able to prep meals for the week, especially as a college student, is super convenient for when the week gets super busy.  

The next recipe is what I eat for dinner most nights. It is also somewhat quick and easy to make, and it is delicious. I do not use exact measurements for it, I just eyeball how much of each ingredient I use. Again, since protein is important to me, I use a lot of tofu, since it is so protein-rich. This meal is a tofu stir fry. 

• Tofu 

• Green, red, or orange bell pepper (or a mixture) 

• Spinach 

• Couscous 

• Mushrooms 

• Tomato 

• Avocado 

• Garlic 

• Spices: turmeric, chili powder, garlic salt, paprika, and lemon juice 

These two meals are by far my favorite that I have come across so far, and I find them to be extremely tasty every time I eat them. Hopefully you find them to be as scrumptious as I do!