Having started my vegan experiment only two weeks ago, I have noticed that there are some go-to ingredients vegans use to mainly add protein or make up for the lack of dairy/cream. Most of these are pretty standard ingredients but used in a different mindset when you get rid of meat/dairy. And they all pack a nutrition filled punch.
1. Avocado. It is huge in vegan recipes. It is creamy and can be added to any dish to give it depth, richness and is a dairy double, something non-vegans probably never think of for avocado. And it is a healthy fat packed with potassium, unlike delicious, delicious, horrible cheese. Making a vegan chili and can’t dump shredded cheese and sour cream on it? At least you have avocado. It just starts there. You can add it to any soup or salad to make it hardier or creamier, but vegans have found a TON of other things to do with avocado.
2. Coconut Milk. I have seen coconut milk come up in many recipes and have already bought three cans to make the recipes I have made. It is a cream double in curries, sauces and soups. It also is amazing, I love coconut flavor being added to spicy dishes. Get ready to buy a lot of fresh limes too which go so great with coconut milk anything. Harry Nilsson was spot on with that song.
3. Coconut oil. Ok, I haven’t used this yet but it comes up a lot and we are still on coconuts so I am mentioning it. I have been substituting olive oil so far. Coconut oil is used a lot because of the health benefits and also to add a coconut flavor to things. This may sound silly to some, but the cost of coconut oil has left me from buying it so far. I spend $12 on stupid things left and right but I am very weird about spending on groceries.
4. Chickpeas. In everything. Buy five cans of chickpeas now. They aren’t just for hummus or salad bars. I think most people like chickpeas but probably don’t eat them on a regular basis. As I have seen so far in vegan cooking, chickpeas can almost be added to anything as a protein boost. I have also been focusing on spicy/Indian dishes and chickpeas are prevalent. Which is awesome because I like them. Apparently if you are going super crazy Atkins or paleo, which I am so the opposite of not, you can’t eat chickpeas. Eff that, I lurve ’em.
5. Quinoa, In everything. Again. This is not really a vegan thing, I think the world at large is eating a ton of quinoa right now? I know that I have tried find both quinoa and old skool couscous lately and quinoa is busting out at my grocery store while couscous is barely present. As a side note, my dog really loves quinoa which I find hilarious. I have found quinoa best to add to any salad as a protein boost, that is my main usage of it so far. Also comes up a lot in vegan soups. I don’t find it that great as the base of a dish but that might change.
6. Tahini. Another cream/dairy substitute, tahini comes up often as something to help make vegan salad dressings more flavorful and make up for the lack of cheese/cream. My boyfriend, the man who loves ranch dressing, has called me out for saying I want to put tahini in everything now. It’s so fatty, he complains! So use it wisely, a small amount of tahini goes a long way in a dish to add some flavor. And it has a ton of other nutritional benefits which I am not going over here, but livestrong website told me so. So there! Long live tahini!
7. Maple syrup. I have seen this come up a lot in vegan cooking. Have not used it yet so this is all I am going to say.
8. Tofu. I LOVE tofu. And so do vegans. So it is a good thing I am trying to mostly be a vegan now. If you really want to embrace tofu, become a vegan today. There is so much to do with it. And it stays fresh for such a long time! It is an extreme money saver along with being one of the biggest multitasker proteins of all time. There is nothing you can’t do if you have tofu.
9. Seitan. So, of course, this comes up. I have had seitan a few times at the Whole Foods hot/cold bar. I was fine with it. I was sorta surprised you have to re-hydrate it? I read that in a recipe, apparently seitan is like a dried chile? What? I thought it came good to go like tofu? So, I can totally see myself getting down with some seitan in the future but I have issues with it. One is that I think all those vegan recipes that try to be meat dish recreation too much all rely on seitan. And two, I hate re-hydrating things. I just find it unnatural even though it is totally natural. So we will see how it goes with me and seitan.
10. SPICES! Fill your spice rack. So the biggest thing with eating vegan and not being some freak who can live off of kale juice and a plain salad alone and stay true is spices! Something I like about cooking vegan is that a lot of the recipes I have been making have been heavily spice based and I LOVE it! I like spicy food. I like learning more about spices and what it does to a dish. When you are eating a diet based mainly on veggies, spices are the key. They can make something into something else. It is like magic. They satisfy me when eating whatever. I already had a healthy spice cabinet before I started this journey and now I have a few more. It is amazing what spice can do. Maybe this is more of a revelation to me because I grew up in a household that only used butter, salt and pepper to flavor something and garlic was exotic, but bring on the spice.
11. Ginger. A lot of what I have made, perhaps thanks to it being by this former Cooks Illustrated guy who is obsessed with ginger and “grating things on a microplane” whatever that is, is, again, ginger. I get it, another vegan thing. You need to add flavor and spice when making veggie based food and ginger has that. I don’t think you need the micro grater or plane or whatever it is though, but what do I know? I have made a few of this guy’s recipes and they have been super bland despite the micro aspect is all I can tell you. But yes, ginger is key and you should get some and keep it in your fridge if you want to be vegan, it will come in handy. I love it in juice also.
12. Garlic. I panic if I am low on garlic. I know nothing about cooking but I know I can add garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon to almost anything to make it good. But I have noticed that vegan is heavy on garlic which is my norm anyway but makes sense. Low caloric impact, obviously a veggie and packs a punch. That is my philosophy on veganism as a whole as well.
13. Fresh herbs. I so miss having outdoor space/sunny windows to grow herbs in. I live in a basement apartment in Chicago. We keep the blinds closed because we don’t want people to see in. In a large city, you sacrifice things to have a dishwasher and laundry in the unit. #TRUESTORY Anyway, you should totally grow your own if you aren’t me. It is another vegan go to, to add some veggie high impact flavor: add some cilantro or basil or parsley or mint to something.
14. Chilies. I have been focusing on Indian cuisine with my vegan jaunt, but I have seen chilies kinda getting into everything. Again, a way to add a lot of spice and flavor at low calorie count, cost and good as a nutritional value. I did get annoyed the other night because I wanted habanero and our grocery store didn’t have them or even serranos! WTF!
15. Nutritional Yeast. I have only used this once but have seen it come up a bunch. This is a vegan thing they use to mimic cheese. They sell it at Whole Foods in the bulk section if you just want enough to make your dish. It was pretty much almost gone when I tried to buy it so I didn’t get much. Made me realize how many vegans there are because no one else is eating it. I totally enjoyed the salad dressing I made with it and would make it again. A lot of recipes call for it and it’s cool. I was a little skep at first but it is fine.
16. Cashews. Another cheese substitute. I hate cashews on their own but these come up all the time in vegan recipes. Cashews are used as “dairy” constantly. I put some in water to soak for a dish then ground it up in my food processor. I lived. Guess what? Cashews are cool. Eat some as a dip or dairy sub or toasted or whatever.
Vegan For Meat Lovers 