I can safely say that I spent most of Veganuary last year thinking “What the hell am I supposed to eat today?!”
So if you too are giving Veganuary a try this year and don’t know where to start, I thought I would share with you what have turned out to be our favourite dinners over the last 12 months.
My boys really don’t like spice and so we generally have to leave out any chilli from recipes, plus we have also unfortunately discovered that my eldest is intolerant to garlic! But we do still manage to make some very tasty meals even without those ingredients.
• Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chilli https://www.cookingclassy.com/wprm_print/31687
• Cauliflower and Chickpea Curry https://www.thelastfoodblog.com/cauliflower-and-chickpea…/
• Shepherd’s pie made with Lentils (I leave out the parmesan ) https://www.bbc.co.uk/…/vegetarian_shepherds_pie_73637
• Bolognaise made with grated Tempeh https://minimalistbaker.com/1-pan-tempeh-bolognese/
• Tofu Stir Fry – we use marinated Tofu and a sauce recipe from Bosh! Healthy Vegan p186. I can’t find the recipe online but it is quite similar to this Teriyaki sauce https://www.bosh.tv/recipes/teriyaki-tempeh
• Vegetarian Sausage and MashOur favourites are the Morrisons Vegetarian Sausages https://groceries.morrisons.com/…/morrisons-v-taste-6…
• Mexican Lasagna (with vegan cheese) https://foodnetwork.co.uk/…/mexican-lasagne-with…/
• Sweet Potato, Aubergine and Chickpea Tagine (Vegan Everyday Cookbook) https://plantbasedmag.com/sweet-potato-aubergine-and…/
• Goulash and Dumplings (Speedy Bosh!) https://www.bosh.tv/…/5-vegan-dinners-you-can-make-in… (Recipe starts at 5:56 in video)
• Peanut Stew with Sweet Potato and Chickpeas (Veganuary Recipe)Available free in Veganuary Cookbook when you register. https://veganuary.com/celebrity-cookbook-2020/
• Roast dinner with mushroom filo parcels (Bosh! Healthy Vegan Cookbook) https://foodism.co.uk/recipes/bosh-healthy-roast-dinner/ Or we cheat and have these delicious tarts with our roast veg. https://groceries.morrisons.com/…/morrisons-the-best…
It did take quite a bit of trial and error to find the recipes that the boys liked (and to also adjust to the new flavours and textures), but after a bit of perseverance we now have these meals regularly and the boys don’t even blink. I even have my youngest asking for more chickpeas and tofu. Words I never thought I would ever hear him say.
The good thing about these recipes is that they are simple and mostly quick to make. I also like the fact that a lot of the main ingredients have a long shelf life so I can always make sure that I have chickpeas, lentils, black beans, borlotti beans, tinned tomatoes, frozen vegetarian sausages, tempeh and marinated tofu in the house. Prior to Veganuary last year I had only ever bought tinned tomatoes from that list.
I hope that you manage to find some new favourite recipes this month. All I would say is to keep experimenting. I am still constantly surprised by which recipes I turn out to like when I really didn’t think that I would!