Veganism is not just a trendy movement but a lifestyle that combines care for one’s health, the environment, and animals. Is it possible to stick to this eating style while enjoying various delicious dishes? Of course.
We’ve selected the seven tastiest and most nutritious vegan dishes, enriching your diet with necessary vitamins and minerals while satisfying even the most demanding tastes.
For Breakfast — Quinoa Salad with Vegetables and Nuts
To prepare this breakfast for two, you will need 1 cup of tri-color quinoa, a handful of shelled pistachios or pumpkin seeds, frisée lettuce, romaine lettuce, 5 cherry tomatoes, 1 small sweet pepper, 1 small avocado, 1 teaspoon of nutritional yeast, sprouts, and hazelnut or pumpkin oil.
How to prepare:
Start by cooking the quinoa. It’s best to soak it in the fridge overnight, drain the water in the morning, add fresh water up to 1 cm above the grains, and cook for 8-10 minutes on high heat, stirring occasionally. After cooking, turn off the heat, cover, add hazelnut oil, and let it steep for 5-8 minutes.
Next, chop the cherry tomatoes, pepper, lettuce, and avocado, and mix with the seeds. If using, add nutritional yeast. Then, mix the mixture with warm quinoa and oil and add the sprouts.
You can replace quinoa with amaranth, millet, or buckwheat. You can also swap vegetable seeds but keep the indicated quantities.
For Lunch — lima beans Steered with Garlic and Herbs
This dish requires 300-350g of lima beans, a small bunch of green onions, parsley, 3-4 garlic cloves, 4-5 tablespoons of nutritional yeast, a pinch of sea salt, and 1/3 cup of olive oil.
How to prepare:
Rinse the lima beans and cook them in salted boiling water. When the beans are soft, blend the herbs, garlic, yeast, oil, and 2-3 tablespoons of beans in the water they were cooked in.
Then, blend the mixture until smooth, return it to the beans—drizzle the dish with dry oil, and sprinkle with ground black pepper.
Lima beans can be replaced with large white beans, though cooking time must be increased by 1 hour. Alternatively, you can soak the beans overnight.
Looking for interesting and unconventional breakfast ideas? Read our extensive selection of morning meals from around the world.
For Lunch — Cream Soup with White Mushrooms
For the mushroom puree soup, you will need 600g of fresh mushrooms, 2 large potatoes, 1 large onion, 1/3 large carrot, 2 full teaspoons of salt, 1 teaspoon each of fenugreek, coriander, and hop-surely, sunflower oil for frying, and sesame seeds for garnish.
How to prepare:
Start by boiling the potatoes in salted water until done. Do not discard the water, as the soup will be needed later. Next, peel and chop the onion and carrot, and rinse and chop the mushrooms.
Heat a little sunflower oil in a deep skillet. Fry the onion and carrot on medium heat for 5 minutes, then reduce the heat and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chopped mushrooms, mix, and cook on medium heat for 20 minutes until the mushrooms are soft and aromatic.
Pour in a cup of potato broth, cover, leaving a small opening, and simmer on low heat for another 35 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the mixture steep for another 10 minutes. Then, blend the sautéed mushrooms and vegetables in salt and spices until smooth.
Serve the soup garnished with sesame seeds and a little fresh greenery.
For lunch — cribbage rolls with Chinese cabbage
To prepare this dish, you will need: 1 Chinese cabbage (10-12 leaves), 1 1/4 cups of jasmine rice, 1 carrot, 1/2 onion, 1/2 bunch of green onions, fresh ginger slices (optional), 3 garlic cloves, 1/2 chili pepper, 1/4 cup of soy sauce, 400g of mushrooms, sesame seeds, and salt/pepper to taste.
For the sauce, you will need 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, 1 teaspoon of chili pepper, 1/2 tablespoon of ground ginger, 1 garlic clove, 2 tablespoons of tamari, 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon of maple syrup, 120ml of water, and 1/2 tablespoon of cornstarch.
How to prepare:
First, trim the cabbage root and peel the leaves one by one. Then, boil a pot of water and blanch the cabbage for about 1 minute until it is soft and flexible but not fully wilted. Then, quickly plunge the cabbage into cold water to cool.
Heat some oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet and fry the onion, garlic, ginger, chili, carrot, mushrooms, and soy sauce. Add the cooked rice and mix well. Then, place 1 1/2 tablespoons of filling on each cabbage leaf and roll it up. Fry the rolls on each side for 2-3 minutes until golden brown.
Next, prepare the sauce: heat oil in a pot, then add ginger, chili, garlic, tamari, rice vinegar, and maple syrup. Let it simmer for 1-2 minutes. Mix the water with the cornstarch to make a paste, and pour it into the pan. Cook the sauce for a few more minutes until thickened.
Drizzle the sauce over the rolls and sprinkle with sesame seeds and fresh herbs.
For Dessert — Carrot Cake with Coconut Cream
For the dessert, you will need: 135ml of plant oil (such as avocado, coconut, or sesame), 75g of brown unrefined sugar or syrup (such as topinambur or maple), 2 tablespoons of flaxseed, 4 tablespoons of water, vanilla extract, 150g of gluten-free flour, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1.5 teaspoons of baking powder, 0.5 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, 170g of grated carrots, 100g of coconut cream or plant-based yogurt with vegan butter, 120g of unrefined powdered sugar or xylitol/stevia.
How to prepare:
First, grate the carrots and set them aside. Then, mix the sugar, flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Add the oil, flax eggs, and vanilla, and mix well.
If the mixture is too thick, add a teaspoon of almond milk. Then, add the grated carrots and transfer the batter to a greased pan (15×15 cm). Bake the cake for 30 minutes at 180°C.
Once the dessert has cooled, beat the cream and powdered sugar until fluffy. Spread the cream on the carrot cake and serve.
Store the dessert in the refrigerator.
For Dessert — Coconut Milk Pancakes
To prepare this dish, you will need 1 cup of coconut milk, 4 tablespoons of wheat flour, 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, 1.5 tablespoons of sugar, and 0.5 teaspoon of salt.
How to prepare:
First, sift the flour into a bowl to remove any lumps. Add the sugar and salt, then mix thoroughly.
Slowly pour in the coconut milk and whisk the mixture until smooth. Once the flour is fully incorporated, add the vegetable oil and mix again. Let the batter sit for 15-20 minutes.
To fry, use a non-stick skillet or vegetable oil. The pancakes are delicate, so make them small to ease flipping.
Cook the pancakes on low heat until golden on both sides. Serve with fruit, honey, jam, or vegan sour cream.
For Dinner — Warm Green Peas with Vegetables
For this dish, you will need 200g of green peas (fresh or frozen), a large handful of mushrooms, chopped eggplant or small corn kernels (fresh or frozen), one zucchini, salt, dried basil, olive oil, dry chili, nut milk, or two tablespoons of nutritional yeast.
How to prepare:
First, heat olive oil in a skillet and add 1 teaspoon of dried basil and a pinch of chili. Let them heat up in the oil to release their flavor, but avoid burning.
Then add the chopped zucchini and peas and cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Next, add a third dense vegetable or mushrooms, salt, and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
Before serving, stir in nut milk or nutritional yeast: the dish should resemble curry or a very thick soup.
