For the Future #1 Five Crazy Lazy Vegan Recipes

This is my first entry into my new format For the Future, in which I talk about sustainability. Veganism is a great option to decrease one’s ecological footprint and to stand up to the exploitation of living things in the food industry. Additionally, it is available to everyone every single day, offering you a possibility to promote a change everyday just by choosing plant-based alternatives instead of dairy or meat-based ones.

Therefore, today, I would like to show you some really basic recipes that I tend to fall back to when I do not know what to eat. They are all really simple and still tasty and they should show you how easy it is to cook some nice vegan food. There is much more to explore when it comes to vegan recipes and I hope this post gives you a small glimpse of what’s possible on a vegan diet. Enjoy!

1.Sweet Potato Coconut Curry

Ingredients:

• 1 sweet potato
• 250 grams of red lentils
• a can of coconut milk
• Curry powder
• Plant-based margarine
• Optional: rice and a red pepper

Instructions:

1. Cook the red lentils in advance. In the meantime, peel the sweet potato and dice it. When the lentils are finished, get rid of the water and keep the lentils in a pot or a sieve
2. Heat the margarine and fry the potatoes on medium heat. Caution, they get burnt easily and take some time until they’re finished
3. If you decide to add pepper, wash and cut it while the potatoes are being fried but make sure the ‘tatoes do not burn in the meantime
4. When the sweet potatoes change colour, go darker and soften, they are done (this can take up to 20 minutes)
5. Optional: add pepper at this point and fry it until it is done, since it is done cooking much faster than the sweet potatoes. My Tip: add it a few minutes before the sweet potatoes are done frying to save time, for example after 15 minutes.
6. Add the coconut milk and curry powder and mix them
7. Cook the curry for a few minutes and taste it occasionally, then add the lentils
8. Mix everything and cook it for a few minutes on low heat
9. Once it is all mixed and you have spiced it to your liking, you are done

2. Simple Vegan Burger Patties

Ingredients:

• 200 grams of unripe spelt grain
• 100 grams of oats
• 1 onion
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 teaspoons of curry powder
• 4 teaspoons of vegetable broth powder
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• vegan margarine

Instructions:

3. Couscous-Pan with Beans and Raisins

Ingredients:

• Couscous
• Beans (white or baked)
• Chick peas
• Raisins
• ½ onion
• plant-based margarine
• Salt, pepper
• Any spice you like (I use Vegeta, which is a German one)
• Optional: Some kind of sauce, e.g. Salsa Sauce, it is optional but contrasts the raisins nicely and adds some nice taste

It is up to you how much of the ingredients you use. Just use as much as you need to eat. I tend to use a can of beans and chick peas, each

Instructions:

1. Prepare the couscous (follow the instructions on the packaging)
2. cut the onion to small pieces
3. melt the margarine in a pan and fry the onion
4. Add the beans and chick peas once the onion is done frying
5. Once the beans and chick peas are finished, add the couscous and spices of your preference and fry everything for a few minutes. Tip: make sure the couscous does not get burnt
6. add the raisins and sauce and serve

4. Tomato-Vegetable-Goodness for lazy days

Ingredients:

• Corn (canned)
• 1 Pepper
• Sieved tomatoes (canned)
• Spices that you like
• Salsa sauce
• Vegan margarine

Instructions:

1. wash and cut the pepper into small pieces
2. heat the margarine
3. fry the pepper and corn
4. add the sieved tomatoes and spice them, they are the basis of the sauce
5. depending on how spicy you want the meal to be, add some salsa sauce to add some taste. Which one is up to you.
6. mix everything and cook it until the tomatoes are warm. Taste and when you are happy with the taste, it’s finished
7. noodles and fries match this perfectly

5. Vegan (soy-free) Burritos

Ingredients:

• Wraps or something comparable that can be used for burritos
• Salsa Sauce or vegan onion sauce, whatever you prefer
• Either vegan minced meat, couscous or bulgur
• Plant-based margarine
• Kidney beans
• Corn
• pepper

These can be any vegetables you want

Instructions:

1. Prepare the couscous, bulgur or minced meat alternative that you plan to use as explained on the packaging (I will refer to this as minced meat)
2. heat the margarine in a pan
3. fry the minced meat. After 5 minutes (the time depends on the product you use), add the beans, corns and vegetables and fry them until they are finished
4. Put the wrap on a plate
5. Add the fried ingredients
6. Optional: add another sauce and pour it onto the ingredients
7. Close the burrito. I tend to fold the right and left side inwards and then close the upper and lower side by folding them towards one another

That’s it for the recipes. Now I would like to give you some tips that might help you to go vegan.

Tips for a Vegan Lifestyle:

• get used to checking the ingredients of products to see if they are vegan, once you’re used to that, it just becomes normal
• Especially while transitioning to veganism, collect recipes
• use the internet or buy a cooking book to do so
• you can also use apps like KptnCook to find recipes
• KptnCook helps you to find out where you can buy all the ingredients for their recipes and you can find at least one vegan recipe per day on it (This is not an advertisement, I just find it to be helpful)
• veganise non-vegan recipes by replacing the animal-based products in them with vegan alternatives
• you can use veganuary or veganstart challenges to push yourself and collect recipes at the same time
• do some research on local restaurants, cafés etc. that offer vegan options
• check out the homepages of local activist groups. Maybe you will find lists of such restaurants or even additional information that can help you to go vegan

It is really easy to cook some nice vegan food and you do not have to give up on anything. There are all sorts of plant-based alternatives that you can use instead of meat and animal-based products as a whole. I hope that these recipes prove this and that they gave you some inspiration.

What’s next?

This was the first time that I wrote down some recipes and I am not convinced to be honest. I think it is going to be a one-of thing, since translations of food and its ingredients are really not my forte and I feel a bit out of my element. This post does not really match the standards that I have for my content. Therefore, this probably won’t become a cooking blog.

Nonetheless, you can expect content about sustainability on this blog. Despite this type of content not really being my cup of tea, these recipes are great and just prove how easy it is to cook some nice vegan food. Maybe I will still post recipes from time to time if I find one that is particularly interesting. Until then, enjoy.

Also, feel free to share your thoughts about the recipes or to share some other vegan recipes in the comments. As always, thank you for reading and take care.

-sovlpvnk

Next time on sovlpvnk: Listen-In #1 Challenging Heteronormativity and Toxic Masculinity- letlive.’s Lemon Party

https://sovlpvnk.com/2020/04/20/listen-in-1-challenging-heteronormativity-and-toxic-masculinity-letlive-s-lemon-party/