Vegan Menu for Beginners

This post is dedicated to my friend, Richard, a hungry student after a quick, cheap and easy transitional menu.

My advice for beginners is – don’t think about tofu yet, that’s for us advanced vegans.

I’ll demystify tofu in future posts, for now, let’s start with the basics…

 

Dear Richard,

Here is the menu you requested.

I have cunningly separated the  menu into breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack ideas – so it is easy to understand.

 

Breakfasts

Cereal and Soy Milk

Try Wheatbix, Cornflakes, Rice Bubbles or Muesli. Add fruit if you want to be healthy. Add sugar if you want to be unhealthy.

I prefer Vitasoy Soymilky, it’s delicious.

Corn Fritters

Mix 1 tin of whole kernal corn (including the liquid) with 1 cup of flour, stir, fry, sprinkle on salt. Serve with sweet chilli sauce. Add salad if you want to be healthy.

Toast and Spread

Most bread is vegan. For toast I prefer grainy Molenberg or delicious Home Brand white bread. If you want to be fancy, get a French stick.

Spread ideas include; Olivite, Olivani or Pams Table Spread, Marmite (for cool people), Vegemite (for uncool people), peanut butter, jam, avocado, tomato and or hummus. Marmite and Vegemite are good because they will give you B12.

Pancakes

Recipe found here

Smoothies

Blend frozen bananas (or two bananas and ice) with water or soy milk and second fruit of choice (I like berries).

Cheap Oaty Porridge 

Heat oats with water, add 1 banana, sultanas, walnuts, mixed seeds (pumpkin and sunflower), ground cardamon, ground cinnamon, pinch of salt.  Serve warm, drizzled with lots of luscious Soymilky.

 

Lunches

Sausages in Bread

Fry up sausages, serve with mustard and tomato sauce – onions optional.

Try Fry’s Hot Dogs or Sausages or Bean Supreme Rosemary, Sage and Parsley flavour.

Wraps

Put hummus, lettuce, avocado, cucumber and tomato into a bread wrap, drizzle over a bit of oil, pepper and salt, and balsamic vinegar, or mustard if you prefer.

Hot chips

Hot chips cooked in vegetable oil can be found at many places, or you can just whip up  your own by cutting potatoes and frying them up in super hot oil on the stove.

Baked beans on toast

Heat baked beans, eat them, on toast.

 

Dinners

Falafel on rice

You can buy this, or make it. Blend drained chickpeas, garlic, onion, coriander, cumin, salt. Add a little flour. Roll into balls, fry. Serve with rice, green salad, hummus and simple tahini sauce.

Basic curry

Fry vegetables (capsicum, broccoli, onion) add drained chickpeas, some curry paste to taste, salt, pepper and 1/2 a tin of coconut cream. Add a teaspoon of sugar to sweeten if you dare. Salt and pepper as desired.

Basic beans and tomatoes

Fry onion and garlic, add a dash of tomato paste and a tin of tomatoes, add in one tin of drained red kidney beans and a few chopped vegetables (capsicum, broccoli, mushrooms). Add a teaspoon of sugar to sweeten. Salt and pepper as you wish. Serve on rice.

Stir fry

Celery, garlic, onion, capsicum, cashew nuts, pineapple, sprouted mung-beans, fried with soy sauce and a little sugar, salted to perfection and served with rice or wheat noodles.

Dal

Found here.

Pumpkin Soup

Roast pumpkin, onion and garlic. Blend with salt, coconut cream, water, cumin and coriander. Serve with fresh bread.

 

Snacks

Garlic Bread – french stick, with sliced ridges, fill with margarine mixed with garlic, roast in foil

Hummus – drained chickpeas, blended with tahini, lime, salt, and a little water (or purchased at the store for $3)

Chocolate – try Whittakers Ghana Peppermint, Dark (in the red packet), or Dark Almond

Fruit – all kinds

Mixed nuts – all kinds

Crisps – all plain crisps, or Salt & Vinegar Bluebird

Popcorn – popcorn, popped with oil and drizzled with melted margarine and salt

Smoothies – blend frozen bananas (or two bananas and ice) with water or soy milk and second fruit of choice (I like berries).

♥

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