REALLY Easy Spicy Lentils

Protein packed lentils and vegetables with a spicy chilli kick!

Serves about 2

• 1/2 thinly diced onion
• 1 small green bell pepper
• 1 diced tomato
• 1 cup lentils
• 2-3 diced chilli peppers (this is medium/hot)
• salt, oil, and veg bouillon to taste

1. Cook onions on medium heat in about a tablespoon of oil until clear.
2. Add bell pepper until coated in oil.
3. Add diced tomato, salt, and 1/4 cube of vegetable bouillon
4. Finally, add your lentils.

Help! I’m Cooking for a Vegan …and I’m not Vegan!

First take a deep breath and don’t worry, everything is going to be okay. Vegans are just like everybody else and if anything are usually more willing to try different foods.

Yeah, But I don’t know what vegans actually eat.

Vegans don’t eat any animal products. If it’s not a plant, it’s an animal. This includes:

• Meat (including fish, chicken, ham bones, and animal based broths)
• Milk (including butter, whey, and milk powder)
• Eggs (including mayo and egg whites)
• Some vegans don’t eat Honey, it’s best to ask first or simply not include honey in your dinner

A NOTE ON SALAD: While yes, vegans do eat salad, it is not the only food they can eat. If you make a simple green salad it is a great appetizer or side dish but generally is not a strong entree on its own.

There are a lot of foods that you’ll find very familiar that you can easily make a vegan and non-vegan version for all of your guests. Simply cook the meat/cheese on the side and combine while serving.

Italian

• Tomato Basil or Marinara Sauce w/Pasta
• Pasta Primavera (aka Pasta with sauteed veggies & olive oil)
• White Beans and Spinach over Pasta, Bread, or Rice
• Mushroom Risotto without Parmesean (substitute veggie bouillon for beef/chicken)
• Garlic Bread
• Bruschetta

Mexican

• Bean Burrito (no cheese or sour cream, add avocado instead of cheese)
• Veggie Fajitas (mushroom, bell peppers, and grilled onions)
• Rice and Beans
• Nacho Salad
• Guacamole & Chips
• Pico de Gallo & Chips

Asian-Inspired

• Vegetable Stirfry with Rice
• Thai Vegetable Curry with Rice
• Veggies with Spicy Peanut Sauce

American!
If you’re from a meat and potatoes type family your son’s new vegan girlfriend might sound threatening. But there are ways to cook a traditional meal while accommodating vegans.

• Vegetable Casserole
• Bean Casserole
• Green Bean Casserole
• Baked Beans
• Mashed Potatoes (sub milk for soy milk and put the butter on the side)
• Sides of fresh vegetables 
• Vegetable Soup
• Cabbage Soup
• If you really want to show off, make a home made veggie burger

As a vegan when I go to someone’s house to eat this is all I want:

1. To not inconvenience the cook.
2. To feel safe eating the food and not worried that the host doesn’t know that butter isn’t vegan.
3. To not draw attention to my diet. Cholesterol problems and factory farms are generally not great dinner conversation.
4. To eat and enjoy the company.

For great vegan recipes go to www.vegweb.com

Cheap Vegan Left Over Revival Guide to Last Night´s Chinese Food

Have you ever looked at your left over Chinese and just thought, ¨hmm don´t really want to eat this…¨
You probably eat it anyway, but nothing is as good as the fresh Lo Mein you had the night before. But lucky for us there are ways to revive your left overs to the point that they seem like a brand new meal.

Since we are dealing with vegan Chinese food, it´s safe to say the main ingredients of your meal are vegetables and rice (maybe noodles if they´re egg free). So what you´re looking at for Chinese food on day 2 is a stir fry that can bring some pizazz back to your grease soaked brocoli.

The biggest challenge with these left overs is that Chinese food seems to double in moisture overnight to a point where all of the vegetables have all sort of turned the same color… I´m going to try to help you make this appetizing!

1. Make some extra brown rice. This will help soak up the flavor and give us a base of our meal. You might even have some left over with your main dish.
2. Get a pan hot and throw on some onions, ginger, and garlic. This combo can accomodate sweet, spicy, or soy saucy tastes.
3. Next, add the left overs to your pan. Try to simmer off some of the excess water. 
4. Then we add any fresh veggies that match what was already in the dish. Some staples of most vegan chinese food dishes are cabbage, cashews, brocoli, tofu, carrots, and peas. These are pretty safe places to start.
5. You´ll need to add some flavor so your fresh ingredients match your left overs, so make sure everything is soaked pretty well. To do this, try to mimic whatever sauce was on there before.
   SALTY: Hoisin, Teriaki, Soy, even salt or vegetable broth
   SWEET: Add some fruit like pineapple or orange juice
   SWEET AND SOUR: try a pineapple, soy sauce and vinegar combo* 
   IF YOU LIKE SPICE: Add some red pepper flakes or sriracha 
   **NOTE: Adding a bad sauce to your stir fry is guaranteed to ruin your meal. Make sure that if you´re experimenting do so in a separate bowl. Then, dip a vegetable from the original left over to taste if it compliments your dish the way you intended. Always add sauces slowly, there´s nothing worse than too much of a good thing.
   AFRAID OF SCREWING UP THE FLAVOR?
    If you aren´t a wiz in the kitchen and you really just want to keep this simple, season with the free packets of soy and duck sauce you got with your meal. Maybe add a little red pepper if you´re feeling crazy. 
   If you still seem to have gone a little too far justpour out some of the excess sauce, add some water, and sautee for an extra minute or 2. 
6. Add your Stirfry to the rice and enjoy your Chinese food´s 2nd life.

Vegan and Vegetarian Summer Events

Check out all the vegan and vegetarian events for the summer at Happy Cow!

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE EVENT CALENDER, there may be an event near you today!

Cooking with Frozen Veggies doesn’t have to end bitter.

Cheap and Simple Peanut Butter & Banana Breakfast Taco

Here’s a tasty and super Cheap Vegan breakfast idea that can make good use of the last slice.

The directions and ingredients are simple.

• 1 slice of (Ezekiel) bread
• (Natural) Peanut Butter 
• Banana

That’s it. Spread the peanut butter on the bread, put the banana in the middle, fold bread over banana. Grilling is optional, but highly recommended.
This only costs about 75 cents to make at most and takes about 1 minute to make.
I survived off of these sandwiches for a month when I was extra low on cash & living without a kitchen while interning in LA.
The banana only cost about 15 cents, a loaf of bread is $3-$4, and peanut butter is about $3. This is a very good Cheap Vegan survival food and will make as many sandwiches as you have slices. Plus, it’s easy to carry and eat while you walk.

Bananas help lower blood pressure due to their ultra high potassium levels, 2 Tbsp of peanut butter has 8 grams of protein, and if you eat Ezekiel bread there are added benefits.
Ezekiel bread is made of sprouted wheat. Allowing the wheat to begin the sprouting process unleashes enzymes. The bread is actually made of living sprouts making it more rich in nutrients. It’s easier to digest and only 60 - 80 calories depending on the type. Ezekiel bread has a very rich nutty flavor, I highly recommend trying it. (But be sure to check the frozen food isle, sometimes this bread is kept frozen in supermarkets.)

Here are a few ways to spice up this already awesome meal.

• Sprinkle cinnamon on top - Even the smell of cinnamon is good for you! Catching whiffs of cinnamon stimulates brain function.
• Add: Raisins, thin cut apple slices, strawberries, or dark chocolate chips
• Put some granola on top of the peanut butter, gives you an added sweet crunch.
• Dip in Apple Sauce. I think this is the best tip, dipping this ‘taco’ in some apple sauce is 100% perfection.

Tip!

A lot of grocery stores around here have these cases of vegetables bundled together. This one has a 1/4 head of cabbage, 3 or 4 carrots, 4 or 5 stalks of celery, 1 scallion, and what looks like a parsnip! I’ve never used parsnip before, but I use all of these other vegetables all the time, and because they are maybe a day past the selling date, they sell them for only 1.80Euros, not bad. Some grocery stores do similar things with day old bread, bagels, fruit, etc.