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.

Tofu Redemption
Now in my last article I know I hated on tofu a little, but like it or not, tofu is a great source of iron and protein. My philosophy as a vegan is to force myself to learn to like everything (healthy) I can eat. Following a vegan diet means that you cut yourself off to a lot of “normal” foods, so it’s harder for people to be as tolerant of a picky vegan. Plus, it’s harder on yourself to be picky. There are less opportunities to get the proper nutrients and gives you even less options when you go out to eat.

While tofu isn’t my favorite food, it can actually be pretty fun to experiment with in the kitchen. Tofu’s unique lack of almost any flavor makes it kind of gross on its own, but also makes it a really easy incorporate into almost any recipe.

You can add tofu to almost anything, savory or sweet. One of my favorites is the ever popular tofu scramble.

The Cheap Vegan Southwest Tofu Scramble
(3-4 servings)

In 1st pan:

• 1 14oz cube tofu
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp tumeric (mostly for yellow color)
• salt and pepper to taste

In 2nd pan:

• 1 onion
• 2 chopped green peppers
• 5 small red potatoes
• 3 chopped plum tomatoes
• 1/2 cup black beans
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 3/4 tsp thyme
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
• sprinkle of chilli powder

In 1st pan:

1. Pinch off bite size pieces of tofu and put on medium heat. Allow water to evaporate off.
2. Once the water is mostly gone mix in the nutritional yeast, garlic, salt, pepper, and tumeric.
3. Leave on low heat stirring occasionally while the other pan is cooking.

In 2nd pan:

1. Bake, microwave or pan fry potatoes until they are soft, cut in quarters and set aside.
2. Dice onion and put into pan with about a tablespoon of olive oil. I try to use as little olive oil as possible but enough to get my onions clear.
3. Once onions have cleared add the green pepper and potatoes.
4. Once the potatoes and peppers have been evenly coated with the rest of the mixture add tomatoes, black beans, garlic, thyme, cumin, crushed red pepper, and chilli powder.
5. Combine Pan 1 and 2. Add salt to taste.
6. Serve in a bowl as a skillet, on bread as a sandwich, or in a burrito. I suggest serving with avocado and salsa on the side.

This recipe incorporates 3 items from our list of iron and protein foods as well nutritional yeast which is a great source of vitamin B12.

Mexiquinoawesome!
(rice substitute)

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1/2 vegetable bouillon cube
• 1/2 onion
• generous amount of garlic powder
• 1 yellow or green pepper
• 1 tomato
• 1 can black beans
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• 1/3 tsp cumin
• 2 leafs chopped Romaine or Kale
• Serve with Cholula hot sauce

1. Soak quinoa for 5 minutes. Add quinoa and bouillon cube to 1 and 1/2 cup water and bring to boil for 15 minutes in tight lid. Turn heat off and let steam until soft.
2. Add onion, garlic powder, and a splash of olive oil in a large deep frying pan.
3. Once onion clears, add the rest of the ingredients in order except for Kale/Romaine.
4. Serve on a bed of Romaine lettuce or Kale (see article here)

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad - Served warm or cool
(cous cous subsititute)

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1/2 onion chopped to preference
• 1 clove chopped garlic
• 6 mushrooms sliced
• 1 zuchinni/yellow squash (cut into half circles)
• 1 red pepper chopped
• 1 cup kale or spinach
• 1 can garbanzo beans
• 2-3 tbsp black olives
• salt or bouillon cube to taste

1. Soak quinoa for 5 minutes, then add to 1 and 1/2 cups water and bring to boil for 15 minutes with a tight lid. Turn off heat and let steam.
2. While quinoa is cooking, sautee onions and garlic in deep pan.
3. Once onions are clear, add mushroom. Then add the rest of the ingredients in order.
4. Either add cooked quinoa at the end and mix thoroughly
   or serve quinoa and put vegetable mixture on top.
5. serve warm or cold.

Gluten-free Quinoa Oatmeal Replacer

feeds 2-3

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 chopped bananas
• 1 diced red apple
• 3 tbsp Raisins
• 2 handful walnuts
• Brown sugar optional
• cinnamon to taste

1. Soak quinoa for 5 minutes. Then mix quinoa in a bowl of 1 and 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil and seal with tight lid for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and let it steam until no longer hard.
Add splash of non-dairy milk if you want a creamier texture.
2. Once everything is cooked add the rest of your ingredients and eat!

Ready To Go BBQ Sides

Happy Memorial Day Everybody! Did you run out of time to make your side for the BBQ today? Don’t worry, I have a short list of easy vegan BBQ options that everyone will thank you for.

1. Watermelon: Cut into wedges and serve
2. Baked Beans: I know it’s the easy way out but it’s a familiar food that’s also a good source of protein. Just buy a can of vegetarian baked beans, heat, and serve in a nice bowl. At least a pretty presentation can look like you put in effort.
3. Veggie Tray - Baby carrots, some celery sticks, cucumber, cauliflower, Done. Maybe throw in some hummus if you’re feeling generous.
4. Easiest, I mean EASIEST, Black Bean Salsa: This is from a past Cheap Vegan Post that you can check out here.
5. Beer: If all else fails, grabbing a last minute case doesn’t hurt.

Free Vegan Apps

There are a lot of apps on the market designed to make going vegan easier. Here is a list of some free ones that are pretty cool. Great for new vegans who need a little help.

1. 21-Day Vegan Kickstart - This app maps out the first 21 days of being vegan with recipes as well as suggestions on what to order at restaurants. It includes Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snack, and Dessert.
2. Animal Free - This is basically a dictionary of all questionable ingredients. They tell you if weird ingredients like “Isinglass” or “Glucose Isomerate” is vegetarian, vegan or neither. It’s a nice little pocket dictionary specifically for shopping vegan.
3. Whole Foods Market Recipes - This app lets you put in what type of meal you want (dinner, soups, breads, etc.)  Then you can actually put in a “budget” option to find you inexpensive meals! After that you put in any dietary restrictions and the app finds recipes for you to choose from. Once you decide on a recipe, the app creates a shopping list for you!
   There is also an option where you type in what you have in your kitchen, and the recipe finder will find a meal to match the ingredients you already have.
4. The Eatery - This isn’t specifically a vegan app but it’s a great way to stick to a vegan diet if you’re worried about falling off the wagon. What you do is you snap photos of your food and people rate them healthy or unhealthy. There is no exact science to this app, but if you get friends to join in it can be helpful.
   First you tell them you’re eating vegan from now on and you agree to use The Eatery. Then you make a point to update every meal. This makes you accountable for what you eat and will make it less likely for you to “cheat”. It’s also fun to read comments and see what scores you get.

Quick, Cheap, and Hearty Salad For The Entire Work Week

Making a meal that lasts the entire week is great for those of us on a busy schedule. For the winter I used soup as an example. But as the weather gets warmer, hot soup gets a little less appealing. Here’s a recipe you can make over the weekend to last you the entire work week.

This hearty salad is a nutritious and refreshing meal on the go. It includes 7 different types of raw vegetables and fruit. It also has protein of your choice. This is a great meal for any person who needs to include more whole foods and fiber in their diet.

You only need a few ingredients to make a large portion. The price of all of the produce equals out to be $5 or $6 and makes 4-6 servings. That’s the same as eating out for lunch 1 day!

The salad stays good for a long period of time and actually gets tastier the longer it sits. It’s very easy to bring into work. Plus it acts as a great meal on it’s own, or a colorful side to lunch or dinner.

So without further adieu,

Marybeth’s Diced Salad
(mostly raw)

serves 4-6 people

• 1/2 onion
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 cucumber
• 2 zucchinis or yellow squash
• 6 stalks of celery
• 1 red apple
• 6-7 baby carrots
• 2 handfuls of walnuts or 1 cup of well-rinsed black, white, or garbanzo beans
• 4 tbsp red wine vinegar (not raw)
• salt/pepper/oregano/garlic powder to taste

1. Dice the ingredients in order as listed in to small 2x2cm cubes and place in a large tupperware. Stir each new vegetable in to mixture as you go.
   NOTE: When you get to the celery, before chopping, smash celery with a tenderizing mallet on both sides. This will make the celery more absorbent when it’s mixed with the vegetables’ juices.
2. Sprinkle salt, pepper, oregano and garlic powder on top.
3. Add vinegar and serve or refrigerate.

Special thanks to my friend Marybeth for inspiring this recipe.