Vegan for Life - Jack Norris [47]
Natural foods groceries carry commercial products like EnerG Egg Replacer and Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer or try one of the following to replace eggs in baked goods.
For each egg:
• Grind 1 heaping tablespoon of whole flaxseed in a blender until it becomes a fine meal. Add 3 tablespoons cold water and blend until thick and viscous. The consistency is just like raw egg.
• Beat together 2 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon oil, and 2 teaspoons baking powder.
• Whip 1 tablespoon plain agar powder (a seaweed product found in most natural foods stores) with 1 tablespoon water. Chill and then whip again.
• Mix 1 tablespoon full-fat soy flour with 3 tablespoons water.
• Mix together 1 tablespoon white vinegar and 1 teaspoon baking soda to make an instant, light foam.
Go Egg-Free for Breakfast and Lunch
When it comes to replacing eggs on the menu, there is nothing like tofu. Mash tofu and sauté it in vegan margarine with mushrooms and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast for “scrambled tofu.” Or chop firm tofu and mix with onion, celery, and vegan mayonnaise for vegan egg salad. You may want to track down some black salt (called kala namak), which can be found in Indian groceries or ordered online. It smells and tastes exactly like egg yolks. Try it in scrambled tofu or in recipes for vegan omelets.
Pack Up Vegan Food to Go
There are thousands and thousands of vegan recipes for dinner and at-home meals. But you can brown-bag it vegan-style too. If your workplace has a microwave oven, you can enjoy instant soups packaged as individual servings (the kind in cardboard cups) or prepared burritos. If you don’t have access to a microwave, take leftover beans, soups, or stews to work in a good quality thermos. Use the weekend to prepare a big pot of soup or beans and then freeze individual portions for grab-and-go meals to heat at work.
Or make sandwiches from vegan luncheon meats or hummus. Hummus-to-Go made by Wild Garden is a good choice when you don’t have refrigeration since it comes in sealed individual-serving-size packages. Trail mix, instant oatmeal, and apples with almond butter are other tasty on-the-go snacks.
A great option for brown-bag lunches is a wrap sandwich that uses leftovers from dinner. Keep a stack of large whole-wheat flour tortillas in the refrigerator and try some of the combinations below for wrap fillings:
• Diced potatoes, chopped celery, capers, and sun-dried tomatoes. Add a dressing of hummus, lemon tahini, or vegan mayonnaise with Dijon mustard.
• Black or pinto beans with shredded Monterey Jack–style jalapeño soy cheese and chopped tomatoes.
• Shredded carrots, peanuts, and raisins mixed with vegan mayonnaise.
• Veggie burger crumbles tossed with sunflower seeds, shredded carrots, and tahini.
• Peanut butter and jelly. (Who says you can’t have a PB&J wrap?)
• Rice, lentils, and shredded cabbage with sesame shiitake vinaigrette.
• Chopped chickpeas, onions, and celery mixed with vegan mayo and a dash of lemon juice.
• Baked tofu with spicy peanut sauce.
• Chopped tomatoes, carrots, and cucumber mixed into hummus.
Keep Learning
The variety of vegan products is growing like wildfire, and you’d be surprised by how many old-time favorites in the grocery store are vegan. As you explore, experiment, and taste, your menus will evolve, and you’ll find solutions to menu-planning problems. Even longtime vegans find that their menus and diets develop over time based on new products and changing lives. Maybe you need to identify a list of restaurants where you can meet friends or take business clients or host a child’s birthday party. If you entertain, you may need to gather ideas for a vegan cocktail party or for family get-togethers. The Internet is a valuable resource for these more specific issues.
VEGAN ON A BUDGET
Making the change to a vegan diet won’t automatically save you money, but it’s easy enough to plan healthy and enjoyable meals with a budget in mind. There’s a balance, though: The best