#easy vegan food

Ingredients

• Pastry (If you’re in NZ and need gluten free, pavillion does one, you can get it from countdown. New Way does a non gluten free puff pastry that’s awesome, available from countdown and Pak n Save)
• A block of firm tofu (2 if you don’t want to use vegetables) You could swap out the tofu entirely for vegetables but it will change the flavour.
• 1 can of plain chopped tomatoes or puree (can be substituted for tomato paste, but use half as much)
• A good splash of soy sauce
• ¼ cup brewers yeast
• Sundried tomatoes (pams is the best brand). You can do without these but I really think they make the flavour.
• Kalamata olives (delmaine is good) You can do without these but I really think they make the flavour.
• Flour (can be gluten free)

Optional

• Whatever vegetables you have spare. I like eggplant, zucchini, spinach, and kale. Be aware that carrot will likely change the taste so use sparingly until you know what you like.
• Vegetable stock - this is ideal if you want a ‘meatier’ tasting filling (massel does a FODMAP friendly veggie stock)
• Dairy free cheese (zenzo chedder is good, if you want something creamier and milder the dairy free mozarellas are good). Plain hummus or one of my cheese sauce recipes will also do fine.
• Cumin seeds
• Ground coriander
• Herbs, fresh is ideal but dried is fine. I like basil, coriander, oregano, and chives (chives are good if you want a more onion/garlic flavour)
• White or apple cider vinegar
• Hot sauce - I like chipotle, it’s not too hot and it adds a smokey flavour.
• Another can of tinned tomatoes
• Chunky vegetables (pies, carrot, corn etc)

1. Method
2. Chop up the tofu and/or vegetables, and the olives and sundried tomatoes. It’s a good idea to either press or freeze/squeeze the tofu so it can soak up the flavours of the broth (see my earlier post about freezing tofu to make pressing super easy). If you feel like it, just run the tofu and vegetables through the food processor till they have a vaguely mince like texture. Don’t mince up any vegetables you want to keep whole (like peas and corn etc).
3. Throw the 'mince’, any other vegetables, and the cumin seeds (if you’re using them) in a frying pan or wok. You can use regular oil but I like to use some of the spare oil from the sundried tomatoes. Stirfry everything for ten minutes or so.
4. Add a good splash of soy sauce (more if you want a meaty flavour, less if you don’t) and the brewers yeast and stir them in really well.  Now is also a good time to add the ground coriander if you’re using it. Stirfry for another ten minutes. If the mixture starts to stick or clump up, add a splash of white or apple cider vinegar, it’ll deglaze the pan and add a bit of bite to the mixture.
5. Now add the tomatoes, if you want a strong tomato flavour add two cans. If you’re using it, add the made up stock. This will add quite a bit of moisture to the mix.
6. Let the mixture simmer for about ten minutes, then taste test. If the flavour is a bit too mild, add a quarter cup of the brine from the kalamata olives and test again. If you want more flavour, add hot sauce slowly until the taste is about right.
7. Add the chopped herbs and stir them in. Let the mixture simmer for ten minutes. If it gets too dry, add a bit of water, what you’re looking for is the pieces of tomato to be getting soft and mushy.
8. When you’re sick of waiting, or the tomato chunks are mushy, add a few tablespoons of flour (and more water if needed) and stir in well to make a thick gravy around the 'mince’.
9. While the mixture is simmering, preheat the oven to 180C and roll out or cut your pastry, then line a pie dish (use oil if it isn’t non stick) with it (you can also cheat and use muffin trays for small pies but it’s a bit fiddly). If you want to, brush the inside of the pastry with oil to keep it from getting soggy (I don’t usually bother). When the mixture is ready, spoon it into the pastry, then add slices of dairy free cheese on top or your preferred “cheese” mix. Dab a bit of water around the edges, and put the pastry lid on, smooshing the pastry together as you go.
10. Brush the top with oil, stab a few holes in it. Bake at 180C until the top turns golden brown. It’s nice hot or cold, but when it’s hot the cheese melts through the mince.

Base:

Cheating - buy a box of gluten free chocolate brownie mix

Or -

• 1 cup of gluten free flour (you can use wheat flour if you want)
• 2 tablespoons of ground linseed/flaxeseed
• 3 tablespoons of oil
• ¼ cup of almond or soy milk (others are fine too)
• ¼ cup cocoa powder (you can also leave this out and have a vanilla flavoured base)
• ¼ cup soft brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• A pinch of salt

Optional

• Cinnamon
• Dessicated coconut
• Ground almonds, walnuts etc

Mousse

• x2 Silken tofu (this stuff: https://www.morinu.com/)
• 1 block of whittakers plain dark chocolate (50% or higher is fine). You can use baking chocolate but it isn’t as good. If you can’t get whittakers, aim for a good quality block of 50% or higher chocolate that’s around 400 grams (or 14 ounces)
• ¼ cup almond or soy milk (others might work too depending on your tastes)
• A pinch of salt
• ¼ cup of soft brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence (natural is better but not essential)

Optional

• Cinnamon and nutmeg
• Strawberries or other fruit
• Maple syrup
• 1 ripe avocado
• Coconut oil
• Agar Agar
• Guar Gum
• Cocoa powder
• Chilli
• Coconut flakes
• Nuts

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F)
2. Get a round spring form pan, it makes everything so much easier. Grease it if needed
3. Mix up all your base ingredients in one go, you’re looking for a fairly thick mixture. Add almond milk and oil by the tablespoon if it’s too dry. Press the mix into the pan and make it as even as you can.
4. Put it in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Either use the guide on the baking mix box, or if you’re not cheating, look for the surface of the base to gently spring back when you press on it a little. Worst comes to worst it’s not gonna matter if it isn’t super well cooked. Under cooked is better than overcooked.
5. Leave the base to cool. If you’re in a hurry, put it in the freezer. I usually leave it in the freezer for an hour at least.
6. Now you have to “press” the tofu. Get a bowl, put a seive over the top, and line the seive with a clean tea towel or cheese cloth. Put the tofu in the cheese cloth, and squeeze it, I find twisting the corners around helps. Water will come out, after a while, leave it in the seive to keep draining.
7. Half fill a pot with water, now find a metal bowl that will fit in the pot. Break up the chocolate and put it in the metal bowl, and then float the bowl in the pot. It helps if they’re close in size, so just the bottom of the bowl is in the water. Bring the water to the boil and slowly melt the chocolate.
8. Put the tofu in a blender, add the melted chocolate, and blend until smooth. Add the sugar, salt and vanilla and blend again. Over time it will get thicker. Taste test, add sugar if needed, or if it’s too intense, add a tablespoon of almond milk. Blend and test until it’s how you want it. Bear in mind that the flavours will smooth out in the fridge. I usually add cinnamon, maple syrup, and other stuff during this stage.
9. If you want to use avocado, you’ll likely need extra cocoa powder. If it’s too runny, add some melted coconut oil, or a little agar or guar gum. Remember it will get a bit firmer after being in the fridge.
10. Pull the base out of the freezer. If you want strawberries round the edges, now is the time to put them there. Then use a spatula to scrape the mousse into the pan. Spread it out as evenly as you can and add strawberries/other fruit, nuts, coconut etc on top.
11. Chill in the fridge for at least a few hours. you should notice a change in how firm it is. When you want to take off the sides, run a knife around the edge first to loosen it.

Disclaimer: This recipe might no accessible for everyone, depending on what things cost where you are, or how easily things grow, but hopefully it can spread far and wide.

Uses: I put it on toast, pita bread, tortilla chips, crackers, I use it as a pasta sauce, put it on pizzas instead of cheese, add a dollop to minestrone, it also goes nicely with salads and other antipasto type snacks.

Ingredients(for a batch that makes about four half litre jars full)

• A truly colossal amount of fresh basil. To give you an idea. I usually fill up four ten litre containers with basil from the garden.
• Kale or Spinach (optional) - this will dilute the flavour, but it can be a good filler to make more pesto overall.
• Garlic (preferably fresh) - You can use minced garlic but I find it has a different flavour. You want about half a bulb for a big batch, possibly more if you like garlic or the variety you have is milder.
• Brewers yeast, Savoury yeast, or Nutritional yeast - About a cup for a big batch. You could also try vegan parmesan if you want.
• Vegetable oil - About two cups, but you can adjust to get the consistency you want.
• Cashew nuts - Pinenuts, Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and similar are all good substitutes.
• Cumin seeds - About a teaspoon (optional but tasty)
• Celery seeds - A pinch (optional but tasty)
• Salt - About a tablespoon
• A cube of veggie stock (optional)

1. Method
2. Strip the leaves off the stalks. Thin and soft stalks are fine to go in the mix but the thicker harder stalks don’t add to the flavour and they ruin the texture. Any leaves that have gone gross should be thrown in the compost.
3. Rinse the leaves in water, drain them in a sieve, gently pat them dry with paper towels or a tea towel and put them through the blender in batches with a bit of oil each time. You’re unlikely to be able to fit everything in the blender at once so transfer batches to a big bowl. Ideally you want everything to be blended down to very very small pieces.
4. Add the salt, half the brewers yeast, half the garlic, the nuts/seeds, and the spices to the blender. Run them through the blender with a batch of basil, and transfer to the big bowl. When it’s all been blended, mix everything together with a spoon. Taste test and run more garlic and brewers yeast through the blender and add according to your tastes.
5. Store in clean jars (I boil the jars and lids in a pot of water). Try to fill the jars up as high as you can and pour a little oil over the top before sealing. The top few millimetres in each jar will likely oxidise and turn dark once it’s been opened again, this shouldn’t affect the taste but you can just scrape that bit off before using.

For the Base: You can use mini pita pockets, split english muffins, bought pizza bases, sliced baguette rounds, or make your own bases (which is less lazy than I’m usually feeling)

• Toppings:You can put whatever you like on these but this is the combination I like best
• Tomato paste (the cheap canned stuff is fine)
• Kalamata olives
• Sundried tomatoes
• Cherry tomatoes
• Onions
• Kale and/or spinach
• Fresh basil
• Garlic
• Oregano
• Dairy free cheese (plain hummus will also work nicely)

Method

1. Spread tomato paste as thick or thin as you like on the bases. 
2. Slice/chop up everything except the cheese/hummus and sprinkle it over the bases. I like to really pile my pizzas up but do what works for you.
3. Slice/grate the cheese and put it on top, or add a couple of good dollops of hummus.
4. Cook in the oven at 180C (350F) until the cheese is melted and just starting to brown (or the hummus is just starting to brown)
5. Eat

I can’t believe this never occured to me before

You need

• A cup/mug
  
• 1 cube of veggie stock
  
• 1 teaspoon of soy sauce
  
• 2 teaspoons of wholemeal flour
  
• A pinch of salt
  
• 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
  
• Water
  
• Optional - brewers yeast, ground linseed, chia seeds, cumin seeds, mixed herbs, garlic powder - there’s lots of options, so long as it doesn’t need to be actively cooked.
  

How to

1. Put the jug/kettle on to boil (you can boil water in a pot or microwave too if needs be)
   
2. Crumble the stock cube, add everything but the water and stir it all together to form a paste.
   
3. When the jug is boiled, pour a bit of the hot water into the cup and stir again till it’s a thinner paste. Then top the cup up to about two thirds (for a standard sized mug), and stir. Let it stand for a minute (add more flour if you’re in a hurry), then stir again.
   
4. Now you have gravy, just as quick as from a packet and you get to customise it ^_^.
   

Ok, so let’s be clear here. I’m bad at cookies. I’ve never had the talent, before I went vegan I couldn’t make them work, after I went vegan I still couldn’t. My sister on the other hand; She’s like a cookie sorcerer. I don’t know what she puts in them, but her cookies are amazing, perfect, every time. She probably has a stock of cookie monsters on hand to sacrifice to dark powers for each batch or something.

So anyway, recently I found this recipe (which is awesome in it’s own right and you should totally try it) and I’ve basically been on a cookie binge ever since. I’ve made some healthy-ish modifications though, so I can justify eating them as much as I do. I have some weird health stuff that means I can’t eat a lot, so what I DO eat needs to have some extra nutritional punch.

Spell components

Essential

• 2 and a ¼ cups of wholemeal flour
  
• ¾ to 1 cup brown sugar (raw or white is fine too, but soft brown sugar makes them chewier)
  
• ¾ to 1 cup of vegan chocolate chips (I quite like chocolate buttons as well, or you could sub in sultanas)
  
• ½ teaspoon of salt
  
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
  
• 2/3 cup of vegetable oil (or vegan friendly margaraine/butter, melted slightly)
  
• ½ cup of  non dairy milk
  
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
  

Optional

• ½ to 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, to suit your tastes
• ½ a cup of vegan friendly protein powder (I find soy, rice, and pea protein all work fine in this recipe) AND bump the oil and non dairy milk up to a cup each, AND bump up the sugar by a ¼ cup AND add 2 tablespoons of ground linseed.
• You could also sub half a cup of flour for half a cup of rolled oats too :).
  

Brewing the potion

1. Pre heat the oven to 175 degrees C (350 F). Have a baking tray away from the oven, you don’t want it getting hot.
   
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together except the sugar.
   
3. Mix all the wet ingredients together with the sugar ( you can just throw everything in a bowl, but doing it this way means fewer lumps in the sugar and less work mixing)
   
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and stir. The dough will be oily and seem a bit hard to work with, I find just mixing it with my hands is easiest at the last stage.
   
5. Once it’s all combined, throw spoonfuls on the ungreased baking tray (there’s enough oil in the mix already, but if you’re lazy like me baking paper makes clean up easier). You can flatten them if you want, depends on your personal preference. The cookies don’t spread out much but they do rise quite a bit.
   
6. Bake for ten minutes, then start checking them every few minutes. To check, just press the top of one lightly, if it’s just a bit softer than you like your cookies, then they’re done. They’ll harden up quite a bit once they’re cool.
   
7. Let them cool for a few minutes, then use a spatula or fish slice to take them off the baking tray and put them on a wooden board or wire rack etc. If they stay on the baking tray they’ll keep cooking and go hard on the bottom. If you’re lazy like me, just take them out of the oven a few minutes earlier than normal and let the heat of the tray finish the job. It’s not a perfect result, but who cares? They’re cookies.
   
8. Prepare to defend your cookies against marauders. 
   

Like most of my recipes, this calls for a few main ingredients and the rest is adaptable to suit your budget, timeframe, tastes, and imagination. In the future I think I’ll break this down into individual recipes, but for now, I’m lazy.

Depending on where you are in the world, capsicums (bell peppers) can be cheap or expensive. I’ve found if you can find them in jars, you get a lot more for your money and they take less cooking.

Ingredients

Bell peppers (Red is best, but you can use other colours too)

Filling

There’s a bunch of possible combinations, but here’s some of the ones  that I like:

Spinach, Quinoa, Basil, Tinned tomatoes, Veggie Stock, Garlic, and Onion

Roast Pumpkin, Cashew nuts, Spinach

Cooked Broccoli, Cauliflower, Carrot, Garlic and Onion with Veggie stock, soy sauce, a splash of sweet chilli, and Mashed beans (optional)

Brown rice, Kidney beans, Tinned tomatoes, Corn, Celery, Sweet chilli sauce, Garlic, and Onion

Crumbled tofu, Tinned tomatoes, Cumin seeds, Veggie stock, Capers, and sundried tomatoes

Sauce

Again, lots of options, a couple of my favourites:

Lazy dairy free cheese sauce - Hummus, Oil, Salt, Mustard, Thyme (optional) stirred together

Guacamole - Avocado (smooshed), Lemon Juice, Paprika, Salt, (optionally you can add fresh chopped tomato, grated carrot and cucumber) stirred together

Barbecue sauce

Basil pesto - Fresh basil leaves, cashews/pumpkin seeds/sunflower seeds, a sprinkling of brewers yeast, and a splash of oil, blended together

Sweet tomato sauce - Tinned tomatoes, a dollop of barbecue sauce (or a splash of vinegar and a teaspoon of brown sugar), fried onions, and raisins, simmered for a while

Madness/Method

If you’re using fresh peppers, slice them in half lengthways and remove the core and seeds. If you’re using jarred ones, just drain them and arrange them on a lined baking tray.

Gather up whatever filling you want to use. Chop up anything that needs chopping. Anything that needs pre cooking, like pumpkin, quinoa, or cauliflower, get that going.

Chop and fry garlic and onions if you’re using them, then add whatever else is going in, stir and and adjust to your tastes, then let it simmer till it’s very thick, add a little cornflour if you need to.

Now, depending on the sauce and your tastes, you might want to include the sauce in the actual peppers, drizzle it over the top, or add it after cooking. That’s up to you. I like to pair anything with beans or rice with guacamole and add the guacamole after cooking, but I like to add the hummus sauce to other fillings before cooking.

Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F).

Spoon your filling into the peppers. It pays to underfill them a little bit since they tend to leak while cooking. Add sauce if you want to.

Bake them for about 20 minutes or until they go a little bit crispy on top.

Take them out of the oven, add sauce if desired, and eat.

This isn’t a super lazy recipe like I usually do. It’s also not completely dirt cheap, but it’s awesome, and it does work out cheaper than dairy cheese in terms of money and work. Grating a block of cheese over a pizza is labour intensive. Pouring this liquid gold is not.

It comes out as a really thick liquid that you can spread, drizzle, stir, pour or dip to your hearts content. If you wanted something like cheese sticks, you can probably thicken it enough for that too.

You can adjust the flavour to suit yourself, the key ingredients are very simple.

The base

• ½ a cup of vegetable oil
• ¼ cup of flour (I use wheat flour, but if you want to try a gluten free flour you could)
• ¼ cup ground linseed (this is the secret weapon, this stuff is amazing)
• 2 cups of almond or other non dairy milk

Flavours

You have a whole bunch of options here. This is my personal favourite combination.

• ¼ cup brewers yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cube of veggie stock
  
• 3 tablespoons white or apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon dried chives
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce

Other stuff you can add that is also delicious

• Vegan friendly miso
• Lemon juice
• Garlic powder
  
• Onion powder
• Coconut cream (make sure it’s a brand that doesn’t abuse plantation monkeys and other wildlife)
• Vegan cream
  
• Nut/seed butter (like cashew or almond, or tahini)
• A whole bunch of herbs and spices

Method

1. Mix everything except the almond milk together in a pot to form a paste.
   
2. Add a little almond milk and mix again. Repeat until you have a thick, smooth paste.
   
3. Put the pot on medium heat and keep stirring and adding almond milk until you run out of almond milk. A whisk is really useful for this step.
4. Simmer for five or ten minutes, keep stirring so it doesn’t stick.
   
5. Adjust according to your tastes and needs, you can make it thinner with more almond milk, or thicker by simmering it for longer (or add a little more linseed).
6. Keep it in the fridge in a jar, and use it as you want it. It makes a great pasta sauce when it’s a little thinned out. Also excellent on sandwiches.
7. My next step will be to see if I can make it solid and slice-able.
   

Wary of whitesplaining/appropriating a food that is very much African/Middle Eastern, I did a bit of googling about it. There’s some very cool info about its history and how it’s made. Suffice to say that what us folks in the western world buy from the supermarket is the simplified version. But it’s the simplified version I’m gonna talk about in this post - because that’s what I use to make this recipe. And it’s super convenient (and I’m lazy). But seriously, go read about couscous and North African cuisine, it’s really cool.

This recipe has some similarities to Tabbouleh, but it’s a bit different.

Ingredients

Couscous - the make-in-five-minutes kind you can get at most supermarkets.

Fresh herbs - I particularly like mint and parsley, but any herbs you like are great

Any veggies you have lying around - I tend to stick to ones I don’t have to precook, but if you want to precook some, go for it :). I particularly like fresh tomato and raw carrot

Any nuts, seeds or legumes you have floating about - Again, I tend to stick to the kind I don’t have to precook, but precook away if it suits you. Sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, etc are all great

Salt - just a pinch

Oil - just a little bit

Sauces - My personal favourites are a dollop of hummus, a splash of sweet chilli, and a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard. But you can add all kinds of sauces, or leave them out entirely.

Onion and garlic (optional) - These are pretty strong raw, so chop them finely unless you want to saute them for a couple of minutes first.

Lemon juice - Optional, fresh is best, but bottled will do too. You just want a splash or two. Maybe half a lemons worth to a decent sized bowl full (unless you really like it bitter)

Water

Method

Precook anything that needs precookin’

In a pot, bring about twice as much water as couscous to the boil, (or boil the jug and add it to a pot or bowl). Add a splash of oil and a pinch of salt, then add the couscous and cover.

Come back in five minutes. Go cuddle the cat, or the dog, and (if you’re me) pretend you never wanted to cuddle them to begin with when they don’t want cuddles.

Chop up the vegetables and herbs etc into small pieces.

Stir the couscous, it should be light and fluffy. Add everything else. Stir, and adjust sauces and herbs according to your personal tastes.

If you want the salad warmed through, you can stir it over medium heat for a few minutes, or put it in the microwave for 30 seconds to a minute on low to medium power.

Fight off anybody else trying to steal it.

Unless it’s the cat. Then you must render unto Felis Catus the things that are Felis Catus’. Unless there’s garlic or onions in it. Then you must protect your feline emperor at all costs.

Home made gravy is awesome. It’s winter here, so I’m slathering it all over roast veggies like it’s going out of style.

Important Ingredients

Oil - I like canola, any vegetable oil is fine though. I usually use leftover oil from roasting or frying something else.

Flour of some kind. Wheat, or corn flour will do fine. The only stuff I wouldn’t recommend is some of the really grainy gluten free flours.

Veggie stock - liquid is fine, just swap out the water for the liquid stock.

Soy sauce, marmite/vegemite, or brewers yeast. Or a combination thereof.

Salt

Optional ingredients

Herbs - I like thyme, oregano can be nice. Some people like pepper. Experiment to see what you prefer.

Garlic - remember that crushed garlic will be stronger in taste, so use less, and add it a little later than chopped.

Onion

Leek, spring onion, etc

Liquid smoke

Barbecue sauce

Non dairy milk

Quinoa, lentils, etc (these should be cooked beforehand)

Proceed thusly

• Chop up any onions, etc you’re planning to use. Half a onion would be plenty for a recipe this size. If you’re not using onions, skip this step and the next one.
  
• Fry the onions etc at the bottom of a pot, with a couple of tablespoons of oil (use this oil for the next step). Leave them in the pot with the oil once they’re going a little soft.
  
• In a small pot (or microwave safe bowl - this isn’t ideal if you’re using onions etc) mix a couple of tablespoons of oil with a couple of tablespoons of flour to make a thick paste. Don’t add too much flour, it will thicken up a LOT later otherwise and you’ll end up with way more than you need (gets me every time).
  
• Put the pot over medium heat (skip this bit if you’re using a microwave). Add a bit of water (or veggie stock), and stir it into the paste. Do this a couple of times until it’s thin enough for you to basically dump a cup of water in there and stir it in easily.
  
• Add a teaspoon of whatever herbs you want to use, add a teaspoon of stock power (if you’re not using the liquid stock). If you’re using soy sauce, add a teaspoon (soy sauces vary in strength, so experiment with the flavour), if you’re using marmite/vegemite, add half a teaspoon, it’ll take a bit to dissolve. Brewers yeast - a tablespoon. Add a pinch of salt and a dash of whatever other sauces you’d like to add. Go sparingly at first, the flavour will intensify as it thickens.
  
• If you’re using a microwave, now is the time to put the bowl in, and heat it on medium power for a few minutes.
  
• Keep stirring and heating for a few minutes till the gravy thickens. Adjust the flavour as you like. If you’re using herbs you might want to give it a little longer for the flavour to intensify.
  
• Add more water (or liquid stock) if you need to to get the thickness or volume you want.
  
• Pour over something delicious and consume.
  

Leftovers

The gravy will continue to thicken as it cools. I’ve found it stores fine for a few days in a jar in the fridge, and when I want itI just take it out, mix in some water and heat it up.

You can also add it to soups, casseroles, etc. The flavour tends to compliment any kind of hearty, winter warmer type dishes.

If I’m in a really lazy mood I’ll have it on toast (don’t judge me).

Pasta sauce can be expensive, at least over here. It’s decidedly cheaper to make your own, and pretty easy.

If you wanna go the whole nine yards and start from scratch with whole tomatoes - awesome, but put aside an afternoon for it. I’ll post a modified version of a friends basic pasta sauce recipe in the future.

Base Ingredients

• 2 cans of tinned tomatoes
  
• 3 tablespoons of crushed garlic (or about twice than much chopped)
  
• A few tablespoons of oil
  
• A pinch of salt
  
• Half a teaspoon of brown sugar
  
• Water as you need it
  

Optional Extras

• Onion, Capsicum, Mushrooms, Greens like Spinach or Kale
• Basil, Parsley, Oregano, Thyme
• Black pepper, Paprika, Cumin
• Brewers/Nutritional yeast
• Soy sauce

The Plan

Fry the garlic (and any extra fryables) on medium heat in the bottom of a big pot, once it starts to smell good, add the tomatoes, sugar and salt (and any herbs and spices), and stir. Add water as you need to. Bring it to the boil and let it simmer till it’s soft and the flavours are all merging nicely, add water as you need it to get the thickness you like.

If you like your pasta sauce chunky, use it as it is, if you like it smooth, run it through a blender, or in a pinch force it through a sieve - this will leave some debris behind, but you can throw that in the compost. If you want to smooth out the sauce and then add chunkier vegetables, you can always put the sauce back in the pot and heat the veggies through.

Use it all in one go, or keep it in tightly sealed jars. I find soaking the jars and lids in just-boiled water is a good way to get them clean. Just use tongs to get them out.

From start to finish this should take half an hour or less.

Nutritionally, baked beans are actually pretty awesome. They tend to have a fair bit of sugar in the sauce, but baked beans and wholegrain toast are a fantastic quick/easy/cheap/nutritious meal for anyone. But if you’re like me and keep a bunch of 60 cent cans in the cupboard for when you’re skint, having them more than a few days in a row can start to get old.

So here’s how to jazz things up:

Garlic

Add garlic marg (dairy free) or garlic infused oil (add chopped, crushed or powdered garlic to a vegetable oil and leave it for a while before using) to toast.

Or mix it right in with the beans (if it’s crushed or chopped garlic you’ll need to let it simmer for a few minutes to let the garlic cook)

Spice it up

If you like it spicy, but can’t afford chilli beans (they’re three or four times the price of baked beans over here) you have some options.

Add some straight chilli powder or sauce and sweat it out.

Make something a little more complex, with garlic, onions, chilli powder, maybe even some capsicum. I quite like to add a touch of paprika, a splash of soy sauce, a little lemon juice/apple cider vinegar, some chopped celery, and some cumin, but that’s me. Mix and match to suit your tastes.

Creamy/Cheesey

If you’ve got a bit of almond milk or whatever non dairy milk you like, you can make baked beans really creamy with a couple of tablespoons to the can. You’ll want to simmer it a little bit longer so it thickens.

If you want a cheesier flavour, add a teaspoon of brewers/nutritional yeast. It has a very strong flavour, so add small amounts first until you know how much you like.

Add a squeeze of lemon juice or a splash of apple cider vinegar if you want a sharp cheese taste.

Veggie stock

I find half a cube of veggie stock can add a nice flavour. For liquid stock I’d add about a quarter of a cup. Stir it in while heating, let it thicken, eat.

Herbs

Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, Oregano, Basil and parsley are all really nice in baked beans. Add a little bit at a time and adjust according to your tastes. Dried herbs need a little more cooking before their flavour comes out.

Make a soup/stew 

Depending on what you’ve got going spare in the kitchen, baked beans can be a great way to use up leftover vegetables, and with some grains and legumes you can make it go a long way. If you don’t want big chunks of vegetables you can run them through the blender, most of the broccoli/cauliflower stalk we usually throw out can be used up this way).

I like to add some soy sauce, a cube (or cup if it’s liquid) of veggie stock, some garlic and onion, and then whatever else is around, plus enough water for it to cook in. For a more tomato based flavour I might add in a can of tomatoes. You could go in a totally different direction if you wanted though, non dairy milk goes well in soups and stews, you might find you end up with something more lentil based. Anything goes.

If the veggies or grains etc need to be cooked for a while you can simmer them in a pot, or add them to the crockpot, or even in the microwave.

Cupcakes are good. They sing a siren song. It goes omnomnomnomnom…

Recipe makes about a dozen large cupcakes.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of standard flour (you can use wholemeal if you want, just add a bit more liquid)
  
• 1 cup of sugar - I like soft brown sugar, but white is fine too. If you want to use less sugar, swap out half a cup for a half cup of mashed banana.
  
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
  
• A pinch of salt
  
• ½ cup of vegetable oil
  
• ¾ cup non dairy milk. You can use water if you want, but add a little more sugar and oil, not much.
  
• 1 tablespoon vanilla essence - more if you want a strong vanilla flavour, less if you want a fairly neutral taste or to use the recipe as a base.
  

Now, here’s where you have some options. Pick one of the following:

• 2 tablespoons of ground linseed (some call it flaxseed) and 6 tablespoons of water. You could use chia seeds instead, but they’re pricey.
  
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda and two tablespoons of vinegar (white, rice, or apple cider)
  
• ½ a cup of mashed banana or smooth applesauce (this will alter the flavour a bit)
  
• Two portions of egg replacer (it’s pricey around here, but that might be different where you are)
  

The lazy way

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celcius (350 Farenheight). Grease a muffin pan, or use those little cupcake paper thingies.

Combine all the dry ingredients. You should really sift them, but I’m lazy. I find just putting them all in a bowl and running a whisk (or a fork if you don’t have a whisk) through them works well enough.

Add the linseed/water mix, or whichever option you chose, the vanilla, and about half the oil and non dairy milk. Stir everything in. Add more oil and non dairy milk slowly, till you get a medium batter you can pour or spoon in the tray without too much trouble. This recipe is pretty forgiving so don’t worry too much.

Pour or spoon out the batter, and put the tray in the oven.

Come back in about five minutes to check on them. They cook quickly. You can test them by tapping a fingertip or spoon on top of one - if it bounces back a little bit, it’s ready. The “stick a toothpick in it” method also works. Toothpick should come out clean. You don’t want them to be too brown on top.

Also, the house will smell AMAZING.

Let them cool, add icing. Nomnomomnomnomnom.

Peanut butter and chocolate icing

This stuff is divine. In that really dangerous way where if you’re not careful you’ll end up eating all of it in one sitting and the cake still has no icing.

I’ve found it’s good for filling in layer cakes and for frosting that you want to hold a shape.

The recipe is pretty flexible so you can adjust it to suit your tastes and purpose.

AND it’s really easy.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons of smooth peanut butter - use less if you want a mild peanutty flavour, more if you want it to be all about the peanuts. If you’re using the peanut butter to make stronger frosting for decorations but don’t want a strong peanut butter taste, about 2 tablespoons is pretty good.

6 tablespoons of vegan friendly margaraine or butter. You can also use coconut oil, but until I know whether the coconut oil available here has any connection to animal cruelty I’m gonna be avoiding coconut products.

1 cup of icing sugar - How much of this you want depends on how sweet you want it. If you’re aiming for a fairly strong frosting, but don’t want the peanut butter taste, add more icing sugar.

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence - adds to the flavour, but it’s not essential.

¼ cup of cocoa - Again, adjust this according to your preferences.

2 tablespoons of dairy free milk. I like almond milk. This is important if you’re making frosting for decorations, and it does help smooth out the flavour, but it’s not essential for regular icing.

Directions

Put everything in a bowl except the dairy free milk

Mix, adding the non dairy milk slowly, you might find you need less. If you have an electric eggbeater, that makes it quicker and easier.

For regular icing, just mix till it’s all mixed and smooth. For frosting, whip till it starts to look a bit fluffy.

Frost something. Eat.

Vegetables are nommy, but many of us have flashbacks from childhood of mushy lumps in varying shades of yellowish green that we were informed were vegetables and therefore good for us. So if you want a veggie side dish, or just a snack, or you just really like broccoli (who doesn’t?), here’s some ideas to make it nommy.

Prep

Leave the skins on - Unless you really need to, don’t peel vegetables, just give them a quick rinse or at most a scrub with some steel wool.

Use a blender/food processor - If you want small pieces, and you have a food processor, you can save a lot of time using the different blades to dice, mince, grate, and shred your vegetables for you.

Have sharp knives - I’m guilty of having blunt knives, and the difference when you have a well sharpened blade is incredible.

Use a mandolin - These aren’t always cheap and there’s a bit of a knack to them, but if you like vegetables julienned, thin to medium sliced, or cubed, it will save a lot of time and effort. Just mind your knuckles.

Cut stuff together - If it’s safe to do so, cut multiple vegetables together. Line carrots up, that kinda thing. It’s not worth slicing a finger for, but laziness can motivate some clever cutting tricks.

Have a bowl of water for washing/rinsing - If you’re holding stuff under the tap to rinse it, and you’re doing multiple handfuls, it takes a while. A collander is good to an extent as well, but I’ve found the best thing is a bowl of water you can just throw all the veggies in, swirl them round a bit, then shake them off over the sink when you take them out. Only thing this doesn’t really work on is veggies that need a good scrub.

Cooking

In a pot - Most vegetables in my youth were boiled into submission in true British style. There is a better way. Put the veggies in a pot, add a couple of centimetres of water, put the lid on and put it on the stove at high heat to get the water boiling. Keep the lid on, and let it boil, the steam circulates around the pot and cooks the veggies. Add more water if you need to, but I like my vegetables a little bit crunchy. Shouldn’t take more than five minutes. Most of the water should be gone when the veggies are done.

Note: This doesn’t work for potatoes and similar root vegetables.

Crockpot- This takes some time, but not a lot of work. Chop, slice or shred your vegetables however you want them, then add to the crockpot. Now you can either pour over a bit of oil and stir so the veggies and the pot are coated (for a more saute type effect), or you can add some water to help cover the bottom of the crockpot and slow steam them. If you have a lot of vegetables you might wanna stir them every now and again. Cook on high for an hour or two, or till they’re how you like them (longer if you have more vegetables, bigger pieces etc). If you have it on low you could cook them overnight.

Sauteing/Frying - This is the most labour intensive option, but it can be very tasty. Add some oil to the pan, throw in the veggies, heat up, and stir every minute or so. A lot of recipes call for adding certain vegetables at certain times, and that’s good advice, but I’m lazy, so I throw everything in together. If you have a bigger element and a bigger frying pan you have a bigger cooking area, which will help cook everything faster. 

Grill/Barbecue/Sandwich press - I like this option for courgettes/zucchini and eggplant/aubergine - which go well in veggie stacks, lasagnes etc. Line the grill/press etc with baking paper (preferably compostable or recyclable) or tin foil - this makes cleanup so much easier. Add a little oil if you want. Lay out the veggies, turn to medium to high heat, and cook. Turn them if you need to (sandwich press eliminates that ^_^). When you’re done, lift them using the paper and tip them onto a plate, and ditch the paper. Done ^_^

Roasting- This takes time, but it’s minimal work. Chop up whatever veggies you want to roast - root vegetables are idea. Marrow also roast nicely. Onions and garlic can be roasted in their skins (take it off before eating). Surprisingly, broccoli and cauliflower and similar vegetables roast nicely too. Roast tomato is awesome, but messy. If you want to go low cleanup, go low oil. Line a roasting dish with tin foil or baking paper, drizzle a little oil over your veggies. Turn the oven on medium to high. Come back in half an hour or so. If you want lots of oil (it is nommy afterall), add it to the roasting dish and shake the vegetables around in it so they get well coated. If you want them extra crispy, add a light dusting of salt before roasting.

Microwaving- This is the easiest cooking method. It works for just about any vegetable that you can cook. Put vegetables in microwave safe dish (with a lid - the exception here is if you want baked potatoes, in that case leave the lid off). Add a little water, put on the lid, and microwave on medium to high power. Cooking times vary depending on what it is, how you like it cooked, and how much it’s there, but start with a few minutes and go from there.

Go raw - Some veggies are great raw. Carrots, swedes, spinach, kale, are all vegetables we typically cook, but they’re great raw too.

Dips and Sauces

Hummus- Yep. Just plain old hummus. A dollop on top is a really tasty addition to almost any vegetables.

Garlic marg/oil - Just check to make sure the margaraine doesn’t have milk in it. A knob on top or a drizzle of oil (infused or with added crushed/powdered garlic) is simple and nommy.

Mustard- Mustard is surprisingly good on broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, kale, green beans, all sorts. I usually mix it with a bit of oil but it’s not essential.

Sweet chilli sauce - If you have this in your fridge, it’s great with veggies. Drizzle it on after cooking or during cooking.

Soy sauce - This is best added during cooking. Start with a drizzle and add more to taste. If you can afford it, the higher grade soy sauce is definitely worth the money, it goes a lot further and tastes so much better.

Vinegarette dressing - I usually mix vinegar, oil, soy sauce and mustard. But with a vinegar/oil base you can make all kinds of dressings that go nicely on vegetables (cooked and salads). Stir together in a cup, pour over vegetables. Eat.

Gravy- Home made gravy is super easy. A couple of tablespoons of flour and oil, add a veggie stock cube, or a tablespoon of loose veggie stock and/or a tablespoon of brewers yeast, and/or a teaspoon of marmite/vegemite etc. Stir together to form a paste. Add a little water and stir on medium to high heat (stove or microwave), repeat a couple of times till you’ve got a thick sauce, then add a cup of water, stir, bring it up to almost boiling, add a splash of soy sauce and salt to taste (you can also add herbs, barbecue sauce, tomato paste, spices, whatever you want).

Tofu gets a bad rap, and really it’s undeserved. 

Yes, tofu tastes bad when you cook it badly, but then so does just about anything else. It’s just that we’re much more conditioned to be forgiving of bad chicken, bad cheese, etc. And at least tofu is unlikely to give you food poisoning if it’s under cooked.

Yes tofu takes some prep. But then, so do a lot of other foods. You pay more for convenience foods of many kinds because some of the work is done for you. But as far as a ‘raw ingredient’ goes, tofu is cheaper than many animal products, and when you compare it to the work involved with preparing any ‘raw ingredient’ it’s really not much different.

That being said, here’s a few ways to make dealing with tofu less effort

Pressing

Pressing tofu is kind of an art - convincing the water to come out of the soy sponge without mushing it. This is an art I refuse to master. It’s up there with the art of eating gracefully, and ironing collars.

So I just freeze the tofu I buy. If I’m planning on using it in the next two days, I move it to the fridge. Somehow, some weird magical thing happens that makes recently defrosted tofu stronger, so you can basically squeeze out almost all the water in your hands without mushing it. This doesn’t work for silken tofu though - seriously. Don’t make the same mistake I did.

Another option, if you don’t care about the tofu being mushed up, is a clean tea towel, stick the tofu in there, wrap it up, and squeeze it that way.

Or don’t press it at all. This makes it less likely to absorb other flavours, but so long as you cook it enough it still tastes good.

Marinating

To be honest, I almost never bother marinating tofu for any length of time. My idea of a marinade is to throw random stuff in a bowl, then stir in some cubes of tofu. If I’m really patient, I might last a couple of hours. Usually it’s a couple of minutes.

If you want to marinate tofu to make it taste like something specific, like the ham component of a hawaiian pizza, you can make the flavours soak in a lot faster by immersing the cubes/chunks/whatever in the marinate and baking it for about ten minutes. Shallow frying with about 1cm of oil in a pot also works (avoid marinades that have a strong powder component).

Super easy marinades

• Vinegar, Salt, Soy sauce
  
• Brewers yeast (sometimes called nutritional yeast), salt, tumeric, garlic, cumin, lemon juice, oil (if you’re feeling like reaching for the spice rack)
  
• Mustard, Soy sauce, Sugar, Sesame seed oil or tahini (optional, because expensive)
• Veggie stock
• Basically any stir fry or pasta sauce you have lying around will do

Cooking

The ways to cook tofu are pretty much endless. You can even have it raw if it works with the recipes. My favourite quick ways are;

Deep frying - It’s not really deep frying since you only need about a cm of oil in a pot. You want it to be pretty hot (but not smoking). You don’t even really need to press tofu if you’re cooking it like this, just squeeze it a bit over the sink. It’ll be crispier if you go hotter, softer if you go cooler. I often don’t flavour tofu before frying like this, I just have it with salt and maybe a little vinegar (seriously, it’s good) after. I’ve found it takes less than ten minutes to cook a bowl of nommy tofu bites. Probably not so healthy, but I’m prone to the odd treat now and then. I’ve found this also is a fast way to cook tofu that’s going to go in other things - like curries and stirfries.

Baking- If you don’t mind waiting for noms to cook (I go surf the net while I wait), you can just put whatever flavourings you want on the tofu (immersing it in veggie broth and baking is awesome too - thank you @theveganzombie), and throw it in the oven.

Shallow frying - I’ve found this takes a bit longer than I personally like, but it has its uses. If you’re frying tofu to go with other stuff, put it in first, even ahead of onions, and don’t be afraid to let it sit in the pan without being turned constantly, it’ll cook quicker if you only turn it every so often. If you want the tofu to still be crispy when you eat and you’re using a sauce, cook the tofu separately and add it at the end.

Pre-cooking

If you want nommy soy goodness straight from the fridge for sandwiches, salads, world domination, noodles, whatever, then you can make it up ahead of time, and see how long it lasts. 

I pretty much never bother to do this. The last time I made tofu bites to go on a pizza, it took all my willpower to allow even two thirds of them to actually make it to the pizza. Cooked tofu does not last long when it’s within my reach.

But if you have more self control than me it’s a good way to have teh noms on hand.

Storing

Fridge - Tofu has a long shelf life, it usually comes sealed. You can keep it in the fridge for a few days after opening so long as you immerse it in fresh water and keep it sealed. For tofu that’s been cooked, just keep it sealed.

Freezer- Unless I have reason to want the tofu soft and mushy, I tend to just freeze it, and take it out when I need it. If I need to defrost it fast I just stick it in a bowl of hot water, then add more hot water when it starts to cool. This is enough to get it to the point where I can cut it without any trouble.

Here’s the deal. I like pizza. A lot. Like, if I had to live on pizza alone, I’d probably be pretty ok with that. I’d build a fort out of the pizza boxes and hoard olives like a vengeful olive hoarding dragon.

Sadly, I have yet to work out how to replicate the amazing basil sauce the local pizza place does, and I’m too broke to afford even cheap pizza on a regular basis.

So sometimes I make pizza at home. 

Some ready made dairy free cheeses are available here in New Zealand - and they’re pretty good, but they’re not super cheap. Hummus isn’t always super cheap either (unless you’re making it from scratch, then it’s definitely super cheap), but by weight, hummus is usually cheaper than dairy cheese anyway and it goes further. So here is my lazy cheese sauce for pizza, dips, toasties, sandwiches, etc.

THINGS THOU SHALT REQUIRE:

• Hummus (plain or garlic)
  
• Vegetable oil
  

THINGS THOU MAYST LIKE TO ADD:

• Lemon juice
  
• Brewers yeast (add slowly, it has a strong flavour, so taste test as you go)
  
• Salt
• Thyme
• Mustard (I like wholegrain but go with whatever you like)
• Coconut cream (seriously, it’s weird but it does some kind of sorcery to smooth out all the flavours)
  

HOW THOU SHALT PROCEED:

1. Half hummus, half oil, stir until combined (it’ll be kinda globby at first). 
   
2. Add any extra stuff you like. Personally I like a splash of lemon juice, a tablespoon of mustard, a pinch of thyme, a pinch of salt, and a tablespoon of coconut cream (the fatty part). I like quite a sharp taste with this sauce, if you’d rather something creamier or more subtle, go for more oil, and more coconut cream.
   
3. Glob it on pizzas (it gets thicker when cooked), sandwiches, whatever you want.
4. Omnomnomnom