Feb 25
Ingredients
1 package tempeh
1/2 – 1 can red kidney beans
BBQ sauce
Tortillas
Taco toppings, like:
Lettuce
Tomato
Onion
Avocado
Cilantro
Directions:
1. Cut tempeh into cubes and drain can of kidney beans.
2. In a pan, heat tempeh cubes and kidney beans with some oil. Optionally, add some diced onions. Cook about 5 minutes or until tempeh is heated through.
3. Add BBQ sauce and toss to coat. Stir for a few minutes.
4. Scoop tempeh-bean mixture into warm tortillas and top with veggies.
Feb 11
I’ve posted veggie sandwich recipes before and many of them have included cheese (asparagus sandwich, mufuletta sandwich, pesto panini). But, when I decided to do 30 days of vegan, I wanted to make a veggie sandwich without cheese! I really hate dry veggie sandwiches, which I think is what always led me to add cheese to them, but this time I decided to try pesto instead of cheese and it turned out so delicious! (Note: Hummus is also great for making veggie sandwiches not dry – I did that for this artichoke sandwich.)
Ingredients
Baguette sandwich rolls
Pesto sauce (from a jar or homemade)
Olive oil
Seasonings, Salt & Pepper to taste
Any veggies you like! I used:
Squash/Zucchini
Mushrooms
Red onion
Bell pepper
Artichoke hearts
Chickpeas (for some added protein)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Slice veggies and place them all (including any beans/chickpeas) on a baking pan. Drizzle olive oil over them and mix them up in the oil until they are coated with oil. Add seasonings and salt/pepper.
3. Roast veggies for 20 minutes.
4. Slice baguette, spread pesto on the inside of the baguette, and fill the sandwich with roasted veggies.
I served mine with a cole slaw (cabbage, carrot, vinegar & oil salad) on the side.
Feb 04
Ingredients
Cous Cous or Quinoa (can use either one)
Vegetable broth (optional – can use water instead)
1 lemon (for juice and zest)
1-2 tbs fresh dill
Olive oil
Veggies, I used:
Artichoke hearts
Cherry tomatoes
Edamame
Peas
Chives
Directions
1. Cook the cous cous or quinoa in veggie broth (or water) according to package directions.
2. If there are any veggies that need cooking (like edamame or peas), cook them according to package directions.
3. While cous cous/quinoa is cooking, chop all your cold veggies and mix them in a bowl with 1 tbs olive oil, 2 tbs lemon juice, 1 tsp (or more to taste) lemon zest, and 1-2 tbs dill.
4. Mix in any veggies that needed cooking. When the cous cous/quinoa is finished cooking, put it in a bowl and top it with the veggie mixture.
Feb 01
Last night was my last meal of the 30 days of vegan. I’ll be honest, I kind of expected to have some sort of profound revelation that I could write about after this was all done. But really, all I have to say about it is: it was pretty damn easy.
Granted, I already ate the majority of my meals vegan before I started this, but I definitely had at least 3-4 non-vegan meals a week. I’d never actually tried to make a point to eat completely vegan for a long period of time. By doing this, I realized that it really isn’t all that hard. Sure, there were few times that I really wanted cheese (enchiladas & pizza), but once I started eating my vegan option (chalupas without cheese, and cheeseless pizza) I pretty quickly forgot about my cheese desire and I felt completely satisfied with what I was eating.
I’ve read that the reason to set a goal isn’t the achievement of the goal itself. The reason to set a goal is because of the person you’ll have to become to achieve it. I’m so glad I set this goal because now I know that I CAN eat completely vegan, pretty effortlessly, and feel entirely satisfied.
Day 29
Breakfast: Vega One shake.
Lunch: Pasta with egplant, crushed tomatoes, and spinach.
Dinner: Cheeseless nacho pizza – black beans, tomato, onion, jalapeno, and avocado.
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Day 30
Breakfast: Amy’s frozen burrito
Lunch: Veggie sandwich (provided at a work event)
Dinner: Pasta with kale, great northern beans, Field Roast veggie sausage, and tomato sauce.
Pre-sauce
With sauce
Jan 29
Day 27
Breakfast: Bean and avocado taco.
Lunch: Chalupas with no cheese at El Mercado.
Dinner: This was supposed to be a veggie soup, but it turned into a veggie stew – I guess I didn’t add enough veggie broth. It still tasted good though. Crushed tomato, potato, carrot, celery, kidney beans.
Day 28
Breakfast: Vega One shake and a Kind bar.
Lunch: Leftover veggie stew from last night, to which I added some chopped up Field Roast veggie sausage.
Dinner: Tempeh and kidney bean tacos with BBQ sauce. Yum.
Jan 27
Day 24
A couple of really awful pictures coming up. Sorry y’all.
Breakfast: You guessed it… Vega One shake.
Lunch: Vermicelli bowl with tofu at the Vietnamese restaurant next to work.
Dinner: Veggie burger with bbq sauce and onion rings on top, over a bed of fried okra.
Ya, not all vegan food is healthy.
Day 25
Breakfast: A bean & Daiya vegan cheese taco
Lunch: Yes, more tacos! A grilled mushroom and bell pepper taco at Order Up in San Antonio.
I didn’t get a picture of this one because I just completely forgot to take one!
Dinner: Pasta with crushed tomatoes, eggplant, and spinach
Day 26
Breakfast: A kale salad (is this a weird breakfast? I love salad!) with peas, edamame, chickpeas, hearts of palm, and raw tofu, plus vinegar and oil.
Lunch: Greek food at Tino’s. Falafel patty, hummus and pita, tabouleh, spanikopita, and salad.
Dinner: Veggie stir fry in a ginger-garlic sauce over rice.
Jan 24
Breakfast: Vega One shake
Lunch: Taco Bell bean burrito fresco. It’s just beans and a few tomatoes, which sounds pretty lame but for some reason I really like them. I guess I like ANY Mexican food. Who would have thought you could eat vegan at Taco Bell?
Dinner: Roasted veggie sandwich with pesto and cole slaw (i.e. cabbage and carrot salad with vinegar & oil).
In the oven, I roasted zucchini, mushrooms, bell pepper, onion, artichoke hearts, and chickpeas, all with olive oil and garlic powder. Then I made it into a sandwich with pesto sauce.
(Ya, we ate on paper plates tonight because I didn’t feel like doing dishes. Don’t judge me.)
Jan 24
Breakfast: Vega One shake and apple (Creature of habit.)
Lunch: Veggie burger & fries at Threadgill’s. I didn’t snap a picture because I was there with coworkers for someone’s retirement party and I’m pretty sure my coworkers would have thought I was weird.
Dinner: Kale salad with peas, edamame, quinoa, and hearts of palm, with vinegar and oil.
I love salads so much.
Jan 21
Day 20
I was really excited that I had MLK Day off work because it gave me time to make one of my all-time favorite breakfasts: tofu scramble tacos!
Brunch: Tofu scramble tacos with tomato, cilantro, chives, Daiya vegan cheese, and avocado.
Dinner: Veggie burger and kale salad.
Day 21
Breakfast: Vega One shake and an apple.
Lunch: Leftover ramen noodles, to which I added some raw tofu.
Dinner: Nachos with Daiya vegan cheese.
Jan 21
Breakfast: A smoothie from Juiceland with spinach, banana, peanut butter, hemp protein, and rice milk.
Lunch: Veggie sampler at Aster’s Ethiopian.
I fell in love with Ethiopian food when I lived in DC. I’m so glad there’s a few Ethiopian restaurants in Austin!
Dinner: Kale salad with olives, cherry tomatoes, edamame, peas, quinoa, and raw tofu, with vinegar and oil.
This salad was a protein powerhouse!
