What Do Vegans Eat?

People are always asking vegans like us what we eat. Typically we try to respond with a short list of what we don't eat (meat, eggs, dairy), but that usually leaves them unsatisfied. In addition to being vegan, we try to avoid processed foods and have been attempting to eat more seasonally and locally. Admittedly, it is a lot to think about and can be cumbersome. However, we think it is totally worth it. We are about to enter the farm stand season, which always makes it much easier. Until then, we are relying on the grocery stores. I thought I'd share a couple of our recent faves, one a very healthy dinner and the other a slightly less healthy :) dessert.

We had an amazing main course salad last week that is so simple to make that it doesn't feel like I even cooked.



This is our version of a taco salad. It is so simple and yummy. You can definitely make this in under 30 minutes, probably less if you don't have a toddler. I simply sauté some crumblers in a bit of olive oil until browned and then add granulated garlic, onion powder, ground cumin, oregano, ground cayenne, salt and pepper to taste. Occasionally I add a bit of chili powder as well. I'm sorry that I don't have measurements. I've never measured the spices. I just keep adding until it seems right. Start small and add more because you can always add, but can't take away. To assemble the salad, I put some blue corn tortillas chips on the bottom, followed by torn romaine or leaf lettuce. Then I add the cooked crumblers, sliced black olives, roughly chopped avocado, sliced cucumber and grape tomatoes (I cut them in half if they are on the large side). You can throw in whatever fresh veggies sound good. Sometimes we add some drained and rinsed canned kidney or black beans (get the ones without added salt and preservatives). We top the salad with a good salsa and some Tofutti Sour Supreme (a vegan sour cream alternative). If you want to be extra fancy, squeeze some fresh lime over the top. When preparing LB's plate, I don't assemble the salad. She prefers to eat her salad components individually.




Amy Karol, aka angry chicken inspired me to make a cobbler this past weekend. I've been following her blog for a few months and, apparently, has a sweet tooth that rivals my own (I should blog about this sometime. I never had much of a sweet tooth until I became pregnant. I thought it might go away after LB was born, but it never did.). Anyway, she made a rhubarb cobbler that looked awesome and really got me in the mood for some warm fruit. I happened to have some blackberries, so I had no option but to make a cobbler. I used the link to the same recipe that Amy used, but I veganized it, of course. I have to admit a dark secret, I did use white flour. I was feeling like a particularly bad girl that day. We ate it on the deck while watching fireworks Saturday. It was delicious. Mmmmm. I have to say though, we had some more last night and it wasn't as good. I don't know if it is because of the veganization or if it was just particularly humid, but is was a bit too moist and didn't have quite the same flavor. So, I would recommend the cobbler, for sure, but you might want to make it when you have enough people around to eat it the same day. If you try either of these, let me know how you liked them!