(Part 2) Best products from r/veganrecipes

When I became vegan, I frequented the frozen a bit too much.

I love to cook but found myself in completely new territory when I went vegan; home coooking was intimidating (thus making frozen an easy transition choice).

I got a freq books and learned some of the pantry and meal prep basics and I've been on a food journey since! Here are two of my favorites (easy, healthy, delish, and all meals covered):

• Isa Does It - Amazingly Easy, Wildly Delicious Vegan Recipes for Every Day of the Week
  
• Minimalist Baker's Everyday Cooking
  
  
  Edit: awesome choice and welcome! 🙃😊

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Full instructions on my site- https://veggiechick.com/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-cookies/

• 1 1/2 cups gluten free all-purpose flour (I recommend Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Flour)
  
• 3/4 cup almond flour (not almond meal)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  
• 1/4 teaspoon ground sea salt
  
• 1 flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flax seeds + 3 tablespoons water- see instructions below)
  
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree in can (not pumpkin pie filling)
  
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
  
• 1/2 cup organic white sugar (choose organic to ensure it’s vegan) 
  
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
  
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  
• 3/4 cup vegan mini chocolate chips (I like Enjoy Life brand)
  
  

  INSTRUCTIONS
  

  
  

1. Cover 2 medium baking sheets (or 1 medium/1 small) with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 350 F (or if using a convection oven, preheat to 325 F).
   
2. Next, prepare the ground flax seed. I prefer to start with whole flax seeds. To begin, grind 1 tablespoon of whole flax seeds using a coffee grinder. Then add the ground flax seed to a small bowl. Add 3 tablespoons of water, stir and let sit for about 5 minutes until thickened. 
   
3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the gluten-free flour mix, almond flour, baking soda and salt. Stir with a large spoon until combined.
   
4. To a large bowl, add the canned pumpkin, coconut oil, white sugar, coconut sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla. Stir, then add the flour mixture and stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips until evenly combined. 
   
5. Cover the bowl loosely with a towel and place in the fridge to cool for at least 30 minutes. Remove from the fridge and using a cookie scoop (or a small spoon and your hands,) scoop out roughly 1 1/2 tablespoons of the cookie dough and place on the parchment paper, spaced out between them (they won’t spread much so you only need about an inch or two between each cookie.) Continue to drop all cookie dough, about 21-22 cookies between the 2 cookie sheets. Press down a bit on each cookie with a small fork to flatten (about halfway).
   
6. Bake at 350 F for 14-15 minutes, or until the edges and bottoms are browned (the center will still be a little soft). Remove from the oven and let cool at least 15 minutes; they will firm up as they cool. Makes about 22 cookies.
   
7. Store in an airtight container for 4-5 days in the fridge, or freeze up to one month.

It gets easier the more you do it! You can always change up what you're adding as well, it definitely doesn't have to be an exact science.

Liquid smoke is a concentrated liquid, you can get it from most grocery stores or somewhere like Amazon. I like it because it adds a little bit of smokiness / depth to the tofu.

If you're going to be eating tofu, you will definitely want a dedicated press. [This one](Tofu Press - a unique and stylish tofu press to transform your tofu by Tofuture https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01698J0RU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_UZa3DbYMNSGMX) is my personal favorite. There are others out there that are good at getting rid of the liquid in the tofu, but they tend to smash it and change the shape. I like this one because it keeps everything together, while still squeezing out all the liquid. I've used it for almost a year now and I'll never switch to anything else personally, haha.

I love these books

https://www.amazon.com/30-Minute-Vegan-Dinners-Plant-Based-Meals-ebook/dp/B07F68LNLN/ref=sr_1_3?

Sam Turnbull also has a great site called "It doesn't taste like chicken"

https://www.amazon.com/Fuss-Free-Vegan-Everyday-Favorites-Veganized-ebook/dp/B01MSA7D5B/ref=sr_1_1?

https://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Meal-Prep-Ready-Go/dp/1641522909/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?

https://www.amazon.com/VBQ-Ultimate-Vegan-Barbecue-Cookbook-ebook/dp/B075G2V4Z9/ref=sr_1_2?

My wife got this book for me and it has given me some pretty good inspirations! https://www.amazon.com/Gardener-Grill-Bounty-Garden-Sizzle/dp/0762441119

Thai Vegetarian Cooking (Thailand)

Real Vegetarian Thai (Thailand)

Teff Love (Ethiopia)

Kansha (Japan)

The Lotus and the Artichoke (Malaysia and Sri Lanka are my two favorites, but also has India, Mexico, and Ethiopia)

Decolonize Your Diet (Mexico)

Tahini & Turmeric (the Middle East)

I also like Isa Chandra Moskowitz's books for baking. For slightly fancier, more involved books, I like Bryant Terry's (especially Afro-Vegan).

Recipe is from this book, which is my favorite cookbook! Seriously, I cannot say enough good things about this book, I've loved every recipe I've tried (which is more than half at this point).

Sweet Potatoes:

4 medium sweet potatoes, washed, cut into spears

2 tbsp neutral oil

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/8 tsp ground cayenne

Toss it all together, bake on parchment paper at 400F for about 35 min, flipping somewhere in the middle. Get them nice and crispy.

Cashew Queso Sauce:

1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

3 tbsp nooch

1/2 cup water

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp lemon juice

Blend until smooth, thin with water if needed.

Fixings:

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 small red onion, diced

1 avocado, peeled, cubed

1/4 cup cilantro

2 tbsp lime juice

1/2 tsp agave nectar

1/4 tsp salt

1 14-oz can black beans, rinsed, drained

Mix it all together in a bowl. Serve over fries.

I've been doing research about this all weekend!

Gardein and other's like it make their soy products textured like meat by changing the molecular structure of the plant proteins so they are more stringy like animal proteins. They use an extruder to create the end product of fake meat which is why it's not really possible to recreate at home.

While yes, seitan does come slightly close to meat texture, it's still more spongy and bread-y than Gardein.

So what to do. WELL there is a vegan restaurant in my town that has these devil 'wings' and sometimes buffalo 'chicken pops' that have a really great mouth feel, very close to chicken.

I wondered and wondered how they did this. So I experimented. I got ahold of some TVP and tried mixing that with wheat gluten and the texture was almost there but still not the same. So I asked the restaurant (under the guise of food allergies. I felt pretty sneaky) what was in their devil wings. They said they were soy based gluten free.

Hmmm so no vital wheat gluten after all. So it must just be all TVP, I think to myself. But the TVP I have is in such tiny mince chunks, that can't be right. So I do more digging. There are BIGGER soya chunks out there--> some in smaller nuggets some in bigger fillets.

Whaaaaat how did I not know this was a thing. So I look at these chunks(more so the fillets) and THEY ARE THE DEVIL WINGS! HORAY! But where can I buy these big pieces of soya? I look and look and look and there is only really one company that sells the large soy pieces and that is So Soya in different flavors. A little expensive for me, so I plan on going with the chunks to try first. I looked up a bunch of videos and recipes on how to cook them and you reconstitute them in water or brother, wring out the excess liquid and then use them in place of chicken or beef slices. I wish they were more readily available in markets, but they seem to be something mainly used in Asian cousins(mainly Indian).

TLDR: Soya chunks, fillets, curls. You can buy them from So Soya for the bigger pieces or the chunks are sold online or in asian markets(curls here). They come dried, so you reconstitute them with either broth or water, squeeze out the excess liquid, and use them like chicken.

Depending on where you live, your library might have a bunch. You can check them out, try some recipes, and see if it's one you might want to buy.

I like a lot of international and multi-cultural flavors so I like a wide variety of cookbooks including:

Afro Vegan

Vegan Richa's Indian Kitchen

Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen

and a general cookbook that helps you make your own dishes using vegan staples:

The Homemade Vegan Pantry

If you are a big fan of Indian food, like me, I recommend Vegan Richas Indian Kitchen https://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Richas-Indian-Kitchen-Traditional/dp/1941252095/ref=nodl_

She also has a website https://www.veganricha.com/

I'd recommend the Vegenomicon cookbook. It has really good recipes in general.

There is one specifically for baby bok choy (which you can replace with any leafy green; shredded brussel sprouts is my go to) that is phenomenal. Here someone transcribed the recipe.

Veganomicon

https://www.amazon.com/Veganomicon-Ultimate-Isa-Chandra-Moskowitz/dp/156924264X

You will love it.

I get these all the time. They are amazing. https://www.amazon.com/NUCO-Certified-ORGANIC-Turmeric-Coconut/dp/B01M6VEPH8/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=PP0M285LTZ52&keywords=nuco%2Bcoconut%2Bwraps&qid=1566590130&s=gateway&sprefix=nuco%2Caps%2C156&sr=8-2-spons&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzTjJESTRVQ1NZRkY2JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwODUzODQwMjRUUkM2MTdaV0MxQSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNzk5MzE5TkhLSjJTV0hBU1A4JndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1

This ones better: https://www.amazon.com/Tofu-Press-stylish-transform-Tofuture/dp/B01698J0RU/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1541244902&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=tofu+press&dpPl=1&dpID=31jkeGeCX-L&ref=plSrch

I buy them from Amazon! http://www.amazon.com/Butler-Soy-Curls-oz-Bag/dp/B0048OBT04