Hey all,

Obligatory not a vegan, though I am wanting to move more in the direction of fully doing so, kinda in a transition phase atm where I'm figuring out what dishes I can make that I enjoy, and that's the issue I'm kinda dealing with currently that's preventing me from doing a full swap.

I was wondering what websites y'all recommend for vegan recipes. I recently came across Veggieboards, which is a great resource, but beyond that I'm a bit lost. I'm hoping to find more simple recipes since I'm just starting out in the kitchen and trying to get a hang of things. As an example, I've recently been trying to make hummus at home, and I quite literally need to smooth the recipe a bit since it came out lumpy when I made it last. Another example is black bean burgers, where getting them to hold together/firm up has been a pain despite how good they taste.

Thanks in advance!

  • NaevaTheRat [she/her]@vegantheoryclub.orgM
    ·
    2 months ago

    Various and sundry food hacks:

    • tvp is love, use it
    • bean water from cans (chickpea is popular because of neutral colour) is very proteiny and binds stuff like egg or blood during cooking. Baking espesh
    • nutritional yeast thickens stuff and tastes amazing. Combine dry with salt, cashews and msg (little) for a crumbly pasta topper.
    • besan (chickpea flour) thickens and holds together well. Also healthy, buy at an Indian grocery.
    • black salt lends eggy flavour, again Indian grocer
    • oat flour can help bind stuff up like patties, if you don't want to use besan.
    • flax meal and little tapioca starch whisked into water and soaked for 5 minutes binds everything up
    • msg isn't scary, asain groceries sell it. Often helps reduce total sodium in cooking to hit the magic mmmmmm point.
    • molasses and liquid smoke in patties and chilli non carne makes it next level.
    • Binzy_Boi@piefed.social
      ·
      2 months ago

      Thanks a million for this! Just giving it a skim rn since I'm out n about, but will read into this all tonight!

      • NaevaTheRat [she/her]@vegantheoryclub.orgM
        ·
        2 months ago

        No worries, there's lots of random little tricks. Most of mine here are centered around mimicking popular flavours or textures in carnist cooking as I think that's where most English speaking people usually start as it's familiar.

        Thai and chinese Buddhist food is often vegan or nearly so, and those alongside Ethiopian and Indian showcase, imo, amazing flavour and texture that isn't aping the meat heavy European decendent diet. However if you're learning the difference between sauté and sizzling then "hey, try these foods that use spices you don't even know where to buy and go for flavours you haven't had" might not be the most useful advice.

        Which is all to say: don't be afraid to branch out after you've got some reliable basics. While I'd be lying if I said I didn't sometimes miss some flavours from carnist foods we are not living lives of depravation. I have never enjoyed the food I make as much as I do now (and I've got the slowly growing waist to prove it :p) and I think that's true for a lot of people.

        Oh also don't sleep on Mexican bean stews, and on that note too beans blended with herbs and spices make stellar dips for social gatherings. E.g. white beans, garlic, olive oil, basil, lemon juice and zest makes a sort of zesty pâté like thing.