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New Vegan for life...if I can learn how to cook

1K views 12 replies 12 participants last post by  MadamSarcastra 
#1 ·
Namaste,

I've attempted to be Vegan before but since my cooking skills really lacked, I ate a lot of processed vegan foods, got tired of it, and reverted back to eating animal meat :eek:

I've been Vegan for a few months and have learned to cook a few things...but I'm lazy and haven't progressed as far as I wanted to by this time.

I am doing some activism but my main interest is living a better life as a Vegan than I was as an animal meat eater so my lifestyle inspires others to follow suit.

Looking forward to getting to know the folks on the boards, having some interesting discussions, and doing some good for the animals.

Namaste,
Raj
 
#2 ·
Welcome to the forum!

I'm not much a cook myself. I like watching cooking shows and pretending like I can cook better than the contestants, but occasionally I manage to humble myself into believing otherwise when I actually taste some of my concoctions. Last night I went to the nines trying to create the perfect vegetable curry using all animal free products, and it ended up tasting absolutely awful for lack of correct spices and in general too many ingredients to the pot. So thus far, I've been living off of vegetable maki rolls, since the only thing I have to cook with that is the rice. :D

I hope to see you around!
 
#3 ·
Hi Raj,

I was a bachelor for many years, and I never cooked anything fancy for myself. Here are some easy vegan dishes:

Whole wheat pasta with boiled lentils and jar marinara sauce

Whole wheat pasta with jar marinara sauce, with mashed tofu mixed into the sauce

Natural peanut butter on whole wheat bread

No-salt canned black beans (rinse before use) + no-salt canned corn + chopped avocado, served cold

Burrito: Canned vegetarian refried beans + canned corn + sliced celery + jar salsa, in a whole wheat tortilla

Whole wheat pita bread, with ready-made hummus

Salad: Raw spinach with chopped tomatoes, served with bottled dressing

Small yellow or red potatoes, unpeeled: Pierce skin with a fork, then microwave or boil. Eat plain, or with a little salt, ketchup, or A-1 Steak Sauce (it's vegan)

Oatmeal with raisins (this is good for lunch and dinner, too)

Soup: Boiled lentils, onion, and kale, in a broth of water, canned tomato sauce (not spaghetti sauce, which is too sweet for soup), soy sauce, and hot pepper sauce

Boiled lentils and brown rice

Mercy For Animals has a free, nicely-written vegan guide. The nutrition part of the guide starts on page 7:
http://www.mercyforanimals.org/files/VSG.pdf
 
#4 ·
Stay positive! You will be a master chef soon enough. My best advice would be to make ethnic foods that you love. Once you learn how to make 3-4 dishes that contain staples of your diet you can diversify from there. The reason I bring up ethnic food is that you know quite well what the meal will taste like. When you make food from one culture the ingredients and prepping tend to take the same amount of effort. Keep breakfast and lunch simple but get creative with dinner. If dinner is a bust just spice up ur lunch recipe.

Breakfast: oatmeal
Chia pudding/cereal
Toast
Banana oatmeal peanut butter smoothie

Lunch: garden salad
Mock tuna salad (its just smashed chickpeas with vegan mayo and the optionsl onions)
 
#6 ·
Welcome Raj. :hi: Glad you joined!
 
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#7 ·
I know I can not cook as well. I started investing in vegetarian cookbooks with easy to make recipes and I have been enjoying the journey. My most recent purchase was A New Classic Vegetarian Cookbook for People on the Go!: Make Painless Vegetarian Recipes in 20 Minutes or Less. The book is on Amazon for 99 cents.

It is really easy to follow and by no time you will become more comfortable with being in the kitchen.

Good Luck!
Wilson
 
#8 ·
I know I can not cook as well. I started investing in vegetarian cookbooks with easy to make recipes and I have been enjoying the journey. My most recent purchase was A New Classic Vegetarian Cookbook for People on the Go!: Make Painless Vegetarian Recipes in 20 Minutes or Less. The book is on Amazon for 99 cents.

It is really easy to follow and by no time you will become more comfortable with being in the kitchen.

Good Luck!
Wilson
That book looks good, I just looked it up. :)

Vegetarian cooking can be fun and easy. Develop some good knife skills and your prep time will be reduced dramatically. Learn to cook rice and oatmeal well, cook beans well, and experiment with seasonings. Once you can make 5 or 6 good vegetarian meals, it becomes easier to just adapt to what food you have in the house.
 
#9 ·
I cook or at least prepare 99% of what I eat. What I like to do (and this might help you in the future) is cook in very large batches.... freeze in reasonable portions... and have lots of options. I'll make a colossal pot of, say, lentil soup or veggie chili, freeze in smaller containers, ready to nuke at a moments notice.... and if you don't want a soupy meal, mix with couscous, quinoa, barley, etc. for a heartier meal or wrap filling. I made 3 dozen falafel balls last week & froze them.... super easy to nab a few & crisp 'em up in the oven for a snack or add with fresh veggies in a wrap. **shrug** I find it's by far the most fun to simply get creative, keep experimenting, and enjoy yourself. Best of luck to you!! =)
 
#10 ·
Hello and welcome! Being vegan is definitely easier if you are willing to cook. Keep in mind that you don't need to cook everything from scratch -- things like canned beans, frozen veggies, and pre-prepared sauces or mixes can make things easier. Good herbs and spices make everything better.

Have you tried some cookbooks? What kind of kitchen equipment do you have available?

A lot of recipes can be made with just regular pots and pans, but if you have a slow cooker, rice cooker or pressure cooker that opens up some other options. There are many vegan cookbooks aimed at easy cooking -- for example, Vegan Express, the Vegan Stoner (sounds weird, but the recipes are very simple and the illustrations are adorable), and many titles by Robin Robertson ("Quick Fix" books, Cook the Pantry, etc). Plus there are obviously tons of recipes online, too. Sites like allrecipes.com are helpful since you can search by ingredient, and there are reviews of each recipe.
 
#13 ·
Hello and welcome! Being vegan is definitely easier if you are willing to cook. Keep in mind that you don't need to cook everything from scratch -- things like canned beans, frozen veggies, and pre-prepared sauces or mixes can make things easier. Good herbs and spices make everything better.

Have you tried some cookbooks? What kind of kitchen equipment do you have available?

A lot of recipes can be made with just regular pots and pans, but if you have a slow cooker, rice cooker or pressure cooker that opens up some other options. There are many vegan cookbooks aimed at easy cooking -- for example, Vegan Express, the Vegan Stoner (sounds weird, but the recipes are very simple and the illustrations are adorable), and many titles by Robin Robertson ("Quick Fix" books, Cook the Pantry, etc). Plus there are obviously tons of recipes online, too. Sites like allrecipes.com are helpful since you can search by ingredient, and there are reviews of each recipe.
http://thedailydish.us/recipe-index/#veg (veg/vegan section of an awesome low-sodium recipe site.... hunt around in the salads/side dishes/etc., though)

http://myfridgefood.com/?detailed=true (sort recipes by ingredients you have on hand)

http://www.vrg.org/recipes/ (recipe section for Vegetarian Resource Group)
 
#11 ·
Welcome aboard :)
Learning to cook was the hurtle for me too. Growing up, when my mother "taught me how to cook" it consisted of nothing more than showing me how to microwave a frozen burrito... in the plastic wrapper! :worried: To this day the only thing she ever 'cooks' in a given year is mixing candied fruit with minute rice and whipped cream for church events. My father tried to help. He showed me how to burn hot dogs until they are black 'so they are done in the middle' :lol:
So when I went whole-foods vegan it was starting at base zero, I only knew how to boil water because I was a chemistry major.
In learning I quickly found 'recipes' to be a hindrance. Some ingredient is always expensive or missing and some step always takes needlessly long. I didnt really advance as a cook until I had the insight to forget all recipes and proceed according to relationships between food items. Now every time I cook its a unique 'recipe' that I'll never cook the same way again but its always good because I have a feel for balancing starchy things with vegetabley things and fruity things and waiting to see them all together before deciding what spices would accent the dish. I can now walk into any omnis kitchen and make good vegan food with what ever is on hand.
 
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