Best fettuccine alfredo recipe I've ever made, is very easy. Do you have daiya cheese that you can find anywhere near you? If so, its just 1 package of the mozzarella shreds, 1 cup coconut milk, 1 stick of margarine, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, and 2 tablespoons of dried parsley. Just melt it all together in a sauce pan while the pasta cooks! Its delicious.

Another of my favorite creamy pasta sauces is made from avocados. Just puree 1 avocado, juice from half a lemon, a few garlic cloves, 1/4 cup basil leaves, some olive oil (maybe 1-2 tablespoons) and some salt and pepper to taste. This is also one of my favorite recipes, and I eat this stuff probably once a week with some zucchini noodles

 

I make a similar avocado sauce and then just lightly fry some mushrooms and some sort of green and mix it through with pasta. Baby asparagus is particularly good.

 

Easy way to get a creamy marinara: take a jar of Vegan marinara, heat it up in a pot (adding sautéed mushrooms, onions etc. if you want to), then stir in some unsweetened soy milk. Great trick I learned from someone years ago.

If you don't mind pre-packaged products, I discovered a great mock Spaghettio recipe quite by accident: a can of Progresso Vegetable Classics tomato soup (they have a couple of different tomato soups, so check the label to make sure it is Vegan), throw in a handful of Daiya mozzarella cheese if you have it and stir til melted. Then combine with about 8 oz. of cooked pasta. I prefer either wagon wheel or honeycomb style pasta (I have never been able to find rings!). I never measure this, I just sort of cook the pasta, warm up the soup and then adjust if needed. You can add some sliced veggie hot dogs if you want to.

I am currently working on a mock-up of Amy's bean and rice burritos: a can of hot chili beans (Kuner's is Vegan, but always check the label), mashed up with a potato masher, combined with about 3/4 cup of cooked rice - cooked with a little extra water so it will not be too firm when done. I wrap it up in tortillas, fold it up and it's pretty close to the real thing - except so far it is not quite as spicy as the Amy's variety. I am going to try adding a bit of chili powder next time. (Note: I never said it was healthy - the chili beans do have a lot of sodium!!)

Those are just a couple of easy ones. I am looking forward to what other responses you get, as I am also looking for some easy new recipes.

-Rocket

 

Anna, that avocado sauce sounds wonderful!

A wonderful, creamy sauce I've had with some quinoa salad is a few tablespoons of cashew butter (homemade with toasted cashews and a blender), some lemon juice, black pepper and water. Add the liquid a little at a time so it's easier to mix. I imagine it would be good with just about any nut butter, if you can find or make those with a reasonable amount of effort?

Another creamy pasta sauce I've had was made with tomatoes, carrots, garlic, onion, zucchini, white beans and olive oil. With a blender or hand mixer you can make just about anything thick and creamy I think

 

Here's a simple recipe I made for lunch that I saw online a while ago. Takes about 15 - 20 minutes.

Ingredients
- Gnocchi (hopefully you can find it in a store near you)
- White kidney beans (canned, so it's quick)
- Kale
- canned tomato
- Vegetable broth (if it's just for yourself, about 1/2 cup should do)

Steps:
1 - Deep fry the gnocchi (only takes about 2 minutes once the oil is hot), and set aside.
2 - In a frying pan, put the kidney beans and the canned tomatoes and let it warm up.
3 - Add the gnocchi and the vegetable broth, and let it warm up again.
4 - Add the kale, and wait until the kale is cooked, and until the broth has disappeared.

I personally also add some salt and black pepper at the end.

 

Baked jacket potato is one of the fastest (as in doing very little 'hands on' myself) meals I can think of. I've been topping mine with tofu scramble lately. But also great with a tin of baked beans, or veggie chill (from the freezer), or devilled mushrooms. Side salad always good.

Pasta and pesto is always a winner too. Easy to make cheese-free pesto and keep it in the fridge. Serve with a bag of mixed green salad and some quick garlic bread warmed in the oven.

 

Campbells mushroom gravy--the canned stuff. It's vegan, and suprisingly good. Open. Heat.

Vegan mayo with a liberal sprinkle of nutritional yeast. Cheziest. Easiest.

Baco's - in the bag by Betty Crocker. A soy product. Don't eat too many. Have a smokey, salty crunch for salads, sammies and sprinkled on hot things right before eating. Don't let get soggy.

I've never done mac n chee with Daiya, but did buy an Amys one once. Like the government cheese they used to give away.
I do love some Daiya in the freezer for that crazy grilled cheese craving. Passes for American slices 100%

 

Stovetop popcorn with salt and nutritional yeast is a go-to for me as a comfort food. As is celery with peanut butter (or almost anything and peanut butter).

For lasagne, I've taken this recipe and run with it:
http://www.dailygarnish.com/2011/09/summer-vegetable-vegan-lasagna.html
I've done it entirely from scratch, and I've done it where I bought pre-sliced squash and pre-sliced onions, threw them into a jar of sauce, blended the ricotta substitute together, threw everything into the pan, let it sit for 30 (non-boil noodles) and baked for 40 and was done. Minus sitting and baking time I think the prep was about 10 minutes.

This makes a nice creamy pesto because of the nooch:
http://food52.com/recipes/22291-simple-vegan-pesto

Overall I've had much better luck branching out and finding new favorite, quick vegetarian and vegan recipes than trying to reproduce dairy and meat dishes (which like you say, tends to take a long time). I've become a huge fan of roast lemon broccoli, roast rosemary radishes, pickled beets with onions, and mashed butternut squash with cinnamon, nutmeg, and almond butter swirled in (it's like a Christmas dessert in 15-20min).

 

Mac and Nooch.

 

So many awesome recipes! Thanks so much! I actually have a lot of products (like daiya) available where I live, I just have to go to certain grocery stores I don't frequent, and they are usually pretty expensive, so I limit myself to eating them as treats.

I'm definitely going to try some of these in the next few weeks. I've always wanted to do an avocado sauce, they seem really interesting (in a good way), and the cream of broccoli soup recipe looks so easy and I used to buy creamy soups all the time so that's at the top of my list.

I am working on trying to find new favorites. It takes a while though. I really do love cooking, so that is helping a lot. This is the third time I've tried vegan, and I started falling apart around this time on the other tries, and comfort food was always something that got me before, so I'm trying to head off problems with that before they strike. This transition was so much easier than the other times though, and having my own place with a full kitchen has made a world of difference too.

 

Daiya freezes well! I've learned my lesson to put at least half of it in a ziploc as soon as it's opened. Easy to thaw too without any noticable difference in texture or taste IMO.
If you find you like it you buy extra and freeze. maybe plan your store trip for when it's on sale. It's regulary about $4.99 a bad by me-sale for $3.99. The shreds.

I also keep instant potato flakes on hand. Not only do my sons like them, they add a quick creaminess and thickness to soups

 

Pasta salad, quinoa salad, soups (not sure of the weather where you are), beans and rice...

 

Black bean chili, curried lentil soup.....roasted butternut squash can be easy, I just roast it and puree it with a little veggie stock and seasonings.

 

I tried cooking with butternut squash... once. It took me almost an hour to totally cut/peel/prep! Is there a trick to it? I love butternut squash but never buy it because I can't seem to figure out how to prep it.

 

Baked beans and chili are fairly easy, and they have enough leftovers to give you a couple of extra meals.

I also really like Sweet Potato, Carrot, Apple, and Red Lentil soup. I add an extra apple, don't bother with the yogurt, and use an extra 1/4 tsp of cayenne. This makes enough to eat a small bowl of soup every day of the week, or have three larger meals. It freezes well, too.

 

Thanks for the butternut squash tips, I'm going to have to try it again sometime. Last time I followed some set of instructions that had me using a vegetable peeler and it was not very effective.

 

Hey,

I post vegan recipes on my blog, http://avocadoplease.com/category/recipe/ , and they're all super quick and super easy! I've just finished the third recipe in my beetroot 'Vegessential' series, which is made up of three recipes to prove the ease and versatility of the beet.

Hope you find something useful.

Thanks,

Paris