VEGAN LUNCH + DINNER IDEAS #2

 

With Veganuary drawing to a close [and my god, how quickly has it gone??] I really cannot believe this is only #2 of this series. Considering all the delicious things we’ve had for dinner and how well we’ve stuck to it, I’m surprised I’ve not been churning these out every couple of days. But, to be honest, I really think that because we’ve just relaxed into it so well, it’s become a non-thing around the house. We haven’t really noticed we’re doing Veganuary and it’s just a normal, natural thing for us. That’s especially in the last couple of weeks of the month.

When I decided I was going to do Veganuary, I spent a lot of time trawling through various recipe websites and wrote up the meal-plan for the month before January even started! However, what I noticed was that a LOT of the recipes were things I wasn’t familiar with…things I wouldn’t normally fancy making…things that looked incredibly involved and fussy! So with that in mind, I decided to keep a sort-of food diary so I could share what I personally ate for lunch and dinner during my attempt at Veganuary. These are recipes or meal ideas that I’d tend to want to eat any time of the year, including when I’m eating meat and dairy products throughout the rest of the year.

Burrito Bowl

We’re partial to a burrito bowl all year round - and where we usually would have chicken, minced beef or even prawns, since doing Veganuary, we’ve opted for pulses and extra veg. The first burrito bowl we did was with chickpeas and was SOOO filling, so this time we just did extra black beans and it was absolutely delicious. We’ve really fallen in love with the Sainsbury’s ‘No-Sour’ Cream which has become a staple on all of our Mexican dishes this month. We’re still slightly depressed by vegan cheese, but burrito bowls remain super easy and really filling for a dinner-time recipe. 

Vegan Pizza

I absolutely loved making these homemade vegan pizzas. We get the Aldi pre-rolled pizza bases which are totally vegan-safe, and then top with whatever we like! I decided that a simple vegetable pizza would be great, so I added peppers, cherry tomatoes, red onion and sweetcorn. We used a vegan ‘mozzarella’ which, to be honest, didn’t melt as well as was advertised, but I still found the pizza really tasty and felt almost like the real thing! Next time, I might be inclined to try adding some meat-substitutes like vegan sausage or ham slices.

Alpro’s Sundried Tomato Vegan Carbonara 

This recipe really banged and was one of my favourite of the whole month. It’s one of the ones I really fell in love with and will definitely recreate once the month is over. It came from Alpro’s recipe page on their website when I was having a browse for meal ideas, and being a complete pasta lover, I thought this sounded great. The yoghurt makes a fantastic ‘sauce’ and a few teaspoons of smoked paprika give the bacon-y flavour you’re looking for. The sun-dried tomatoes give off quite a meaty texture, and though I wouldn’t say it’s anything like a traditional Italian carbonara, it was certainly really delicious and something I’ll definitely be making again.

Click the link here to see the recipe!

Vegan Sausage + Mash

If there’s one thing we’ve developed an absolute obsession with, it’s the Richmond Meat-Free Sausages which were incredibly highly recommended to us. Sausage and mash is basically vegan anyway, as long as you use a vegan sausage and don’t add any butter to your mashed potatoes. We discovered that the Aldi Onion Gravy is vegan and super tasty - something we’ll definitely continue to use! Then I piled my plate up with peas and sweetcorn. This was a really warming, hearty winter meal and a definite stomach filler.

Vegan Bacon Cheeseburgers

Okay, these were also really really enjoyable. We used the incredibly expensive Beyond Meat burger patties which were actually reduced from £5 to £3 in Sainsbury’s [they come in a pack of 2 burger patties] and that was pretty off-putting. But, it has to be said, they really are the superior vegan burger option. Then we topped the burger with Nurishh sliced cheese and Richmond Meat-Free Bacon, added mayo and BBQ sauce and served it with some chunky homemade chips. This was such a satisfying meal, and the burgers were genuinely so succulent and meaty. I’d wholeheartedly recommend them as a treat, if you can get over the high cost! 

Thai Red Curry 

A super simple, super warming, super good-for-you dinner. It’s really quick to prepare and, again, is something we’d always cook pre-Veganuary using chicken or prawns. In this dish, we had spinach, red and yellow peppers, onions, garlic and chillies. I couldn’t find any sugar snaps or baby corn in the shops that day, but would have added those for some extra vegetable content! The only thing to watch out for is to check the Thai paste is vegan - I actually brought home a Thai paste containing fish which we’ve stashed in the cupboard for a dinner next month, so don’t get too comfortable and assume they’re all fine! 

So there are a few more easy lunch and dinner ideas that we’ve enjoyed over the month of Veganuary and definitely meals we’ll be continuing to enjoy. We’ve said we’ll keep to at least 3 to 4 vegan meals a week going forward as we think it’s been easier than expected and much more enjoyable as well!

Lots of love,

Jasmine x

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