Easy, tasty vegan recipes please

In case anyone was wondering, Koshary/kushary is this:

Roughly equal quantities by bulk when cooked, not weight, of
Lentils, boiled (usually brown, but green will do as well - I use puy lentils)
Rice, boiled. Any long grain will do - I use basmati.
Macaroni (I use fusilli)

Also
Spiced tomato sauce (I use a small tin of chopped tomatoes and warm through with some cumin, coriander, chilli flakes, a dash of Tabasco and a dribble of olive oil)
Crispy fried onions.

Mix the lentils, rice and macaroni together.
Slop over some tomato sauce.
Sprinkle fried onions generously on top.

As maryelizabethsadler says, it’s Egyptian street food - cheap, tasty and filling. I first came across it at a cafe at the bottom end of the Khan el Khalili opposite Al Azhar, and it became a family staple. Incidentally, the combination of rice, pasta and lentils make it nutritionally equivalent to meat.

I suggest Indian food. People have been vegetarian there for years and have developed a very varied cuisine. The only dairy foods you're likely to encounter in the recipes are yogurt and occasionally paneer (a cheese that doesn't contain rennet.) You can easily leave them out.

I find vegetable soups are easy to make especially if thickened by the addition of a tin of mushy peas, which I believe, are full of protein.

Lentil shepherds pie is delicious and just as tasty as one made with meat.
Tonight I'm making a vegetable biriani using a Slimming World recipe. I've made it a couple of times before and its healthy, filling and tastes great.

Bolognaise. using mushrooms and lentils instead of meat. just add onions, garlic, tin toms and tom puree, mixed herbs. Delicious. M&S do a good vegan cheese.

For a quick tasty meal : Creamy Pasta and Peppers (serves 2 people)
Chop a large red onion pan fry in little oil till starting to soften then
Stir in chopped red/orange/yellow pepper and 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
Salt & Pepper to season. Remove from heat once softened.
Cook pasta then drain (save 2 tablespoons of the pasta water)
Make Sauce for Pasta:
Use 2 cartons of caramelised onion houmous (I use Sainsbury’s own brand ea carton is 200g)
Add the 2 spoons of pasta water to the houmous and a dash of lemon juice and mix together.
Mix pasta with sauce top with the cooked peppers.
I top that with some chopped cashew nuts (optional).

I have recently been making a really good recipe that I cut out of a newspaper, basically onions, butternut squash, parsnips and chick peas roasted in a little oil, halfway through cooking time (about 45 mins - 1 hour in total) add in cauliflower florets and more oil mixed with cumin, turmeric, coriander seeds and garam masala powder, a splash of water, roast until it starts to caramelise. We eat it with cubes of feta or halloumi added, you could add tofu or vegan cheese. Meant to be served with a lime raita made with yogurt - you could substitute with a vegan yogurt I guess? Its very tasty and heats up well for another day.

Oh I forgot - the recipe suggests adding sprouts but I draw the line at that! Just up the cauli!

geekesse

If you want something very ordinary and very quick, beans on toast is vegan

If you can find a copy Abe Books or Amazon, the book ‘Beanfeast’ by Rose Elliot is brilliant. It has nice ordinary, everyday recipes which are based on beans and lentils. Not all of them are vegan, but plenty are.

The baked beans may be vegan, best to check anyway, but it is good to check the ingredients of the bread, as some bread has milk in it. Gluten-free bread may have egg as a binder.

Also, some people put margarine on the toast and some margarines are vegan yet I am not sure that all are. Certainly avoid using butter if you want a vegan result.

Curries, bolognese, chillis, stir fries, soups, pastas. The list goes on and on. Basically you can veganise most things by omitting meat and replacing with lentils or mushrooms or fake mince.
I’m not a fan of fake meat but “What the Cluck” and “Naked Glory” “chicken” pieces are quite tasty as are Richmond plant based “sausages”.
There’s tons of ready made meals out there but I prefer to make things from scratch and it’s usually more healthy!

Tilda basmati plain microwave rice is vegan.

Tilda also do a rather nice basmati rice with lemon and herbs. A gentle flavour.

Tesco sell both.

The Avant-garde Vegan recipes on YouTube are really great!
and free!

Mushroom Stroganoff. Rich. Tasty. Vegan. You can find recipes online, just substitute the cream for Alpro soya Dream. Even better with a generous spoonful of smoked paprika! My husband is a dedicated meat eater, but even he really enjoys mushroom stroganoff!

Stuffed portobello mushrooms. - Remove stalks and process to "mince" or chop finely. Mix stalk "mince" with vegan cream cheese, a chopped garlic clove, a small chopped red pepper. Fill mushroom cups with mixture. Put on foil lined dish, add a little water to dish, and bake for 20-25 minutes 180 degrees centigrade. Really tasty.

You can do the same with stuffed red peppers, chop button mushrooms instead and leave red pepper out of the filling mixture

Or simmer a mass of small plum tomatoes (or tinned tomatoes) with chopped garlic, onion, chopped pepper, mushrooms, herbs and a large squirt of tomato paste for an hour. If a bit sharp add a couple of teaspoons of sugar near the end. You can serve this with pasta (and vegan "parmesan" available in supermarkets.) You can also use it to make a vegan shepherds pie, a vegan lasagne (use vegan pasta). You can also add chickpeas, beans or lentils if these are liked.

Alternatively buy a jar of vegan pesto, steam chopped pepper, onion, mushrooms, cook pasta, stir vegs and pesto through the pasta.

Tinned pulses are useful as are the packets of microwave grains in the supermarkets They are also good for use as a stuffing for peppers or mushrooms. adding a few herbs and maybe a few steamed chopped vegs.

Good luck

Yotam Ottolenghi. Many of his recipes are vegan, flavorful and easy using basic staple ingredients. The Guardian has quite a collection of his meals and recipes at their site.

If you go to the BBC Good Food website and put ‘vegan’ into their search bar, there are 305 results.