Easy, tasty vegan recipes please

DH avoids red meat due Health concerns ( he has prostate cancer and thinks it might help) and prefers to avoid other meat too. I eat meat but am happy to go along with this, provided I can cook tasty alternatives. I have found Yotam Ottolenghi ‘Simple’ (though not all vegan) and Anna Jones’s new cookery book, One Pot, Pan,Planet contain really tasty vegan suggestions, or helpful hints for turning vegetarian meals vegan. For example, we had Aubergine &Peanut stew with Pink Onions for supper last night from Anna Jones book, with rice. Absolutely wonderful and not too fiddly. Nothing wrong with baked potatoes with toppings, but you may wish to do something more elaborate if they are visiting for dinner. There are so many more interesting plant based recipes around now than even a few years ago. Incidentally, you can Google that particular recipe, I just located it online on the Spin-off website

This is a soup that we’ve often had as a main meal - probably more suited to winter, but exceedingly delicious and warming - and easy!
Any leftovers go thick, like dal, perfect to use up with some naan bread.

Red lentil and rice soup

2 veg stock cubes
1.75 litres boiling water
200g red lentils
100g risotto rice
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 large onions
2 tbsp oil
1 lemon

Dissolve stock cubes in the boiling water. Add the lentils, rice, spices and pepper. Bring to boil and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes, until lentils have dissolved and the rice is very tender.

Meanwhile, peel, halve and finely slice the onions. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and stir in the onions. Cover the pan and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until very soft.
Then increase heat and fry, stirring frequently, until very brown, caramelised and virtually burnt.
Drain on kitchen paper.

Stir into the finished soup - they give a wonderful flavour - with the juice of a lemon.
Very nice with warm naan bread.

We are omnivores we have just had a mushroom and pepper risotto for lunch, followed by stewed rhubarb. No animal products. No animal products in my breakfast either.

Tonight we had spicy stuffed aubergines, cabbage, beans, roast parsnips and carrots and baked potato with a creamy herb sauce. Neither of us is vegan. I don't eat meat but OH does. Even so we enjoy many tasty vegan meals.

Egg free pasta dishes are an idea. Use oaty milk, vegan cheese and a non dairy margarine for a cheese sauce, I use Vitalite. Any vegetables can be combined in a tomato sauce too such as onions, leeks, peppers, sweet corn.

I think you can buy fajitas and taco shells which are vegan. Then just fill them with vegetarian fillings, obviously meat free, so veggies or quorn.

I have made quiches too, obviously no eggs, but you could fill a pastry case with veggie fillings.

I suggest you google vegan recipes. It’s surprising once you start and realise that there are now so many more ideas to try which are straightforward.

Vegan pizza? I make my own pizza dough in the bread maker but you can use a ready baked base. Then just add suitable toppings and a vegan grated cheese, there are mozzarella as well as cheddar type ones.

Risotto? Use vegetable stock cubes. There are a variety of recipes. We like the courgette, lemon and thyme one.

Puff pastry, can use a sheet of ready made rolled out vegetarian friendly one. Spread with ‘ free from’ pesto or a sundried tomato pesto, check it contains no dairy, then add toppings you would use for a pizza.

Vegetarian potato cakes. Made just like fish cakes but with vegan flavourings. Vegan cheese, herbs, fried onion etc.

All the above can be served with some interesting salads, maybe containing chick peas, nuts and seeds for extra protein, with an interesting dressing.

Veggie sausage casserole. Veggie stock cubes and just make as you would a meaty sausage casserole.

Hope these help. My dil is dairy free so when she visits I often make vegan recipes. Asda do a good range of plant based ingredients. Dil loves the Nu cream cheese alternative. Think that’s how you spell it. You can also use Elmlee cream to replace double cream.

Perhaps try a vegan brownie recipe. I think the one I use is a BBC Good Food recipe.

You can make thin pancakes using self raising flour and soya milk. These can be stuffed with all sorts of vegan fillings - garlic mushrooms parsley sauce or spicy tomato and lentil or ratatouille or chick pea sweet potato and cumin. Serve with other veg or salad

A dead easy one would be jacket potatoes with baked beans and vegan ‘cheese’. The M&S version (grated) is quite passable.

One of my standards that is easily adapted is roast vegetables. Basic: onion, garlic, peppers, aubergines, tomatoes; can add leeks, courgettes, fennel etc.
All cut into chunks / squares, although I sometimes slice the fennel & aubergine; plenty of oil, and some herbs.

Now, you can serve that with plenty of bread and a variety of dipping sauces (hummus works well)
You can stir into bulgur wheat / cous-cous; and if you want, some squares of tofu / vegan cheese.

We often serve this in summer, with BBQ for the meat eaters.

I always do a big batch, and eat left-overs cold, or added to a stew.

Vegan chilli is a bit more of a faff, but freezes well. These are the secrets to add to your basic chilli sauce:
Roast veg as above
Black turtle beans cooked in vegan stock so they are tasty.
Smoked paprika for some depth of flavour as well as chilli.
Sweet corn for texture and colour.

Even DH will eat this as long as he can sprinkle on some cheese!

So many I cannot list them - and I am an omnivore. But no-one has yet suggested baked potatoes, filled with ratatouille and a vegan margarine. Plenty of other vegan fillings, dhall, curried veg.

Curry, chilli, pasta sauces easily made vegan. I recommend the Bosh books, but all their recipes are online. The Veganuary website has lots of easy starter recipes and tips .

Booths have a range of curry sauce that are Vegan and Gluten free, OP. I'm not vegan but I do like these sauces. I made a sweet potato curry with one yesterday. Rogan Josh that had sweet potatoes, garlic, tomatoes, various spices I have in my cupboard, mushrooms. I did finish off with cream but that can be omitted. One of my family members is fat free, sugar free, gluten free and dairy free (all by choice) and we cook for her a lot.

The range from Booths is Holy Cow. It is in a pouch, can be kept in a cupboard. Also, cauliflower cheese made with cornflower instead of flour for the sauce with cheese that is dairy free and suitable for vegans.

Leek and potato bake, Recipe online, use vegan cheese. Really lovely, can be made in advance. Scandi style lentils is a Mindful Chef recipe. Again, just Google. You can easily source the ingredients. Highly recommended! Vegan cheese is a good standby and has a long sell by date so good to have in the fridge. Shepherd's pie with Quorn, ditto pasta.

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.

Just make what you are comfortable with. For lasagne and cannelloni simply buy the vegan version of pasta and your usual vegetarian filling avoiding animal products. There are vegan “cheeses”. Soups are very easy and most vegetable soups are vegan. For deserts fruit is a safe option.
We have vegan friends who visit once a year. When they leave I simply give them the different ingredients to take home if it is something we wouldn’t use. Stop worrying, you will be fine.