If your end of year resolution includes losing weight, eating healthy and doing more to make the world a better place, do away with the animal products and say hello to a host of veggies, soya and kale chips.
Mind you, this means you’re a vegan, not a vegetarian! This totally animal free diet is at an all time high – with celebrities like Alicia Silverstone and Beyoncé leading the pack. Increased energy, younger looking skin and eternal youth are some of the few reasons people embrace veganism.
Still not convinced enough to give up your hamburgers? Cheer up! We bring you some sinfully delicious dishes that are not only healthy but will also leave you craving for more. So bid goodbye to the animal products and usher in the world of veganism with these dishes:
Falafel
This is a traditional Arab dish that has gained immense popularity in India in the last 1-2 years. Made of chickpeas, beans and spices, the mixture is ground into a paste and rolled into balls and deep fried. Falafel is sometimes served by itself, but it’s usually served wrapped inside of a pita or tortillas with veggies (such as lettuce, tomato, and onion). A falafel contains no dairy products and makes for a lip smacking delight when paired with chilli sauce or ketchup!
Pizza
If you thought turning vegan would deprive you of your favourite pizza – and worse even, the irresistible mozzarella – fret not! You have a lot of mouthwatering vegan cheese, made of cashew and garlic powder, to choose from that will help you craft the perfect golden vegan pizza! Lay out the dough and splatter it with ketchup. Top it with your favourite veggies for a savoury veggie fix. Now, drizzle it with some vegan cheese that oozes, bubbles and stretches like your regular mozzarella. What you have is an irresistibly delicious vegan pizza!
Vegan Pasta with Veggies
This pasta is a move over milk and cheese. The surprisingly yummy dish is prepared using flour that is sautéed in olive oil to which rich flavoursome veggies like onion, garlic and capsicum are added.
Instead of plain milk, you could use almond milk for the stock to ensure it turns into a flavoursome broth. Sprinkle the mixture with vegan parmesan (made using cashews) and you have a sauce that is so creamy and delicious, you wouldn’t believe it’s super healthy. You could also add tofu to the veggies and cashew cream to make it creamier. The results are sumptuous enough to convince even a hardened carnivore to turn vegan!
Burritos
Packed with flavour, burritos make for an interesting vegan meal. They could be stuffed with black beans , quinoa, olives and pickle – and rounded off with copious amounts of guacamole. The result: an irresistibly delicious burrito that is oozing with flavour.
Tofu, sweet potato, black beans and kale chips drizzled with your choice of spices, make for another interesting option. Take your experiment a little further by adding a portion of hummus to the stuffing and see how delightful your burrito tastes.
Caesar Salad
If you’re a vegan and miss the Caesar salad, worry not! Cause you can be a vegan and enjoy that king of salads too. This quick, easy recipe, made with bread croutons, roasted chickpeas, homemade vegan parmesan cheese and tofu is a truly winning combination.
Fry/bake the tofu and toss it in soy sauce. Then, sprinkle some thyme, sweet paprika, cumin, black pepper and onion powder. In a big bowl, add chopped lettuce, croutons, vegan parmesan, tofu and olive oil and some balsamic vinegar. Fingerlicking and delicious, this moreishly delectable salad will win you over in every possible way!
Walnut Brownie
No meal is complete without desserts and rightly so! For there is nothing as comforting as rounding off a great meal with some gooey, fudgy, super rich walnut brownie. This vegan brownie is eaten raw. Oops! What we mean is dates, almonds, walnuts and cocoa are kneaded together to make these delicious brownies. Add a little drama by topping off the brownie with chocolate ganache made with cocoa, almond milk and coconut oil instead of cream. Sprinkle some walnuts. These brownies studded with walnuts make for an incredibly satisfying dessert.
So when you celebrate this year’s vegan month – November – unchicken yourself, grab a glass of soy milk and dig into that sinful vegan brownie. We believe you are truly prepared to jump on to the ‘vegan’ bandwagon!
(A freelance food blogger, Pranjali Bhonde Pethe aims at getting people and their favourite food closer through her blog moipalate. Email her at pranjali.bhonde@gmail.com or follow her on @moipalate.)
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