- Lasagna is one of the easiest standard American meals to veganize. Select vegan noodles (ones without eggs--also not recommended are the oven-ready noodles) and a marinara sauce with no cheese or meat. Grill some vegetables, such as a variety of onions, peppers and squashes and layer these as you would the ingredients in your standard lasagna. For your cheese layer, try mashing tofu steak into a container of vegan sour cream and flavor with nutritional yeast (see Resources below) and salt. You may find that you need to use slightly more sauce and "cheese" in your vegan lasagna so that it doesn't dry out; in particular, make sure you top layer is covered well in a layer of sauce to avoid burning.
- The beef or chicken of standard tacos can be replaced with a selection of marinated and grilled vegetables (mushrooms, peppers and onions). For a meatier taste, use textured vegetable protein (TVP--see Resources below), a crumbled product that can be flavored and cooked like a pound of ground beef. Alternately, TVP can be bought dry in your bulk aisle; then add water and flavor with your seasoning packet (most of these are vegan) and fry with a little vegetable oil, as TVP does not have the natural fat of beef or chicken. Top with vegan sour cream, salsa, lettuce, tomatoes and jalapeños. If using refried beans, make sure to select the vegetarian variety, as refried beans are prepared with lard.
- No matter which variety of goulash your family is accustomed to preparing--Hungarian, Polish, Czech, Croatian or American--it can easily be veganized. If you make traditional Hungarian goulash with its stew meat, replace this with seitan, a food made of wheat gluten that comes in chunks and which has a very meaty texture. Americans tend to use ground instead of stew meat, and you can use any TVP you have left over from last night's tacos for this purpose.
- Stuffed peppers and goł...bki (Polish stuffed cabbage) are also a cinch to make vegan. Replace the pork and beef in your preparations with vegan sausage products. These are found, just as other sausages, in tubes with metal clips on the ends in the vegetarian cooler section of your market, and can be prepared much the same, with the addition of a little oil. Keep your hands moist while working with these products, as the wheat gluten tends to stick to your hands.
- A traditional bean chili prepared without meat or bones is already vegan. To add that meaty texture, use reconstituted TVP fried with garlic and onions and add this toward the end of the chili preparation. A vegan chili goes well jalapeño cornbread; see Resources below for a recipe.
- Prepare a stir-fry of your favorite vegetables (pea pods, mushrooms, carrots, cabbage, baby corn, cauliflower and broccoli, or anything else you desire) in a pre-made teriyaki or other sauce for an easy vegan dinner. Serve over rice or udon noodles and break out those chopsticks.
- Quinoa is a healthy and hearty grain food that is becoming increasingly popular with diners, vegetarian or not. It comes in a number of varieties, is simple to prepare and can be bought inexpensively in bulk. Roast seasonal vegetables and spice with garlic, onions and nutritional yeast.
