21-day Vegan Kickstart

[MelissaB]

starts today. Looking for some good recipes? Have a look. I did this kickstart sometime last year and still make some of the recipes.

http://www.pcrm.org/kickstartHome/messages/

[Gregorian]

1. Tofu, tofu, and more tofu.

I'm not a vegetarian. But I'm slowly moving in that direction. Recently I began substituting tofu for the meats I was using in my evening stirfries. And I can't believe I've been eating meat all of these years when tofu is so much better.

I'm on a dinner of kale, onion, eggplant, yellow squash, mushrooms, and tofu, all stir fried. A quarter of a lemon. Soy sauce. Jalapeno hot sauce.

Just wanted to share my own recipe that I cobbled together recently.

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. We are starting one of these at our local Whole Foods soon.

[HopeHoops]

3. Refried bean tacos are quick and easy. Just get "vegetarian" or "fat free".

Read the ingredients anyway, but usually both are vegan.

[HopeHoops]

4. If you've never had tempeh, get some.

It's basically a block of fermented soy beans, but it is screaming versatile.

One of my favorite things to do is slice it (1/4&quot and fry it in peanut oil until it browns slightly on both sides. I dry it on paper towels on a plate and it is great with cocktail sauce, ketchup, brown mustard, or even just plain. The kids snarf it down.

You can also cube it and use it in stir fries (instead of tofu) with or without marinating it.

Something else to consider is quinoa (pronounced "keen-whaa&quot and amaranth. Both are full protein grain and integrate well into damn near anything, especially stews. Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP) makes an excellent "ground beef" filler for chili or soups in general. And there's always bulghur wheat.

What SPECIFIC kinds of recipes are you after? I don't use recipe books anymore, except for baking. I just look at what we have and a meal idea appears before me like a Holy Grail. Then I make something different.

[The empressof all]

5. Costco sells organic baby spinach at a good price

I lightly sweat an onion in a wok then add some cumin, tumeric, mustard seed, chopped ginger and garlic along with crushed red pepper to the pan. I add the washed spinach (no need to dry), cover and wilt it all down. I then put it into the processor or blender and chop it a bit. I sometimes add vegan cream cheese or vegan sour cream to it. If you eat dairy greek yogurt is nice.

It's delish over rice

You can also do this with mixed greens. I like to do it with chard and spinach.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

6. Southwest quinoa salad -

Easy to make, good protein, enough for a few days.

Quinoa
Red & green bell pepper
Frozen corn
Black beans
Red onion
Cumin
Mexican oregano
Jalapeno
Chili powder
Salt

Cook up your quinoa with a little salt, cumin, and chili powder in a pot.
Cook up all the other ingredients (including more salt, cumin, and chili powder) in a separate pot or stir fry them in a skillet -- amounts of each ingredient are up to your own taste buds.
When they are both cooked to perfection, mix together and chow down

[obamanut2012]

7. Another good book to use for recipes

Is Thrive Foods.

[HopeHoops]

8. Thursday check-in - how's it going?