Today’s vegetarian and vegan dietary options are nutritious, fun to eat, and easier to access than ever. Create amazing meatless meals packed with plant-based protein.
Here are some ideas for breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner that will satisfy your nutritional needs, as well as your taste buds.
Breakfast
Chorizo Tempeh Hash Browns
For the chorizo:
• 1½ cup crumbled tempeh
• 1 cup diced “trifecta” peppers: each: red, yellow, orange
• ¼ cup chopped onions
• 1 tbsp. adobo
• ½ tsp. cumin
• 1 tbsp. chili powder
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• Optional- 3 gloves garlic, mined/crushed
• For the hash: Frozen hash brown potatoes, preferably shredded
Instructions:
1. Season tempeh with adobo, cumin, chili powder, garlic
2. In a sautéing pan, heat oil to medium high
3. Sautee chopped peppers, garlic, and onions for 4 minutes.
4. Add the seasoned tempeh and combine together until well-mixed .
5. On a separate frying pan, heat oil in medium-high and fry potatoes until desired crispness.
6. Remove from pan, drain excess fat/oil, and set aside for 2 minutes too cool. Sprinkle with adobo.
7. Serve tempeh on top of crispy potatoes.
Morning Snack
Ooey Gooey Nutty Chunks
Ingredients:
• 1 cup chopped almonds
• 1/3 cup caramel (melted)
• 1/3 cup non-dairy margarine
• 1 cup chopped cashews
• 2 tbsp. raw honey or maple syrup
• 1/3 cup liquid chocolate, non-dairy (Paleo-friendly, dark)
• Almond and vanilla extract, to taste
• Parchment paper
Instructions:
1. Mix nuts with non-dairy margarine and caramel.
2. Spray or grease a skillet. Heat up to medium-heat .
3. Toss in the nut and butter mixture. Maximize the heat/oil combination to toast the nuts until crisp.
4. Add vanilla, and syrup to the mix. Keep mixing until it is sticky.
5. Remove from heat, place on a plate lined with parchment paper (so the sticky does not stick to paper). Drizzle chocolate on top.
6. Freeze in a sealed container. Cool before serving.
7. Cut into chunks if needed .
Lunch
Ultimate Mexican Spaghetti
Ingredients:
• 1 bag prepared Konjac noodles
• 1 large jar dipping chunky salsa
• 1 package ground vegan chorizo
• 1 cup trifecta peppers (red, yellow, and orange)
• ¼ cup chopped onion
• 1 package vegan Mexican cheese
• Adobo to taste
• 1 pack prepared chili powder
• Optional: chopped green olives; chopped jalapeno peppers
Instructions:
1) Wash and drain the Konjac noodles. Set aside and refrigerate.
2) Season the vegan chorizo with adobo to taste and chili powder.
3) Oil/coat skillet and heat to medium heat.
4) Cook up the vegan chorizo until it starts rendering moisture.
5) Add chopped veggies (including optional ones) and cook along with the meat.
6) After cooking for about 7 minutes, stir in the salsa and cook together for about 5-7 more minutes.
7) Once all is well-mixed, set the temperature to low and proceed to cook/heat up the noodles.
8) With Konjac noodles you can either pan-fry or microwave.
9) Once noodles are warm, pour chorizo mixture on top.
10) Sprinkle with vegan cheese until melted.
11) Serve and enjoy.
Afternoon Snack
Avocado-Chickpea-Cucumber Tea Sandwiches
The fun part about these cute little sandwiches is that there are no rules for presentation. Cookie-cut them, and make them any shape you want for an instant delicious snack that will leave you feel supercharged.
Ingredients:
• 1 large avocado
• ½ can chickpeas
• 1 thin-sliced cucumber
• ½ tbsp. celery salt
• Lemon juice to taste
• Dill to taste
• Slice, 9 grain bread
• Cookie cutters
Instructions:
1. The “cream” part of these delicious sandwiches will consist on a mixture of mashed avocado, soft chickpeas, celery salt, dill, and lemon juice. Mix it all together with a hand blender, not a “bullet” blender. Let it have some texture. Mash with your hands, if possible until desired consistency.
2. Place mixture in your refrigerator.
3. Make sure the bread is fresh and at room temperature. Using two slices at a time, one on top of the other, use the cookie cutters to make sandwich bread shapes. Set the matching pairs aside.
4. Slice cucumber as thinly as possible without it getting wobbly. Dry out the slices by squeezing a napkin on them to soak up moisture.
5. Squeeze lemon juice, dill, and celery salt on the slices.
6. Remove the avocado/chickpea mix from the refrigerator. Start “buttering” the bread with the mix and cover each slice with its corresponding match. Place cucumber slice on top of the sandwich and pinch it together using a decorative toothpick.
7. You can also just put the cucumber inside the bread and avocado mixture and serve as a regular tea sandwich.
Dinner
Super Sweet Potato Bar
Get ready for a party of flavors. Make room for the toppings as you walk around a rainbow of plant-based protein deliciousness.
Ingredients (for the sweet potato bar):
• 6 baked sweet potatoes
• Cut each potato in half
• For the Toppings:
• 4 large avocados
• Lemon juice
• Pink Himalayan sea-salt
• 3 large jars, chunky salsa
• Mexicali corn mixture (black beans, corn, chopped peppers, chopped onions)
• 2 containers each, vegan cheese and vegan (non-dairy) sour cream
• 1-2 Shredded chorizo, already prepared
• 1-2 pounds BBQ-flavored tempeh, cubed or crumbled
• 2-3 cans chickpeas
Instructions:
For the avocado
Slice and cut up avocados into ½ inch cubes that could fit easily in a half of a sweet potato. To preserve the color and freshness season with Pink Himalayan Sea Salt. Squeeze a lot of lemon juice on the avocado and keep stored in a cool container.
Mexicali Salsa
Pour contents of chunky salsa on a serving bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together corn, black beans, peppers and chopped onions. This gives guests a choice of plain salsa or Mexicali salsa.
Cheese and Sour Cream (vegan)
Pour contents of each container in a cool covered dish over ice to preserve freshness. Guests can top their potatoes with both. If your guests choose cheese, offer to heat up their halves for up to 20 seconds in the microwave for a cheesy finish.
Shredded Chorizo
Shredded and ground vegan chorizo is already pre-seasoned and ready to heat up. Preserve its flavor by placing it on a sterno chafing dish. Add an additional dash of chili powder, if needed.
BBQ-flavored Tempeh
Another vegan favorite, tempeh keeps is texture and tenderness when properly heated. If using a sterno chafing dish for serving, be sure that the protein does not come too close to the constant heat.
Chickpeas
1) Season chickpeas with garlic salt, cayenne pepper, and olive oil.
2) Toss chickpeas in your oven, at around 450 degrees and toast them until crunch.
3) Place them on parchment paper.
4) Cool them fully in a cookie cooling rack.
5) Place in a basket lined with paper in a cool location.
6) Pour over sweet potatoes and enjoy.
