Best Vegan Blog - While I get asked a lot about vegan protein options, a lot of times that contains nuts. So for my nut free family out there, here's some amazing high protein, nut free vegan meal ideas.
Even if you don't need nut free options, we hope these inspire your meal ideas for the week!
Check out these ideas and let me know which one you try (it should be all 3).
Chipotle copycat sofritas
I had no idea tofu came in different firmnesses, there was more than one way to cook it, that you could even manipulate the texture if you wanted to.
In short I was just pretty clueless.
Fast forward to now, tofu and I have actually grown a great deal of respect for each other.
Yup it's a two-way street.
What I would like for you to get from that though isn't more of what i am saying it's it's more about what I'm not saying.
It took multiple chances, failing a few times, years, practice, ultimately really digging in to see if this particular protein was for me.
I'm a picky eater. I absolutely know that about myself.
But this method of I guess you can call it perseverance, led me to apply this to other foods that you know at some point I wanted no business with.
This burrito recipe here is my take on chipotle's sofritas.
Which if you're unfamiliar is a vegan, vegetarian option they offer as a plant-based protein.
I haven't had it in years, but it's pretty good.
What types of tofu are there
In this recipe, I'm using what's known as a extra firm block of tofu.
You could also use just firm tofu, but the firmness kind of goes down from there to medium and so on. I wouldn't recommend that.
How to press water out of tofu
You're going to be most successful in this recipe if you're capable of getting out all of the water in the tofu as much as possible.
This way the tofu is going to soak up the sauce and take on all those awesome flavors.
I used a pretty cheap tofu press.
It has been a lifesaver, but there's other methods, you know.
I've used prior to using that tofu press.
I've stacked a bunch of books on the tofu, I've also done the same thing with several cast iron skillets.
Kind of about getting weight on there, so you could even sit on it to you know get the water out.
Yeah, no, I, don't do that. To create the sauce, I used a really huge blender.
I would recommend if your blender comes with like a smaller blender cup, to possibly use that, or even a food processor.
It would probably do a little better in there.
I had to keep scraping everything down as it kept painting the entire blender right as I hit the on button.
There is one must-have ingredient to make this sauce and that's gonna be the chipotle pepper in adobo.
If you haven't had them before they can be fairly hot.
The recipe calls for using two, but if you haven't had them before I would certainly recommend you start out with just one.
If you are super sensitive to things that are spicy, I would say just use only some of the adobo sauce that's in there as a starter.
Also if you're not a fan of tofu, you know I can't say I haven't been there before as I explained earlier, you can try another plant-based protein.
Maybe like some beans, or if you're into it maybe some crumbles.
This way you don't miss out on a really tasty meal option.
Vegan Sheet Pan Cauliflower Fajitas
Cut everything, season it, toss it onto a sheet pan, and put your feet up.
I could say the same about certain crock pot recipes or insta-pot recipes.
It's it's just about having everything done and you're just like on your way.
How To Wash Vegetables
I don't get to show the full process here but one of the things I love to do when prepping you know cauliflower or broccoli.
I like to wash them after I cut them into pieces.
Those florets are basically just you know squeezed and in this clustered environment and because of how fairly tight it is in there if you wash that prior to actually cutting it, you know, that grime can pretty much just hang out in between.
You know as a kid though, you eat dirt and suddenly you have like the immune system of an ostrich.
As an adult, you get judged though.
So I won't tell you that I go outside and eat dirt with my kids.
My mom taught me that after you wash the florets, you should toss them into a bowl of water with about two to three tablespoons of white vinegar.
Let it hang out in that bowl of water for about 10 to 15 minutes and this is gonna help sterile the veggies.
It also adds just a touch more flavor into the veggies as it seeps into the outer layers.
I feel like me and her can make the same exact recipe, follow all the same steps to the actual recipe, and it's the the things she does that aren't in the recipe that you would think aren't a big deal, but somehow her food always turns out that much better.
I'm noticing it's these tips that she doesn't share all at once, that I'm starting to understand separates the boy from the man.
Uh I mean, I mean the the boy which is me from the mom.
She's gonna kill me when she hears this.
So this recipe is great on its own but the addition I added was the beans.
A very simple way to incorporate some protein into the recipe.
Of course that makes it a little less of a fajita, but who cares.
Here I added black beans.
You could also add maybe another you know strong flavored bean like like some refried beans.
Or you can go more of a fairly more neutral route with maybe like a great northern one or even a cannellini.
You could add those beans onto the tray within the last five minutes of cooking just to basically heat them through.
And boom, who's your daddy? Well it's definitely not me and unless I'm claiming you on my taxes.
Creamy Vegan Zucchini Pasta with Sweet Corn
I haven't been to a common fast food joint in a little while.
I remember my first time at uh Chick-fil-a, years ago.
You walk in and you overhear everyone saying you know like my pleasure.
Just for some background, I was born in Brooklyn, New York.
And raised in South Jersey, Philly area.
Let's just say the hospitality is uh it's a little different around here.
So when someone came over and you know dropped our order off at the table and said you know, my pleasure.
I was caught off guard and felt compelled to respond, uh yes, art thou, thankth.
Can I have some ketchup? The wife's like uh what are you doing? I'm confused.
I don't know, I I thought it was like medieval day or something in that nature.
I'm not really sure, this story was completely irrelevant.
But I could still feel the little you know, I got from her.
Why You Have to Make This Easy Pasta
Just as a reminder this may be one of the easiest recipes I'll ever show you.
Also definitely my favorite summer pasta.
Zucchinis are perfectly in season, and so is corn.
You're getting these fresh veggies together to make basically a party inside of the skillet.
The zucchini here is to help produce a super thick, creamy, kinda light but really saucy gravy thing happening.
It cooks down and kind of wilts like spinach does leaving behind like a ton of juices.
The corn you could obviously swap in you know go for a canned version, but if you get corn in the right season, you kind of really don't want to.
When capable, I actually like to get the corn charred a bit on the grill, then at that point, I'll you know, cut it off and get it into the pasta.
That move is like next level for the pasta.
How to Get More Protein in Pasta
Protein tip here, I actually went for a chickpea pasta, which is also a gluten-free pasta.
Rather than going with a flour-based version.
The disparity between protein servings on each, is like you go from like a 14-15 grams per serving to like 20 to 22 grams per serving.
How to Sub Coconut Cream
I often choose to use a canned coconut milk for creamy sauces.
You could use another thick plant-based milk or say you wanted to go for something that wasn't a thick plant-based milk because that's what you could find, adding a little cornstarch or if you don't do corn starch even like some arrowroot powder.
Um adding a little bit of that will help thicken up the sauce for you and have something very similar to if you were using the coconut milk.
I started off this recipe with using a plant-based butter rather than some oil because I actually enjoy a hint of that buttery flavor consolidated with the other flavors within the dish.
I also used vegan parm and if you wanted to go say a little less processed I actually have a homemade version you can do with whole food ingredients at home linked at my website in the description but I would incorporate the homemade version after the pasta's cooked and it's actually plated.
Um kind of like Olive Garden used to or probably still does.
Tell me when to stop any time now.
All three recipes are linked in the description along with other interesting things.
If you're looking for more breakfast inspiration check out my last video on the screen.
Somewhere around here that I never remember.
I truly appreciate you and the time you chose to spend with me.
Until next time.
Believe in good.
Peace.
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