Veganuary: Easy Meals I Love

This month is “Veganuary,” where people are encouraged to try to eat vegan for a month to open their minds to more environmentally friendly, cruelty-free and healthier diets that excludes meat, dairy, eggs and other animal products.

I’ve been vegetarian for a bit over six years now, cut out dairy milk and products tested on animals about a year ago and since moving to Brighton in September, I’m gradually becoming more vegan. At the moment, I treat eggs and cheese as a treat, having them once a week, so I consider myself mostly vegan these days.

With that, I thought I’d share my knowledge on veganism for those looking to change up their lifestyle, starting with easy meals I love.

An exhaustive list of recipes I’ve tried can be found here, but here are some of my favorite tried and tested dishes:

1. Fajitas: Supermarkets will probably have a fajita kit that includes tortillas, seasoning and salsa, you just have to add the vegetables (two peppers and an onion) and “meat.” I either use mushrooms or Linda McCartney chorizo sausages and sometimes top with guacamole or vegan sour cream.
2. Pulled pork sandwiches: Again, it’s Linda McCartney to the rescue. They are amazing on ciabatta rolls with vegan cheese spread (Freeform). I’ll also have it with chips (either U.K. “chips” or U.S. “chips” a.k.a. “crisps”) and pasta salad (some stores may have discounted pasta salads for items about to expire).
3. Overnight oats: Breakfast in my life. I eat it every single day. This oat recipe is versatile, so you can change it up when you get bored. I use plain oats, Alpro vanilla soya yogurt, a splash of maple syrup, chia seeds, one whole banana and frozen berries (most recently a 50% mix of strawberries, blackcurrants, raspberries and black berries and 50% blue berries) (I like frozen berries because when they defrost, the flavors soak into the mixture better) with original almond milk to top it all off.
4. Eggplant parmesan: To die for! My non-vegan housemate loves this as well. Who wouldn’t? It’s so tasty, simple and quick.
5. Avocado toast: Basic, I know. But, it’s delicious with hummus (peri peri is my personal favorite), salt, pepper and vegan blue cheese. Complement it with some fruit and crisps for an amazing lunch.
6. Asian garlic tofu: Quick, easy, keeps well and is so savory. It’s especially amazing when you top it with sesame seeds!

Photo by Britts World.