Every so often the New York Times has a huge food section article with like, 101 ideas for salads or
101 ideas for grilling. My Dad usually saves the print version from his work and brings it home for me, where I proceed to drool over the unlimited possibilities, or at least the vegetarian ones. (Btw, how great is my Dad? He is in Egypt right now covering the protests! Crazy, right?)
The idea is,
relatively simple combos that might be a bit unusual or sort of a cheater recipe for something usually prepared in a more complex way. Or maybe even classics that you don't normally think of as being "fast food." Regardless, the list-iness of it jogs your memory and inspires you to come up with interesting meals instead of opting for that restaurant, frozen item, or over-used standby.
In my opinion, us vegans need something like this. A long list of ideas for simple snacks or whatever, not so much recipes as
combinations that you can use as a guideline for improvisation.
So! I will start off with a list for sandwiches! This is not meant to be exhaustive and leans toward my own personal tastes, so if you have any good and simple ideas, leave it in the comments! And if you want to make a list like this for desserts, breakfast, snacks, ect, go ahead and leave a comment and we can link it up. It'll be an instant score for anyone wondering what to eat for a quickie vegan meal. So without further ado...!
50 Vegan Sandwiches!!!
*Classics*
1.
The Hummus Supreme: Hummus + cucumbers + tomatoes + thin sliced red onion + drizzle of pomengranate molasses on multigrain bread
2.
The Roasted Wrap: Balsamic Roasted eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms + tomatoes + basil and arugula rolled into a lavash or tortilla
3.
The Portobello: Grilled, marinated portobello mushrooms + roasted red peppers + hummus + basil on french bread
4.
The Rueben: Tempeh bacon +
Vegan Russian dressing + Sauerkraut on toasted sourdough
5.
The Poor and Toasty: Herbed Earth balance slathered on a roll and toasted face-down in a nonstick pan until crusty, stuffed with tomatoes and or onions (depending on level of poverty).
6.
Italiano: Pesto mixed into a little vegan mayo + tomatoes + olives + roasted eggplant on focacia or ciabatta
7.
The Pizza Bagel: Tomato Sauce + Sliced Mushrooms + plenty of nooch (or soy moz) on two bagel halves, broiled.
*Breakfast Sammies*
8.
The Waffle-wich: Peanut Butter + Sliced Bananas+ Drizzle of Maple Syrup, between two toasted frozen waffles
9.
The Wafflewich, revisted: Same as above except with vegan sausage patties (like Gimme Lean) instead of bananas and pb. (Oh, like you haven't done it.)
10.
The Scramble: Tofu scramble wrapped up, burrito style, in a tortilla
11.
The Mexican Scramble: Tofu scramble + guac + salsa in a tortilla
12.
The Radial Bagel: Soy Cream Cheese + Sliced Avocado + Sliced Tomato + thin sliced red onion + sprouts open faced on a grilled bagel
13.
The Einstein: Chopped veggies and herbs folded into soy cream cheese + everything bagel
14.
The McTuffin: Broiled/ Baked Tofu + Nooch Cheesy sauce or soy cheese slices+ circular breakfast sausage on an English muffin. (They serve these at
Sticky Fingers Bakery in DC, btw.)
*Fruity Favorites*
15.
Elvis: Peanut butter+ banana grilled in earth balance (add in a slice of soy bacon if you're feeling really cheeky.)
16.
PB + F: Peanut/ Almond/ Cashew butter+ fresh sliced peaches, apples, strawberries, ect.
17.
The Weekender: Sliced green apples + whole grain mustard + vidalia onions on pumpernickel
18.
Sophisticated: Faux Cream cheese + Fig preserves + sliced toasted almonds, open-faced on good mulitgrain bread
19.
Bollywood: Mango chutney+ faux cheddar, grilled cheese style
20.
La Casita: Pan-fried, sliced plantains + chili powder + peanut butter in a tortilla
21.
The Brussels : Sliced Apples+ Shredded Carrots+ Soy Cream Cheese + Agave Nectar in French Bread
22.
The Peaches and Cream: Sliced peaches + creamed cashews + drizzle of agave stuffed inside a panini and grilled
23.
The Lover: Toasted french bread+ vegan chocolate hazelnut spread + sliced strawberries + dusting of cinnamon or powdered sugar (serve w/ soymilk, plz)
24.
The Banana Cream Pie: Sliced Bananas+ Soy cream cheese + brown sugar broiled open-faced on thick cut multigrain bread or a bagel.
*Protein Central*
25.
BLT w/ a twist: Crispy tempeh bacon + Avocado slices+ lettuce+ tomato slices on toast
26.
Meatball Sub: Leftover meatballs + leftover spaghetti sauce + soy cheese on a sub roll
27.
Turkey club: Tempeh bacon + deli slices+ lettuce, tomato and mustard
28.
The Momma's boy: Veganaise+ Lettuce+ Tomato + Soy Cheese + Deli Slices
29.
The Way-better McRib: Broiled
Morningstar Riblets + Slaw on focaccia
30.
BBQ Baby: BBQ Tofu+ Grilled/ Caramelized Onions+ Toasted Roll
31.
The Sailor Girl: (Leftover) breaded, fried tofu + veganaise mixed with a little relish or capers + generous squeeze lemon on a roll
32.
The Babysitter: Cooked Soy hot dog, cut in 1/2 + Ketchup and Relish on whatever bread available (just make it fast, before t
he parents get home)
*Salad Sandwiches*
33.
The Greek: Lettuce+ Cucumbers+ Slivered almonds+ grapes+ olives+ crumbled tofu+ Greek dressing stuffed into a warm pita
34.
Tofu Salad: Not-egg salad on white toast (not for me, thankyouverymuch)
35.
The Jimmy: Tons of raw spinach + thin sliced red onions + red pepper hummus on a toasted bagel
36.
The Leftover heaven: Whatever awesome salad you had yesterday inside a hollowed out french bread loaf
37.
The Chik'n Salad: Mashed cooked chickpeas + diced onion and carrots + relish + vegan mayo + salt, pepper and praprika on toast
38.
The Tahini Dream: Roasted Eggplant + Spinach + tomato chunks in tahini miso dressing (equal parts tahini and miso plus a little warm water and agave nectar) rolled in a lavash
*Even More Sandwiches
39.
The Portobello burger: Grilled or broiled portobello mushroom cap + pesto + tomato slices on a burger roll
40.
The Patty Melt: Grilled Black Bean Burger + Grilled onions + soy american style cheese, grilled in between two buttered sour dough slices. A southern classic.
41.
The Orange Monster: Roasted sweet potato mashed and spread over a whole grain tortilla + mushrooms + onions + corn + spinach + hot sauce
42.
Mexi-Wrap: Mashed black beans + salsa + guac + jalapenos rolled in a whole grain tortilla
43.
The kid brother: PB+J + potato chips
44.
The Doug: Sliced, roasted beets + avocado slices + sweet mustard + sliced onion on whole grain bread
45.
The George Bush Sr.: Broccoli or Broccoli Rabe + Nooch + Red Pepper Flakes, broiled on sturdy whole grain bread until broccoli is starting to char in places
46.
The Tea Luncheon: Thin sliced radishes + cucumbers+ salt and pepper + soy cream cheese on white toast with the crust cut off.
47.
The Open Sesame: Baba Ganoush + roasted red peppers + roasted zucchini + squeeze of lemon on pita
48.
The Subway: Cukes+ tomatoes + sliced onions+ lettuce + Italian dressing on a hoagie roll
49.
Harriet the Spy: Veganaise + Tomatoes + plenty of salt and pepper on wonderbread
50.
The Pita: Falafel+ red cabbage slaw + hummus/ soy-yogurt sauce/ hot sauce in a warm pita
...so, that's about what I could come up with. Please add your faves in the comments!
Now that I actually have a job (my dream job, as a cleaning lady in a kindergarten) my weekends have taken on extra significance. I used to be happy eating a little bread and jam, but not anymore... now I have to clean out my fridge and eat huge, epic, brunch-like feasts on Saturdays and Sundays. It just makes my celebration that I don't have to use a mop that day all the more enjoyable. This weekend, I made tofu scramble for the first time in, it feels like, years. (In fact, I think it has been years...) This is partly due to the fact that I *finally* found some local tofu that doesn't have the consistency of feta cheese, so now I have to eat it everyday in some form. The above pictured foray back into scrambled tofu territory brought me back to my college days,when me and my 3 roommates would often cook together and tofu scrambles were pretty much standard on weekends. (This was before I mastered pancakes.) Just a bit of tofu, some red peppers and onions, and a bit of turmeric and thyme, and you are cooking with gas. (Or electric. Whatever.)
Sunday I took advantage of the bulk of frozen blueberries in my fridge to whip up some banana blueberry pancakes for S. and I... they were gone before we had finished our first cup of coffee.
Now, feeling fortified from the weekend, its on to the freezing, mop filled days of the working week... let's hope Spring comes soon...
