Laneia’s Team Pick:
When I was younger and quite a bit more excited about acting out the role of Real Adult, I would put together elaborate dinners using complicated new recipes full of ingredients my mother had likely never used. I felt very accomplished and like I was becoming the perfect housewife (hi, I used to be a housewife married to a man, nbd).
Then! I came out, got a divorce and ran in the other direction of domesticity, which is The Land of Pasta and Sandwiches. You’ve probably seen it just before the small town of Make Your Own F*cking Dinner. Meals involving more than a few ingredients were reserved for holidays and three-day weekends. I even started eating animals again because I was too lazy to make tofu interesting.
It took some time — and a really fun Saturn return! — to get back into cooking. I’m still an impressive balance of busy and lazy, so recipes that are quick to prepare and don’t require a special trip TJ’s are apt to get repetitive. And then last week I found The Vegan Stoner and today I’m making this Corn Salad Sandwich! And I’m really, really excited that the only new thing I had to buy was veganaise!
I know we’ve covered a lot of vegan things on Autostraddle, but have you ever in your whole life seen a more adorably illustrated recipe? I don’t think so. The Vegan Stoner is run by designers Sarah Conrique and Graham I. Haynes and will soon be turned into a cookbook, which I will promptly purchase. From the About page:
The Vegan Stoner was created under the premise that vegan cooking can be made without extensive ingredient lists and involved recipes, that recipes are only templates and the creativity starts in the kitchen.
Some of the recipes, like the Three Can Salad, have purists ringing their hands over the integrity of using canned, processed ingredients. Observe:
I really like that answer.
Thumbnail image via The Vegan Stoner (Mango Quinoa Salad)
laneia….it’s like you read my mind. this looks better than my lazy vegan/stoner vegan meals which consist of one ingredient items like, apple, sliced cantaloupe, grapes, etc.
you made my meal!
THIS IS MAKING ME SO HUNGRY. I was veggie (ovo-lacto) for about 5 years minus a handful of seafood-related indiscrepancies and I wish I had had the Vegan Stoner then. Now that I’m starting to buy my own groceries, however, I’m quickly discovering that tofu is far, far cheaper than chicken any way you spin it so I definitely see the Corn Salad Sandwich in my future :)
illustrated recipes make me giddier than a veggie at a slaughterhouse!
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
this is great, it actually might inspire me to return to veganism. I gave up because I was too lazy.
THANK YOU SO MUCH. I’ve been looking for something exactly like this!
I think I would need to eat 3 of those (tasty-looking) sandwiches… Where’s the protein? How much protein does sprouted bread contain, anyway?
I eat mostly vegetarian, but I find I need way too much beans/nuts/tofu to meet my protein requirements, so I need to get eggs/fish/meat in my diet once in a while… Any ideas to further reduce my animal consumption WITHOUT starving??
How much protein do you need? (dietetics student here) Unless you are working out often and/or actively trying to build muscle, you only need between 40 and 50 grams per day, which adds up surprisingly quickly, considering whole grains have a reasonable amount of protein. Are you familiar with tempeh? Its pretty good stuff, and is as condensed in protein as meat, in my experience. I also am a big fan of Tofurkey. Not super pure, but it is tofu based (vs soy protein isolate), animal free, high in protein, and delicious. Hope this helps!
I was told by a nutritionbist that if one eats vegetable protein recomendations are 50-60 gs per day. Not because it is less healthy but sometimes harder to absorb :)
I’m not sure about harder to absorb…the only two things I can think of would be the cellulose that could obstruct absorption, but cooking helps with that a lot. And soy can be hard to digest as it contains digestive enzyme inhibitors, UNLESS it is put through a fermentation or coagulation process such as for tempeh or tofu, or is eaten before maturity as in edamame [it’s like traditional cultures knew what they were doing or something]. So just avoid soy protein isolate [such as in protein powders etc] and straight soy nuts and you’ll be fine.
Iron, on the other hand, IS considerably harder to absorb from plant sources, but that can be helped by consuming vitamin C at the same time.
That all being said, I eat meat on occasion. Grass-fed and finished, of course. I’m one of those ‘ethical omnivores’.
I get tired of beans, tofu, etc pretty quickly, so mostly I rely on fruit and veggies for protein. Asparagus, broccoli, lettuce & spinach are all efficient ways to increase protein in your diet, as are peaches, apricots, tomatoes, cucumbers. I went to the doc recently, and he said you get surprisingly little protein from eggs, if that’s the main reason you eat them. Chobani yogurt is extremely high in protein, and I like almond milk as a dairy substitute. You could also try flax meal and hemp protein mixed in with cereal or fruit, and there are also flax & hemp oils for cooking. Good luck!
Hm, yeah, I need more protein than what cucumber and brocoli can offer, although I know that vegetables contain some protein… it’s not close to enough.
Randahl, I do work out often (Muay Thai 2x a week, weight lifting 1x a week, I bike about 45 minutes a day and I jog once in a while). I am also trying to gain muscle.
I’ve never used tempeh, I’ll look into that. I also eat quinoa, but I get bored of it and it’s time consuming (not for the lazy vegan…)
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If you are trying to build muscle then you definitely need more protein, probably around 1 gram of protein for every 2 lbs of the body weight you have, but more, up to 1 gram of protein for every lb of body weight can be fine too. To consume that much protein, your best bet is to find a protein powder that you like. Avoid soy if you can, but hemp and yellow pea protein are good ones. Also remember to keep an eye on the amino acids you are getting to make sure you’re getting the full spectrum. Vegans have to be a little more scientific with their eating in order to do it healthily.
Veganaisse – the reason I could never be vegan. Although I am totally going to try that sandwich, just with good old Helman’s.
That looked tasty, until I saw the ingredients. I’m a lazy vegetarian, which means Amy’s frozen meals is eaten on a daily basis in one form or another.
Oh my gosh Amy’s. I swear I live primarily off of Amy’s Texas veggie burgers. (Almost always with cayenne or other pepper on them too.)
This summer, I have been all about Morningstar burgers. I don’t know if they’re vegan (i’m vegetarian), but these damn things are so good it’s ridiculous.
Also, have you tried making burritos/tacos with Morningstar crumbles? INSANE.
wait!! how do you cook the crumbles? i swear by the burgers and have recently purchased crumbles and want to make tacos but i am a lazy stoner vegetarian and the box says it has to be cooked over 160 degrees or something. i’m guessing my microwave doesn’t go that high and real fire must be involved, hence the complication
It’s kind of an experiment. I’ve always found the ‘cook til it reaches 160 degrees’ instructions annoying, too. Just cook it until it looks hot through, that’s all I ever do. Sorry, I can’t really be more precise than that. And besides, they’re already basically cooked anyways.
Apart from that you can just buy a packet of old el paso taco seasoning, cook some rice, employ some minor math to figure out the water:seasoning:crumbles ratio, cook til it looks hot, devour.
The only thing about using crumbles for this is they tend to get a little mushy by the time you go back for a second helping, but it’s so delicious I really don’t care.
and by cook, yes, i do mean in a pan on the stove. ;)
mm good idea!! will try. thanks!
“…which is The Land of Pasta and Sandwiches. You’ve probably seen it just before the small town of Make Your Own F*cking Dinner.” HAHAHAHA I’ve definitely been traveling in between those two towns recently :P
i just got my first apartment, and after two years of living in barracks i have been cooking like a boss. i made pasta, yeah, but i made it all complicated and awesome.
but im sure the novelty will die soon and i’ll just make a damn sammich.
(I’m a member but the site is being weird, ugh)
This is fantastic – my girlfriend is a vegan and I’m very much not, which leads to many arguments about food. I just looked through this and found at least 15 tasty looking dishes, thanks so much for posting!
Also, the Land of Pasta and Sandwiches is the best.
oh jeez that corncob dude is the best. i want that drawing so i can hang it on my desk.
Ugh I hate when people pull out the “being vegan isn’t just about not eating animal products!” thing. Um. Maybe not for you. But for some of us it certainly is and it certainly meets the definitional requirement, right?? I’m vegan because it makes sense to me as an ethical position, not because I’m interested in “living in harmony with nature” especially. (I mean, maybe I am, also. But it’s not *because* of that, and I’m gonna munch my frozen vegan treats occasionally.)
Word. It’s not practical to expect vegans to be completely natural as well. It’s difficult enough, especially for new vegans, to avoid animal products. Expecting that much will deter people from veganism. I agree that natural foods are the way to go, but not all of us have that kind of time.
And I’m the sort of person who is trying to live closer to the land etc… but I include animal flesh in my diet. GASP SHOCK HORROR ETC.
animals live on land, i think you’re fine.
Lazy vegetarian here!! I’ve dipped my toe into veganism but found it waaay to intimidating. Can’t wait for the book to come out.
Perfect timing! I JUST swore off using a stove and committed myself to a lifetime of sandwiches. Vegan cooking, hell even NORMAL cooking is so time-consuming. And there’s nothing more depressing than spending 2 hours cooking something your dog won’t even eat…..
Simple is the way to go.
http://veganyumyum.com/ is also the way to go. There’s a recipe for the best vegan mac n’ cheese you’ll ever eat.
You have no idea how long I went going through that blog. I am not even vegan but some of those recipes look fantastic. I am determined to make the bread/eggplant lasagna. Thanks.
Just gave you your first “like.” Rawr. ;)
Mmm, I’m not vegan or vegetarian, but that looks very tasty. Maybe I can switch the tofu for goat cheese?
Uh, like or dislike buttons. Nice touch ^^
goat cheese is probably the one thing standing between me and veganism. honestly, i would eat cardboard with goat cheese on it. but these recipes are great…i appreciate the extensive reliance on nutritional yeast (aka: magical flakes of amazing).
I, on the other hand, would rather eat cardboard *than* goats cheese :P Ick.
I’m not vegetarian, but I love vegan recipes because I’m super lactose intolerant. And since I AM very lazy, meat is usually too much of a bother to cook, so sometimes I end up eating vegan for long stretches of time anyway.
Also lactose intolerant here, and my situation’s similar. I look for vegan recipes a lot, since it’s easier to cook vegan and then add a bit of meat sometimes than to remove milk from existing recipes, so I’ll do dumb things like ask how do to make vegan tuna salad or such without thinking of the fact that, yeah, fish totally isn’t vegan. I think once googled a recipe for vegan cheesy bacon-wrapped dates…
The recipes look great, and it seems like just the kick in the right direction. I fell off the vegan horse long ago, but this makes me want to get back on.
this post inspired me to prepare the following sandwiches:
– sandwich with egg salad and lettuce
– sandwich with nutella and banana
(and with ‘inspired’ i mean that the illustrations made me hungry, and as i didn’t have any of the required ingredients, i decided to make some random other sandwiches)
UPDATE: we mixed this up at 11pm last night and it was really effing good. add mustard.
Add some mustard, some broth, a potato…baby, you got a stew goin’.
love this recipe …must try it out tomorrow…grilling it would also taste nice..and some chilli flakes..yummy..
BEST IDEA
this looks delicious!
My girlfriend and I just wrote an article about sexual orientation and veganism. You all might enjoy:
http://www.choosingraw.com/green-recovery-exploring-the-link-between-sexuality-diet-and-self-esteem/#comments