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  • I am just gonna copy my bulgur salad comment because bulgur salad is GOAT

    My lunch when I'm not at home and even typically at home is bulgur salad:

    • 3 parts of the coarsest bulgur to 4 parts water by volume. Add salt and bring to boil, then turn off, let it cool on the stove with a lid on.
    • dice: tomato, leek, pickled cucumber, red paprika and/or whatever else you like
    • once bulgur is at most luke-warm stir it so the drier bulgur ln top gets mixed in with the wetter bulgur. It still takes water while cold, so don't worry about homogeniety. -mix in a good amount of olive oil so the grains separate. Like a goooooood amount. This kind of food is what olive oil is for dont be shy about it.
    • Add loads of tomato paste and paprika paste (I go for half paprika half tomato but it's up to you). Like loads. Bulgur salad has a red/orange hue, sated colors=sated belly.
    • Whatever spices you want, I typically go for pepper, rose paprika, the mediterranean combo (thyme, basil, oregano and rosemary) and cumin. Gotta watch out with the cumin though, you can't really overdo the other spices but cumin has a very strong flavor. Also pul biber because I like it spicy.
    • Add your souring agent: lemon juice, vinegar or my favorite variant: pickle juice.
    • Parsley. Loads of it. Impossible to overdo, the arabic variant is mainly parsley with some bulgur. Doesn't matter which type or how finely diced, I buy deep frozen because it's already cut up and I dump half a box into it, but obviously fresh is better.
    • mix it all and taste it. It should be a bit too spicy and salty since we're gonna add all the veg and a bit too dry since it will soak up the veg juices later. You don't want a weird slosh later at the bottom but you can dump it or try to mix it in if there is.
    • mix in the diced veg and some chickpeas and let it sit on the fridge. I typically go for 50/50 veg and bulgur.

    There are loads of variants obviously, but the main ingredients are tomato&paprika paste, olive oil, some kind of souring agent, PARSLEY(important!), veg. Seriously though don't forget the parsley.

    It keeps at least a week in the fridge so it's perfect for meal prepping, it's eaten cold so perfect to pack while away, it has carbohydrates veg and protein (mainly the chickpeas but bulgur has a bit as well), and it doesn't make me feel drowsy like when I eat too much of some other carbs (looking at you noodles).

    I love my bulgur salad.

  • Fuchsia Dunlop has a recipe by Buddhist monks in her Hunan cookbook that's simple and vegan. You cut some celery and smoked tofu into strips, you fry the tofu in a wok, take it out, fry the celery, put the tofu back in and season with soy sauce and chili flakes. Serve the whole thing over rice et voilà.

  • Fried tofu basted in soy sauce, red peppers, green onions, garlic, and ginger.

    Saw you mention making your own kimchi. You just need to skip out on using fish sauce when making your own. Just make sure to salt and red pepper in layers and if you're doing Napa cabbage make sure to get the salt into the crevices.

  • Tofu with spicy peanut sauce. Here's the recipe I use for the peanut sauce: ::: spoiler spoiler 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
    1 tablespoon light brown sugar
    2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
    2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce/sriracha (or to taste)
    2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
    1 tablespoon lite soy sauce
    1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
    3/4 teaspoon cornstarch

    Combine all ingredients, bring to a simmer until thickened :::

    Also, while not traditionally vegan, saag paneer can be made with tofu and it is good.

    • Thanks for the recipe, love peanut sauce! And it's been forever since I've had saag paneer, may need to do as you suggest and make saag tofu!

      • One other thing while I'm thinking about it: cashew cream actually works pretty well as a cream replacement for richer dishes if you haven't tried it yet. The only challenge is that you end up with little cashew oorts unless you have a powerful blender or pass it through a sieve. I did a white bean soup with Italian herbs and kale and it made a nice addition. It'd probably help with the saag paneer too, I should give that a shot. I've also used it along with impossible sausage (sliced rather than crumbled) in this sausage pasta recipe.

31 comments