HEALTH

Vegan Meal Plan & Recipes

By Kristin, age 14, California

My 5 Day Meal Plan

Day 1

Breakfast: Fresh fruit. I usually have strawberries, cherries, and an orange.

Lunch: A good lunch to take to school is a Tofurkey sandwich on whole wheat bread with Vegenaise, lettuce, and tomato and baked chips or a small salad on the side.

Dinner: Whole wheat pasta with either homemade or all natural jarred marinara sauce.

Day 2

Breakfast: Fruit smoothie! Fresh strawberries, pineapple, orange, and banana blended with a bit of vanilla almond or soy milk.

Lunch: Amy's non-dairy burrito (find it in the frozen food section) served with corn.

Dinner: Daphne's take-out hummus with pita bread and falafel! If you don't have a Daphne's near you, it's a fantastic Greek chain restaurant, but never fear, you can make your own hummus and falafel (recipe below).

Day 3

Breakfast: Pancakes. Don't have time to make pancakes in the morning? Make them the night before and just stick 'em in the toaster in the morning. Serve with Earth Balance vegan margarine and Grade A Pure Maple Syrup, not sugar laden Mrs. Butterworth's (recipe below).

Lunch: Take the leftover hummus and pita bread from last night's dinner, and throw in some mini carrots for an extra crunch.

Dinner: Soft tacos! Get some lard-free tortillas (like Mission tortillas) and fill with Litelife brand Tex Mex meatless taco meat, add some vegetarian refried beans, Tofutti sour cream, lettuce, and diced tomatoes for a yummy alternative to taco night.

Day 4

Breakfast: Granola parfait - Layer a granola like Bear Naked (a plain flavor, not chocolate) with vanilla soy yogurt and a berry of your choice.

Lunch: Boca Chik'n sandwich on a whole wheat bun with ketchup. Serve with fresh fruit.

Dinner: Roasted potatoes. Just slice some red potatoes or Yukon gold potatoes in pretty thin slices, drizzle some olive oil over the top and add pepper, salt, and garlic powder, cook for 15 minutes on 450 degrees, flip, and cook another 15 minutes. Serve with ketchup.

Day 5

Breakfast: Fresh fruit again. Try to make that your daily breakfast because it digests so quickly and easily that you absorb the nutrients best on an empty stomach.

Lunch: Chik'n marinara sandwich on a whole wheat roll. Just put some Boca Chik'n nuggets on a whole wheat roll and add marinara sauce.

Dinner: My favorite dish: whole wheat rotini pasta with tomatoes. Just cook your pasta according to the package directions. Meanwhile, take a can of peeled whole tomatoes and cut them into a medium dice, add to a small saucepan with some vegan margarine, and heat. Then pour your tomato and margarine onto your drained pasta, add a little salt, and enjoy!

And, a special dessert! Vegan Coconut Cupcakes. (recipe below)



Here are the recipes mentioned above:

White Bean Hummus

1 15 ounce can cannellini beans
2 cloves of peeled garlic
Juice of one lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper

Blend all of your ingredients in a food processor or blender and serve with pita bread.

Pancakes

1 1/4 cup of whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups soy, almond, or rice milk
2 tablespoons vegan margarine, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon maple syrup
plus more for serving

Whisk together all of your ingredients in a medium bowl. A few lumps are ok. Preheat a nonstick skillet, then add your batter, cook for 2-2 1/2 minutes or until edges are brown and there are bubbles on top. Flip and cook for 1-2 minutes on the other side. Serve warm with syrup and berries.

Coconut Cupcakes

1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup of whole wheat pastry flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup vegan margarine
3/4 cup evaporated cane juice sugar or vegan sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pans with cupcake liners.

Whisk the soy milk with the vinegar in a measuring cup, set aside. Mix the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and set aside.

In a separate bowl, cream the margarine with the sugar with an electric hand mixer. Beat in the extracts and add the dry ingredients and soy milk mixture. Fill cupcake liners two-thirds of the way and bake for about 20 minutes, check them at 15 though, as oven temperatures vary.

Fluffy "Butter"cream Frosting

1/2 non-hydrogenated shortening
1/2 cup vegan margarine
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1/4 cup soy, almond, or rice milk

Cream the shortening and margarine together with an electric hand mixer, add powdered sugar and blend, then, add the extracts and soy milk and blend. Frost your cupcakes with this insanely good you'd-never-know-it-was-vegan frosting and enjoy!

Note

The recipes in this article are all somewhat different from when I found them in books (I always change recipes =) but the pancakes and hummus were originally from Skinny Bitch In the Kitch, by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnoin, and the frosting is from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, by Isa Chandra Moscowitz and Terry Hope Romero. The cupcakes are actually my own recipe. I used several cookbooks and online recipes to figure out the correct measurements.

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