Living vegan doesn't have to be a lot of hard work with these 10 hacks
Being vegan is about compassion, making ethical choices and trying to live in a way that is harmonious with both animals and the planet. This often paints a picture of growing your own food, baking bread using wheat that you grew and harvested yourself, making your own clothes, it paints a picture of work. Although some people may choose to live in that way, the vast majority of vegans don't, they go to the store and buy canned beans, bread comes in a wrapper, clothes come from the mall.
This doesn't mean that everything vegan is convenient, processed food and fast fashion aren't good for anyone but, at the same time, this doesn't mean that being vegan has to be hard. Just a few hacks can really up your vegan game and take it to the next level.
Making life easier
Lets just get straight to the list.
1 Nutritional Yeast Upgrade:
Use nutritional yeast to add a cheesy flavour to dishes. It's a great source of vitamin B12 and adds a savoury kick to pasta, popcorn, or roasted vegetables. In cheesy sauces it adds flavour and thickens the sauce and, on it's own, nutritional yeast is really tasty sprinkled on salads.
2 Chia Seeds as Egg Replacer:
Mix 1 tablespoon of chia seeds with 3 tablespoons of water to replace one egg in baking recipes. This works as an excellent binding agent. Other simple egg substitutes include using mashed banana, 1 medium banana replaces 1 egg, applesauce, 60ml of apple sauce equals 1 egg or silken tofu, with 60ml of tofu being equal to 1 egg.
3 Meal Prepping:
Plan and prepare your meals in advance to avoid last-minute temptations. Having nutritious, ready-to-go options reduces the chances of opting for processed alternatives. This can include having ingredients like vegetables prepped in containers in your refrigerator for when you need to cook, or batch cooking and freezing meals for reheating
4 Explore Global Cuisines:
Many international cuisines have naturally vegan dishes. For example:
Mediterranean - Falafel:
These Middle Eastern deep-fried chickpea or fava bean patties are usually served in pita bread with tahini sauce, fresh vegetables, and pickles.
Indian - Chana Masala:
A popular North Indian dish made with chickpeas cooked in a flavourful tomato-based sauce with various spices. It's often served with rice or bread like naan.
Ethiopian - Misir Wat:
A spicy Ethiopian lentil stew made with red lentils and seasoned with berbere spice. It's typically served with injera, a sourdough flatbread. I absolutely adore this stew, it's awesome.
Japanese - Vegetable Sushi Rolls:
Sushi doesn't always have to include fish. Enjoy avocado, cucumber, carrot, and other vegetable rolls with soy sauce and wasabi.
Mexican - Guacamole Tacos:
Tacos filled with guacamole, black beans, salsa, lettuce, and other vegetables make a delicious and naturally vegan Mexican dish.
Italian - Pasta Aglio e Olio:
A simple Italian pasta dish made with garlic, olive oil, and red pepper flakes. Toss it with your favorite pasta and add some parsley for freshness.
Thai - Green Papaya Salad (Som Tum):
A refreshing and spicy Thai salad made with shredded green papaya, cherry tomatoes, green beans, peanuts, and lime dressing.
Lebanese - Baba Ganoush:
A Middle Eastern dip made from roasted eggplant, tahini, garlic, and lemon juice. It's perfect with pita bread or as a side dish.
Vietnamese - Pho Chay:
A vegan version of the traditional Vietnamese noodle soup, made with a flavourful broth, rice noodles, and a variety of vegetables, herbs, and tofu.
Ethiopian - Atakilt Wat:
A spiced Ethiopian cabbage and potato stew, often served with injera or rice.
Greek - Spanakopita:
A Greek savoury pastry filled with spinach, onions, and vegan feta cheese, layered between sheets of phyllo pastry.
Caribbean - Rice and Peas:
A classic Caribbean dish where rice is cooked with coconut milk, kidney beans, and various herbs and spices.
5 Label Reading:
Get into the habit of reading food labels carefully. Some products may seem vegan-friendly at first glance, but a closer look can reveal hidden animal-derived ingredients. However, at the same time, reading the ingredients can prove that foods not labelled vegan naturally are vegan, I'm sure everyone knows about Oreo Cookies.
6 Substitute Dairy Milk with Plant Milk:
In most recipes that call for dairy milk an equal amount of plant milk can easily be used in it's place. For example, if a recipe calls for 350ml of dairy milk, use 350ml of plant-based milk. Remember that each plant milk has its own distinct flavour, sweetness and texture. Experiment with different options to find the one that works with your dish.
7 Full Fat Coconut Milk Can Be Used As Whipped Cream:
This is incredible and so simple. Place a can of full fat coconut milk in the refrigerator over night, do not shake or mix the can. In the morning open the can and scoop the cream out and whip it up to the texture that you want. Add a little sugar and vanilla flavouring and whip it up one more time. Use the whipped coconut cream immediately as a topping for desserts, fruits, or hot cocoa.
8 Many Store Bough Cake Mixes Are Vegan:
Always check the label, but a lot of cake mixes are vegan straight off the shelf. Just use plant milk instead of dairy, margarine instead of butter and an egg substitute and you're good to go.
9 Use Store Bough Pastry Instead Of Making Your Own:
Many frozen and chilled pastries are vegan, but always check the ingredients to be certain. Having these pastries in your refrigerator or freezer makes it so easy to make your own garlic twists, cinnamon rolls, apple pies and more. You could even make tasty mini chilli puff pies using canned vegan chilli in puff pastry envelopes, just use the ready-rolled pastry.
10 Use Spice Mixes To Add Flavour:
Don't be afraid to use spice mixes, even if they are names after meat. Chicken seasoning, fish seasoning, even bacon seasoning almost never include any animal based ingredients, but they will make your food taste amazing.
Being vegan doesn't have to be hard and, once you adapt to the swaps that you need to make, it gets so easy that you don't even have to think. Try some of these hacks out and see if you can come up with some of your own.