The Ten
10 Vegan Lunch Recipes
Main dishes and desserts to pack
and go
By Roxanne Webber
1. Vegan Pups in Blankets. This classic preparation uses tofu dogs in place of traditional hot dogs, and adds a homemade crust. Pack them with dipping sauces.
2. Vegan Back-to-School Chocolate Chip Cookies. McCann makes these with whole-wheat pastry flour for improved nutrition, then adds walnuts or pecans. The cookies can be made ahead in batches, and they freeze well.
3. Vegan Tofu Apple Spring Rolls. Pressing the tofu and marinating it for half an hour on each side gives these spring rolls a flavorful filling that contrasts nicely with the crunch of tart green apple.
4. Vegan Black Bean Tamales. Make these for dinner the night before, and take the leftovers for lunch the next day—tamales pack easily.
5. Vegan Cherry Chip Brownies. These brownies get their moistness and density from the addition of dates and dried plums. Dried cherries and chopped walnuts round them out for a vegan variation on a bakeshop classic.
6. Vegan Tofu Fish Sticks. This cute take on a fishless stick employs a fish-shaped cookie cutter and some kelp thrown into the breading. The “fish” sticks are then baked until crispy. McCann suggests cooling them completely and wrapping them in foil, so they stay crunchy in your lunch bag.
7. Vegan Pumpkin Carob Chip Muffins. Pack one of these muffins for a sweet snack with your afternoon coffee. They’re loaded with pumpkin, spices, pecans, and carob chips, and topped with cinnamon-sugar.
8. Vegan Roasted Tomato Basil Soup. This vegan version of an old favorite is brimming with flavor thanks to roasted tomatoes and a generous helping of basil.
9. Vegan Chili Con “Carne.” Pull out your slow cooker for this chili, made with three types of beans and textured vegetable protein.
10. Vegan Mini Wellingtons. These small savories are made with store-bought puff pastry sheets and stuffed with a homemade nut-and-chickpea loaf. Pack a couple for a hearty meal, or make them even smaller and serve as appetizers.
CHOW’s The Ten column appears every Tuesday.
Roxanne Webber is an associate editor at CHOW.
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I think we are seeing way too many vegan recipes on Chowhound lately. I see 6 of them featured on the recipe page. WHY????
I love that vegan recipes are being featured. Most people think vegan food has to be some weird thing that most people would never touch, but it can be delicious. I'll probably try making the brownies and the soup soon.
i think there's a problem with vegan recipes where (some) non-vegans are shocked into avoidance or bland tofu-bean ecru-coloured images.
other times, the recipes substitutions are relatively obvious. not that it's a terrible thing, but alot of recipes are easily veganised/de-veganised.
except for veganomicon's parmesan-substitute recipe. that one was interesting.
I'm not a vegan but puff pastry that I know about has TONS of butter in it. Maybe there's another version.
The PF puff pastry uses partially hydrogenated oil instead of butter. Vegan + trans fat doesn't make sense to me.
@c oliver: If you're a vegan, don't take this as gospel, but I believe Pepperidge Farm frozen puff pastry is NOT made with butter. I made cheese danish with them once, and they had that yucky Crisco-y mouthfeel that cheap pie crust has. So, ironically, if it's made with vegetable shortening, you're good to go.
p.s. If anyone's looking for good frozen all-butter puff pastry, Trader Joe's is exquisite. I made Palmiers with it last Christmas and they were delicious.
I waver between vegan and vegetarian (vegan at the moment), but I have to say I'm usually turned off any dish with "vegan" right in the name. I like my food to be delicious first, healthy second and vegan/vegetarian third. I typically don't have much luck with "vegan" recipes...
Thanks for this article! It's given me some great ideas of things to try for lunches. I may make some modifications here or there, but it's always great to have new ideas and inspirations. Thanks!
I don't think there are too many vegan recipes/stories on the site. If you're so put off by the concept to begin with, why even click on the story?
As a vegetarian, I avoid most of the meat stories (and don't ask chow to stop running them). But I did read the oysters story just to try to understand why they're considered such an amazing food.
I haven't been able to load the tomato soup recipe several times today - I know the site has been buggy, but it seems really bad to have a feature article which includes links that don't work. Is there a workaround I'm not aware of for this issue?
Question on Vegan Black Bean Tamales. Recipe states put the filling in a dried corn husk, but does not say they are to be soaked or wet. Would someone clarify this step for me. I can not pull the recipe up again. There seems to always be a technical problem.
Mollybud, I think the answer is in Step 1: "Start the dried corn husks soaking in a sink full of warm water about 15 minutes before you begin so they can soften (put a lid or plate over the husks to keep them submerged)." Then, in Step 4, you pat it dry before you stuff it. Hope that answers your question.
Jetgirly:
try this?
http://veganyumyum.com/
I attempted to make the BLACK BEAN TAMALES. There was a lot of time consuming work involved and they were a complete disaster. They went strait to the trash can. I followed the recipe exactly. I could taste nonthing but all that shortning and corn meal taste. Has anyone else tried this recipe? If so, I would love to hear from you. Does anyone have another recipe that dosen't have all that fat, or is that required for tamales? I have never made them before. I am a little weary of the store bought, not knowing what the mystery meat might be.
mollybud, tamales were traditionally made with lard -- they are supposed to be fatty -- but substituting shortening just sounds gross. i can't abide that mouth-feel. blech.
Hmm, I just looked at the Black Bean Tamales recipe and thought, "that doesn't look like it will taste like anything at all." And then I scrolled down here, and....yis.
I don't want to hate, but I'm not sure that this is the best way to introduce people to vegan food...these recipes don't seem concerned with taste at all. Oh, right...they're for kids.
"textured vegetable protein" & "tofu dogs"? People who want to eat this deserve it. There are plenty of fantastic dishes from cultures all over the world that happen to be vegan - why are we still seeing these, so called healthy (tastes like cardboard) recipes? The way to steer children to healthy options is through their taste buds.