Some ideas please for vegan lunch

griffo4, Jan 14, 5:25pm
l have someone visiting next week who is a vegan and l am not sure what to give them for lunch and snacks so any suggestions would be greatly apprecitated
TIA

davidt4, Jan 14, 5:33pm
This is an absolutely delicious Spanish soup, which happens to be vegan.Everyone loves it.I leave out the bread.

Olla Gitana

serves 4

250g chick peas, soaked 24 hours
2.5 litre water
250g green beans (sliced)or broad beans
150g pumpkin flesh in 2 cm cubes
3 pears peeled, diced
salt and pepper
100 ml olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 tsp sweet paprika (not smoked)
2 ripe tomatoes chopped
1 slice bread, crusts removed and diced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
12 almonds
pinch saffron threads
2 tab white wine vinegar

Drain chick peas, put in large saucepan with water, bring to boil, skim, simmer 1 hour.
Add beans, pumpkin and pears, salt and pepper, continue to simmer 1 - 2 hours until everything is very soft.

Picada:Soak saffron in a tab. of boiling water.Heat 50 ml oil ina frying pan and fry almonds over medium heat until golden.Remove almonds and retain oil in pan.Add bread and garlic to pan and fry until dark gold.Put almonds, bread and garlic in mortar or small food processer & pound to a coarse paste.Add saffron and water and pound again.Add vinegar.

Sofrito:In same frying pan fry onion in 50 ml oil until golden, add tomatoes and cook 5 minutes.

5 minutes before serving add sofrito to soup and stir a few minutes.Add picada and stir to combine well.

Check seasoning, serve hot with good bread.

poppysinger2, Jan 14, 6:30pm
or something easy might be pasta with a tomato and redpeppersauce .

mjhdeal, Jan 14, 9:12pm
If you have a food processor/blender:

For snacks:
Crudite with satay dipping sauce: SOO DELICIOUS!
http://carmellassunnyrawkitchen.com/carmellas-sunny-raw-kitchen-portfolio/peanut-sauce/ For lunch:Raw vegan 'stir-fry:'
http://www.rawmazing.com/broccoli-mushroom-stir-fry/
For dessert:
Raw vegan triple chocolate icecream - so delicious, just like chocolate soft-serve if you eat it straightaway:
http://rawon10.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/triple-chocolate-raw-and-vegan-ice.html

uli, Jan 14, 9:34pm
A great big mixed salad is a good start.
Add some avocadoes and some sorts of nuts or chickpeas etc as they obviously won't eat eggs, cheese or ham.
Fried eggplants or courgettes are nice.

Here are some more ideas:
http://www.fitsugar.com/Vegan-Lunches-You-Can-Take-Work-14859587 http://www.thekitchn.com/10-vegan-lunch-ideas-114283 http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/recipe_slideshows/vegan_lunch_recipes

Basically think of beans, lentils, nuts etc instead of cheese and ham and eggs or fish.

Stay away from soybeans etc as if you have leftovers you really need to bin that.

Most vegans eat lots of carbs and love sweets, so a vegan ice cream or cake is what will go down well.

griffo4, Jan 14, 10:26pm
WOW Thank you all for the replies as l had no real idea where to start l knew what to leave out it was just everything l make has allsorts of things that vegans don't eat
Sourdough bread would be alright as l can't think of anything in it, no milk, eggs etc!

uli, Jan 14, 11:04pm
Yeah - vegans love their carbs - so lots of bread or desserts is right up their alley :)

griffo4, Jan 15, 12:11am
Great thanks

de-al, Jan 15, 4:22pm
Hi - the sour dough bread sounds great. I do a focaccia loaf that goes down a treat with a vegan friend.It's good to get some more good ideas for her when she visits.

frances1266, Jan 15, 6:10pm
A platter with dips, breads crackers, , veg sticks, fruit, vegan chocolate is nice.
Maybe a light soup to start with and then the platter including fruit and chocolate which would take the place of dessert.There was a great hummus thread on here recently with lots of vegan hummus recipes and I will bump up the vegetarian thread which has great recipes.

griffo4, Jan 15, 10:24pm
Thank you for those tips l will look for those threads

griffo4, Jan 18, 2:09pm
David can l make the picada and sofrito in the morning and let it sit until l need it at lunch time!

davidt4, Jan 18, 3:42pm
Yes, that will be fine.

agave1, Jan 18, 3:54pm
chick pea and spinach tomato-based curry is my go-to recipe for vegans.
along with but aloo gobi (potato and pea dry curry)

griffo4, Jan 18, 10:37pm
Thanks for that David l have the chick peas soaking and got everything else ready to go

ferita, Jan 18, 11:23pm
Vegan gnocchi is really nice
http://england.lovefoodhatewaste.com/node/3896

I serve it with a sauce made from fried cubed egg plants, tinned tomatoes, garlic, onion and salt and pepper (plus a dash of vinegar and brown sugar)

davidt4, Jan 18, 11:24pm
Good luck!Let us know how the soup is received by your guests.

jessie981, Jan 19, 12:15am
Piazza

uli, Jan 19, 2:08am
Piazza = A piazza is a city square in Italy, Malta, along the Dalmatian coast and in surrounding regions. The term is roughly equivalent to the Spanish plaza. Cannot see any connection to "a vegan lunch" .

griffo4, Jan 19, 2:57pm
David l hope you are around to answer my question

do l add the paprika to the picada or the sofrito!

the way l am reading the recipe l think it is added to the picada about the time l add the saffron threads!

davidt4, Jan 19, 3:21pm
Add the paprika to the onions when you make the sofrito.I'm sorry that this wasn't clear.

griffo4, Jan 19, 7:41pm
Thank you David l added it to the picada because l didn't get back here and it worked alright but have noted that for next time

Wow the soup was a roaring success everyone loved it and came back for 2nds so l will be using that recipe again in the winter it is really nice and easy to make as well

l served it with sour dough bread that l had lightly toasted and there is nothing left, even the teenager loved it and they are picky eaters

l made a hummus from a recipe from here and they picked fruit off the trees to eat as well so it was all good

Thank you everyone for you suggestions they are greatly appreciated

davidt4, Jan 19, 8:50pm
That's great news.Thanks for the feedback.