The Vegan Thread

Taifun basil tofu is good for sandwiches - bit spendy for everyday but good for a weekend.

I also really like Honesty Tasty Brie and Shamembert but as a recent eater of the real deal you might not be so impressed.

Where possible I’d rather eat different things rather than substitutes. So want to find alternatives to go with bread rather than fake cheese, make bean burgers or vegetable patties rather than buy quorn or other fake meats.

So that basil tofu sounds super interesting but isn’t carried by Tesco who do our grocery deliveries. I might have to investigate if other supermarket deliveries in our area carry a better range and change provider.

Yeah that stuff's banging! Really good on aubergine with loads of garlic.

I think Waitrose sell Taifun stuff. The smoked version with sesame and almond is excellent too!

If you're looking at some speciality items like that tofu (the Rosso one is a banger too) it's worth doing an order from thevegankind online supermarket. High-ish minimum order but worth it for some of the speciality stuff you won't get from Tesco etc.

Totally fair, I’d say that any supermarket alternative cheese is a waste of time both from a taste and nutrition point of view. If you do get curious in the future then Honestly Tasty are worth a look.

Maybe better for cooked meals rather than sandwiches but we recently had tempeh from Tempeh Meades in Bristol. Really amazing flavour and nice to support a small producer.

If you're looking at wild garlic, look harder at wild leeks - more common and more uses (bulbs pickled, stalks pestoed, flowers in salad). Also, (I think) an invasive species, so the more you eat the better.

Do you mean this one;
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allium_triquetrum

Had no idea that could be eaten. It is all over our driveway borders, impossible to get rid of

Feel free to bring some jars of vegan 3 Cornered Leek pesto to a future Wests.

Nettle fermented nut stuff is great, but on the pricey side.

That's the fella - in Cornwall right now, it's more common than nettles right here.

This quick easy marinade to fry slices of tofu in is good for sandwiches. Rest of the recipe is good too, but not essential.
https://thehappypear.ie/recipes/5-minute-high-protein-healthy-sandwich/

fresh pesto

Super easy to veganise fresh pesto. Just do loads of basil, olive oil and toasted pine nuts all blitzed up. That's how we do it at home, them those who eat cheese can sprinkle on top.

Add a bit of chopped garlic, Engevita for vegans instead of cheese.

And lemon juice, heathens.

want to find alternatives to go with bread

Have had success with chickpeas as a filling.

They make a good tuna mayo alternative. Lightly crushed with a little vegan mayo or oil, salt, pepper, onion and extras to you taste, like sweet corn or chilli flakes.

Or roast them in paprika then lightly crush, add mayo or oil, sliced fresh tomato and lettuce to finish.

I have a 30 square m patch of wild garlic so don’t need to go looking for it!

Another vote for chickpeas. I do this coronation filling, very easy. https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/easy-coronation-chicken swapping the chicken for chickpeas obvs.

And save all your chickpea water for baking or making your own mayo.

The biggest changes will be finding
a milk alternative for tea and coffee

This is your chance to start drinking black coffee / tea like a grown up 👍

Where possible I’d rather eat different things rather than substitutes.

This is definitely a good approach; does not work for everybody but since you seem inclined to go that route you'll probably have a really good time trying out different things now and you'll improve your cooking skills along the way for sure 👍

There's a lot of great sites / blogs with tasty vegan stuff, minimalist baker for example.

Something instead of bread and cheese for lunch

How about salad? 🙂
Eating fresh greens is just a splendid idea in general and you can basically throw all the stuff you like in there. 💁

When I really CBA to cook I make tahini pasta; pasta, tahini, za'atar, chopped almonds, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, flax seeds, wilted spinach.

a variation on this is my go-to quick pasta:
https://www.budgetbytes.com/tuscan-white-bean-pasta/

with a load more olive oil and adding a good squeeze of lemon juice

a bit of chopped garlic

lemon juice

Try telling this to my kids :(

I'll fucking tell them.