
No, I'm not going completely vegan, but I definitely want to incorporate more meat-free and cheese-free meals into my routine. Recently, I even made an effort to eat only vegan lunches during the work week. That lasted for...exactly one work week.
My problem was that, while I can usually whip up something perfectly satisfying at home with a fully stocked fridge and pantry, something about stuffing leftovers in a Tupperware and schlepping it to work makes anything (vegan or non-vegan) seem alot less appetizing. You can't have a little sprinkle of herbs at the end, or eat lots of varied items - soup here, salad here, roasted veggies, bread and dip. I ride the bus. I carry my lunch in my purse. If it doesn't fit into a single plastic container, it's not gonna work.
So I turned to the Internet for some inspiration for vegan ideas and I found them at the Kitchn, which was literally hosting a week of vegan only recipes last week. I love that site so much, it's so full of great info (in the posts and in the comments) that is totally compatible with how real working people with budgets cook.
Matt and I made this vegan mushroom risotto over the weekend and were floored by the outcome. Frankly, I didn't realize vegan food could taste rich, but this did. It's loaded with savory mushroom flavor and would be great on it's own, paired with a sauteed green, which was what we did, or served as a breakfast dish with toast and poached egg on top. (We made the recipe essentially exactly as listed except we used half the amount of balsamic.)
The other vegan recipe we tested out with great succes was this smashed chickpea salad from Smitten Kitchen which I served over lettuce and cucumbers instead of sandwich style, as in the original recipe. Try both recipes, let me know what you think! And share if you have a great vegan recipe that would work well for lunches.
(photo via the kitchn. I really want to post more of my own food shots here but it's usually too dark or, if the recipe is one that is good enough for me to want to share here, I'm usually to excited to eat to think about getting a camera out)