Mostly Vegan Recipes That Are Kinda Weird But Delicious
I say “mostly vegan recipes”, because many of the ingredients used in these still contain egg whites or milk, but if you can find substitutes to the ingredients listed here, that makes the recipes fully vegan, please go for it! These are simply meals that I’ve had prepared for myself over the years when trying to steadily go the vegan route, and also thinking of new, interesting and tasty things to try. I mistakenly assumed many of these were vegan-friendly for the longest time, however I was wrong. But nonetheless these meals are freaking delicious, albeit some a little strange.
So lets get into shall we?
1. Pizza Waffles
Pizza waffles always throw people off at first, but they’re really good and easy to make! And yeah I totally stole this recipe from PETA.
I use the Immaculate brand Honestly Delicious Crescent Rolls, you know this pressurized tubes of dough you have to smack on the counter to open? This brand doesn’t claim to be fully vegan, despite none of the actual ingredients containing animal products, but these crescent rolls are manufactured in a facility with milk products so there is a chance they could contain milk.
As for the filling in these pizza waffles, I’m super basic and prefer mozzarella cheese shreds either Daiya or Go Veggie brand, and a tomato based pizza sauce. You can put whatever you want in these though so let your imagination run wild.
To make these simply, take two, triangular cut pieces of dough, fold each one separately until you have 2 squares-like pieces. Then you’ll want to roll the dough out, which I just use my fingers for. I press out each square of dough as far as it will allow and then with one of those flattened pieces of dough I add my sauce and cheese. I take the other piece of dough, draping it over the sauce and cheese and firmly press down around the sides, even rolling the edges over ontop to secure the two pieces of dough in places.
To cook your pizza waffles, turn on your waffle iron, spray it with cooking spray and wait for it to get hot then put your pizza waffle in and wait. Sometimes the cheese and sauce escapes through the sides, because pressing the top of the waffle maker down on the little hot-pocket-like thing, causes the edges to separate. It’s not the cleanliest, or healthiest thing to eat but it’s pretty tasty and fun!
2. Spaghetti with Q’uorn Chick’N Bites
I’ve been using Q’uorn brand chick’n bites for years before I stupidly realized they contained egg whites. I always knew they were vegetarian-friendly but was disappointed by the lack of vegan-friendly ingredients, so if you can find a better alternative let me know!
As someone whose never been a fan of spaghetti and meatballs, I’ve always liked chicken more anyways so when I stopped eating meat and wanted to start eating spaghetti again I found Q’uorn and instantly really liked them. I like they it doesn’t have too similar of a texture to meat, because some fake meat products just plain gross me out.
To cook the little bites I sauté them in a skillet with Earth Balance vegan butter, olive oil and Italian seasoning until they’re crispy. I cook my spaghetti how I normally would on another burner then top my spaghetti with the chick’n bites and add sauce.
4. Veggie Egg Rolls With Peanut Sauce
My mom refers to these as “healthy junk food.” And while the filling in these rolls is totally vegan because I just stir fry my choice of veggies (onions, carrots, celery, peas, cabbage) with peanut butter and other seasonings, I unfortunately have only found egg roll wrappers.
Once the wrappers are filled with the veggie and peanut butter mix, roll them up, including the ends so nothing can escape, and fry them in vegetable oil on the stove. They’re fried to crisp, and so good, but they contain veggies and a delicious protein source they’re not all bad!
5 Pesto Pizza
The pesto pizza might be the fully vegan thing on here, unless the pre-made pizza crusts from the store contain ingredients I don’t know about. If you’re skeptical about the pre-made crusts, and want to make your own, that’s totally an option too. The need for this pizza came about when I realized all the store-bought pesto contained milk and cheese, which is incredibly disappointing when you’re lactose intolerant.
To make the pesto, and I don’t measure anything whoops, I start by crushing up the pine nuts and olive oil in the Nutri-Bullet or food processor first. Use about 1/3-1/2 of the bag of pine nuts for this and the more liquid you use, the more liquid-y your pesto will be overall. Then I use a good handful or fresh basil leaves + some dried, crushed basil to really give it that oomph. With the basil I add a bit of Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, nutritional yeast and garlic (fresh or powdered). I don’t use a ton of either of these things just a couple of dashes, then I combine all that until all the leaves are broken down finely.
Try to evenly distribute your pesto over your pizza crust (be sure the oven is preheating during the time you’re making your pesto). Once the pesto is on you can add whatever cheese you like (Go Veggie is my favorite), and toppings. For years I’ve been using artichoke hearts, sundried tomatos and extra pine nuts, but lately I’ve been using carrot shreds, olives, onions and broccoli (cooked in a skillet so it’s tender by the time the pizza is cooked).
Follow the directions on your pizza crust for how long to bake and at what temp. I hope you enjoy the pesto pizza, as tomato sauce pizza is vastly overrated!
