ive been vegan for a few months now and it was a rough transition. while expensive and time-consuming at first, im figuring out how to do this quick and cheap.
soybeans are absolutely a game-changer. i bought dry soybeans in bulk and $100 of them is def gonna last me over a year. i made tofu for the first time yesterday and its surprisingly really easy. and you can use the pulp from the soybeans (okara) to make a batter and fry them into delicious patties. i used the tofu to make a giant pot of rice, veggies, and tofu and the tofu absorbed all the flavors from the veggies and seasoning and its crazy good. i was pretty good at making the same meal but with chicken and it wasnt nearly as good. my gf loved it too!
any suggestions for other stuff to do with these soybeans? i have chickpeas too and all i do with those is make hummus so i need suggestions for that too pls!
edit: im gonna drop an outline of how i made the meal bc it was rlly good (you can also google “okara patties” to find a recipe for those)
i marinated the tofu with rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, salt, and herbs/spices that i like in my meals. on medium heat in sesame oil i pan fried the tofu, added some salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. fried tofu until it started to slightly brown, then added carrots. cooked those until the carrots softened. added onions and bell peppers. cooked until those veggies softened then i added the marinade with a spoonful of cornstarch to form a sauce. reduced sauce to sufficient thickness and dumped it all into a pot of steamed rice i made while cooking the rest of the stuff. rice was also seasoned and cooked with just a couple splashes of sesame oil
Congrats on sticking with the switch!
I guess it’s pretty obvious but I didn’t think of it for a long time. You can just use blended cooked beans as a replacement for anything that would have a creamy sauce. Depending what else you add this can be extremely versatile. Like I’ve used this for cheap, protein rich rice pudding, tofu alfredo, tofu tetrazini, mac and ‘cheese’, gravy for mashed potatoes, etc.
Also, if you haven’t yet, you should give nutritional yeast a shot. I know it doesn’t sound appealing but everyone I know who was willing to try ends up with it as a staple part of their diet
what beans work well for that? ive only been using soybeans and chickpeas but id love to expand my bean collection
yeah ive been thinking abt nutritional yeast but ill finally take the plunge and buy some. tbh i love yeasty fermented foods and drinks. excited to try the dead version of it!
Generally I like to use soy and/or pinto for things that are going to be sweet and soy and/or chickpea for things that will be savory. So nothing too exciting for the collection I’m afraid
Falafel is a good use of chickpeas.
It’s very easy, just blitz raw soaked chickpeas with parsley, garlic, some onion, some cumin/coriander, some salt, add water until it makes a malleable paste. Too little water and it will come out kinda coarse and chunky, too much and it won’t form shape.
The batter tastes really bad so you can’t really taste it for ratios, but there are a ton of recipes out there. Not all of them include parsley but I like having them be bright green in the center.
If you don’t have a falafel press you can just shape them in a spoon. Make a small indent/trough with a butter knife. Deep fry in neutral oil till they’re brown and crispy.
For vegan dipping sauces there’s a lot of recipes for tahini sauces. You can also use hummus, but that can be a bit chickpea-overloaded.
When I was in college I worked at a farmers market for this Syrian lady and we sold these, so this is roughly following her recipe. She used parsley and a ton of garlic. I never got the exact recipe so I spent a while trying to re-create it after moving away. A big mistake I made trying to figure it out at first was using canned chickpeas, which are cooked, and will not hold shape while frying, but just dissolve.
ZoomeristLeninist? More like ZoomeristLentilist! Gottem
I’ve recently been exploring pickling tofu, and as someone who isn’t a huge fan of tofu/soy, but still eats a lot of it, it’s been a game changer. Changes the texture to something that’s closer to paneer/farmer’s cheese, tamps down the tofu funk, and makes it easier to digest for my maladjusted gut. It really changes it from “meh, this HAS to be covered in sauce and the texture kind of sucks”, to eating tofu cubes right out of the pickle jar. So if you find yourself feeling pretty meh about tofu, try pickling it.
Chickpeas tossed with olive oil and spices and then baked in the oven until they start to get crispy are a great easy to make snack.
