What Vegans Eat

Much as some of would like, we can't eat out all the time. It isn't practical, and frankly, a lot of the time, I enjoy my own prepared food better anyway.

I start off with a general plan so that every Monday I do some version of soup and a sandwich or salad, every Tuesday is a rice/grain bowl, etc. I find that this theme-based menu makes it a lot easier for me to plan.

So here is a sample menu with some of the recipes linked up for a typical Monday to Friday dinner meal plan.

MONDAY - soup with sandwich or salad

Slow cooker white bean soup and Mediterranean vegetable sandwich.

Slow Cooker White Bean Soup - Budget Bytes

TUESDAY - rice bowl (or other grain)

Red beans and rice, and roasted veggies (leftover from Monday's sandwich prep).

Red Beans and Rice - Budget Bytes

WEDNESDAY - pasta or rice dish

Creamy lemon asparagus pasta, oven-roasted broccoli/cauiflower/fennel.

Creamy Lemon Asparagus Pasta - Minimalist Baker

THURSDAY - potatoes and veggies

Roasted sweet potato medley, balsamic mushrooms, and garlic broccoli.

Garlicky Broccoli - The Woks of Life

FRIDAY - bread/pizza/tortilla/pastry

Pizza, kale salad with garlic dressing.

Kale Salad - Minimalist Baker

SATURDAY

Out somewhere. :)

SUNDAY

Everyone fends for him/herself.

The Black Forest Inn - Hamilton

Black Forest Inn
255 King Street East
Hamilton, ON

905-528-3538

If you ever heard of or been to the Black Forest Inn, you are very likely to be surprised to see a review about it here, and not just because it's located in Hamilton. This restaurant is super heavy on animal products and normally I would not be found in this type of restaurant. However, due to family circumstances, this is exactly where I ended up.

I called ahead, on three separate occasions to try to talk to different people about vegan options, because each time I was completely unsatisfied by the options. Or lack of. And I didn't get the feeling that anybody cared that I was going to be attending lunch and not really going to be able to eat anything.

There was one single menu item that was available to me as a vegan: vegetable plate. It is listed on the menu with a fried egg, so obviously I skipped that, still quite uncertain as to what to expect. Well, I was most pleasantly surprised. The vegetables are cooked with margarine, and I was promised that it was vegan.

My plate was overfull and contained cabbage, mushrooms, carrots, sauerkraut and the most flavourful potatoes I've had in a long time. I almost couldn't finish it (almost), and I completely enjoyed it.

Having said that, I want to be very clear - there was no hope of having coffee or tea unless I wanted to drink them black, and the dessert menu was not even close to being vegan friendly. I could have started with a salad and a vinaigrette, but the salad was a meagre iceberg lettuce version that I could not even bear to try.

Bathrooms were an adequate size and very clean.  Decor was Austrian/German and looked old and outdated, but again everything seemed very clean.

Parking was available in a city lot across the street, as was street parking.

They do not take reservations.

Hours:
Monday to Thursday: 11:30am-9pm
Friday and Saturday: 11:30am-10pm
Sunday: 11:30am-9pm

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6 Ways to Use Aquafaba

If you haven't heard about all of the fabulous uses for aquafaba, you might be surprised at all of the cool things that you can do with it. First of all, what is this stuff? Well, literally it translates to water bean. Not so literally it is the thick liquid that is leftover from cooking beans. I must admit with some embarrassment, that I have always rinsed away this gold mine thinking that I was doing a good thing by reducing the sodium. I have recently reconsidered.


Soup:
When making soup, don't rinse those beans. Dump the entire can in (or the beans and the cooking water if you're doing it old school). The aquafaba adds great body to a broth soup making it taste and feel that much more decadent.  Bianca's Kitchen has a yummy-looking vegetable soup recipe.

Breading:
When making your favourite eggplant parm, dip the eggplant (or any other veggies) into the aquafaba prior to breading for a crispy result. Don't have your own recipe? No worries, head on over to Veginspired.

Whipped cream:
Super easy: aquafaba + cream of tartar + vanilla + sugar = whipped cream. Check out Peta's recipe here and start enjoying more desserts.

Binding:
When I first switched to a vegan diet, I have to admit that making veggie patties was a real adjustment. I couldn't get the egg substitutes to work well for me. Step in aquafaba and suddenly it's easy. Use 3 tablespoons of aquafaba for every egg that you wanted subbed. Glue and Glitter has a great-sounding squash patty recipe here.

Mayo:
I have yet to try this out, but it is definitely on my list. I have visions of adding in extra garlic or chipotle powder, maybe some onion powder (not all at the same time) and creating new versions. Foodal has a recipe for you here.

Butter:
I love the idea of making my own butter so I don't have to contribute to the hideousness of the palm oil industry. Nina's game changing vegan butter can be found here.

There are thousands of sites you can go to for further reference, but one of my favourites for beginners is Aquafaba FAQ. Check it out for explanations and recipes and directions to the facebook page where they talk about nothing but aquafaba.