Okay, I’m no food photographer. But when I plated up this dinner last night, I was so impressed with myself that I had to take a quick photo. It’s not just that this meal is fabulously healthy, delicious, and pretty. It’s that it took me all of 10 minutes to pull it together.
Granted, the grains were leftovers. But if I hadn’t had those, I would have substituted something quick-cooking, like quinoa, or maybe just a nice slice of toasted grainy bread.
I started with a veggie patty made by Don Lee Farms and sold at some Costco stores. It’s not frozen but is fresh chopped veggies and grains, and it doesn’t pretend to be meat. (I have nothing against veggie burgers that pretend to be meat, but this is a lovely change of pace.)
I gave it a quick zap in the microwave oven while I steamed some gorgeous golden cauliflower for just 5 minutes. (This was way more expensive than regular white cauliflower and tastes the same, but I couldn’t resist it.)
I had some leftover cooked Brown Rice Medley from Trader Joe’s, which is a combination of brown rice, black barley and daikon radish seeds. I also had a little bit of leftover Israeli couscous, so I mixed the two together, tossed in some sunflower seeds and gave it a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice to create an impromptu grain salad. Add a few slices of tomatoes and cubes of avocado and just like that—it’s dinner fit for a vegan king.
When you keep a few convenience foods on hand, and make smart use of leftovers, it truly is easy to pull together wonderful vegan meals in minutes.
(In the interest of full disclosure, I confess that I slipped the lettuce cup beneath the grains only when I decided to take a photo; I’m not usually so fancy.)
Great post! The more vegans who showcase simple, uncomplicated & quick veg meals the better. 🙂
Hi Virginia! I’m editing an upcoming book on vegetarianism, and I was hoping to ask you a few questions. Apparently I have an outdated email address for you, and I haven’t been able to find a way to contact you privately on your blogs or on your VegNutrition site. If you could contact me, I’d appreciate it. I’m at sfaulkner@wiley.com. Thanks!