5 plant-based alternatives to your favorite dishes
If you’ve recently started eating plant-based (or did so a while ago), there may be a few dishes you particularly miss. With a little research, you can of course find an entire community full of tips and recipes (including here on FavorFlav) and exchange the tastiest and most fun ideas. Who knows, maybe these recipe tips will soon be part of it too!
Because with a little inventiveness, it’s not difficult at all to recreate popular dishes that traditionally contain fish or meat and turn them into a plant-based alternative. We thought these were particularly good:
Chickpea Melt
If you want to leave out the tuna from the classic Tuna Melt, and don’t want to eat cheese either, try making an easy chickpea salad as a substitute. Mash drained chickpeas and mix them with lemon juice, salt, pepper, spring onion, capers and plant-based mayo. Crumble a few nori (sushi) sheets through it for a taste of the sea. If you eat cheese, put it with the chickpea salad between two slices of bread and toast it like a grilled cheese sandwich, and if you want to keep it vegan, you can use vegan cheese (although it’s quite a search to find vegan cheese that tastes good).
Kung Pao tofu
Kung pao chicken is a real hit on Chinese restaurant menus, and we have a great kung pao chicken recipe on FavorFlav. But did you know you can make it completely plant-based with two simple substitutions? Get ‘oyster’ sauce made with mushrooms at the Asian supermarket (it’s always right next to the regular kind on the shelf of a well-stocked Asian supermarket), and replace the chicken with firm tofu. First, let the tofu drain in a clean tea towel with something heavy on top, on a deep plate; the drier the tofu is before you cut it into cubes, the better it absorbs the flavors and the less crumbly everything will be. Then simply follow the recipe mentioned above!
Pulled jackfruit sandwich
We’re crazy about pulled chicken (and pork), especially on a sandwich with a refreshing, tangy accent. But jackfruit works really well too! You can pull this fruit apart into lovely firm fibers and season it just as you would meat. Jackfruit gyros is another great idea…
Mushroom ‘carbonara’
No, this is of course not traditional carbonara with jowl bacon, eggs and cheese… But you can give mushrooms a delicious salty, smoky flavor by leaving them overnight in some coconut aminos and liquid smoke, then frying them well the next day. Also leave cashews in a bowl of water overnight and purée them (after draining) the next day; you’ll have a smooth cashew ‘cream’ that you can use instead of dairy. Delicious, and lighter too!
TAST sandwich instead of BLTA
A BLT with avocado is delicious, but if you want to remove the bacon from the Bacon/Lettuce/Tomato formula, you should try this: just as with the mushrooms for the ‘carbonara’ above, marinate a few slices of tempeh in a delicious umami marinade. Mix one teaspoon each of liquid smoke, apple cider vinegar, soy sauce and maple syrup, and coat the tempeh with it. Let it rest briefly, then fry until crisp and golden brown in a skillet while you toast some bread, slice a tomato and an avocado, and wash and dry some sturdy lettuce leaves (such as romaine lettuce). Spread the toast with vegan mayo, layer on the ingredients and give yourself a pat on the back!
Also read:
- From vegan to fun cones: these are the 5 ice cream trends to expect this year
- Vegans share the saddest birthday desserts they’ve received
- Exceptionally expensive Michelin-starred restaurant Eleven Madison Park in New York is going completely vegan
