For those of you who don’t know, the first of November is World Vegan Day. The title is self-explanatory, but it’s a day to celebrate the vegan lifestyle. No animal products. No meat. No dairy. No animal products whatsoever. I’m not a vegan, but I am a fan of affordable and delicious food. College students are all balling on a budget unless you’re a trust fund baby, so I figured I would share a few of my favorite low-cost and delicious vegan recipes.
1. Kale, White Bean, and Pesto Salad
https://www.budgetbytes.com/make-ahead-kale-white-bean-and-pesto-salad/
It’s magically nutritious. This dish has several important nutrients that you may be lacking on your diet of ramen noodles- iron, vitamin A, protein- the list goes on and on. This dish is perfect for lovers of kale or those that have been looking to get more leafy greens in their diet. In the recipe, you’ll see that it calls for chicken, but it can be modified to be prepared without it. It saves about ten minutes, and money. If you skip the chicken, this dish costs about $5 and it refrigerates really well.
2. Corn and Black Bean Salad
http://thevegan8.com/2015/05/30/southwest-lime-corn-salad/
This is a dish I really like because it can be prepared beforehand and if you have a few containers on hand, it can be divided and used as a pre-packed lunch. It’s simple to make since all it takes are a few cheap ingredients and some seasoning. I like to crumble queso fresco (though you can use vegan cheese or no cheese at all) on top and make my own corn tortilla chips in the oven (oil the tortilla lightly, cut it up, sprinkle salt, bake on 350 for about 10 minutes or until crisp). Again, you can add chicken to the dish, but it is really filling without it because of the black beans. This dish costs maybe $4 to make (it depends on what you add in), and prepares at least 3 servings.
3. Chickpea Tacos
https://healthiersteps.com/recipe/chickpea-taco-vegan-gluten-free/
This dish is easy to make in a small amount of time. It takes me about 25 minutes because I’m slow in the kitchen, but the recipe says it can be prepared in 15 minutes. Essentially, the chickpeas are cooked down and mashed until it is about the consistency of refried beans (but not all of them are mashed). Note that the recipe calls for canned chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans). Don’t do what I did and add in raw chickpeas. It won’t work I tell ya. This dish costs about $5 to make, depending on how many taco shells you want to stuff.
4. Spaghetti with Garlic & Olive Oil
https://www.veggiessavetheday.com/spaghetti-with-garlic-and-olive-oil/
Out of all the dishes on this list, this one is by far my favorite. There’s no difficult prep work required. If you can boil water, set a timer, and strain spaghetti, you’re golden. It’s a filling dish and it doesn’t need too much flourish. If you’re not a person who likes flavors that are too strong or would like a change in pace from all the other flavor-packed food on the list, opt for this simple dish. This dish costs about $2 to make if you buy fresh seasoning. It mainly calls for basics that you may already have like olive oil, basil, thyme, oregano, etc. I don’t buy fresh seasonings- normally I just cheat and use the dried Italian seasoning.
5. Peanut Noodles
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/13974/peanut-noodles/
This is my favorite dish on the list because it’s Asian-inspired, a burst of flavor, and noodle-y. And we all know pasta is one of the many good gifts God has given man. The recipe says it can be prepped in 10 minutes but mincing the garlic and slicing the onions takes me some time. If you buy the pre-minced garlic, it does save a bunch of time. This recipe is only a little more involved than the others, but it’s delicious. It costs about $6, but the cost varies depending on what you buy to add in.
Happy eating!