The Vegan Atlas

Vegan Curried Chickpea Burgers

July 8, 2019 By Nava Atlas Leave a Comment

What gives these curried chickpea burgers their fantastic flavor is one of my favorite new shortcuts — Indian simmer sauce. What I try to accomplish with homemade vegan burger recipes is for the cook to be able to toss everything into the food processor without additional prep (like cooking onions, measuring tons of spices, and such).

Delectable readymade Indian sauces make this process super easy. Just make sure to read labels to make sure the sauce you select is vegan, as some varieties contain dairy.

One of my favorite varieties is Jalfrezi, which is tomato and coconut-based. They come in varying levels of spiciness, so take into that account as well when choosing. Indian sauces are a relatively new fixture in the international aisle of well-stocked supermarkets and natural foods stores and they’re incredible for giving soups and stews an instant blast of flavor. I wondered if they’d do the same for burgers, and the answer is a resounding yes.

How Do Vegans Get Their Protein? — A Guide to Plant-Based Proteins

July 7, 2019 By Nava Atlas Leave a Comment

Chances are, if you’ve gone vegan and report the news to a non-vegan you’ll be asked, “How do you get your protein?” It’s a question that just won’t go away. I wonder why there’s still so much bewilderment over how vegans get protein. It’s not at all complicated; plant-based protein sources are abundant, and we’ll explore them here.

Longtime vegans might roll their eyes at having to endlessly explain and justify their protein sources. But the myth that it’s hard to get adequate protein on a vegan diet is tenacious. There’s plenty of evidence, as we know, that a varied whole foods diet has little chance of falling short in protein, especially if it provides sufficient calories

Many foods have at least some protein. Whole grains, legumes, soy foods, nuts, and seeds all offer high-quality protein. Many common vegetables have small amounts of protein, so if you eat plenty of them, they add in to your daily total as well.

Thai-Flavored Tossed Salad with Peanut Dressing

July 5, 2019 By Nava Atlas Leave a Comment

Inspired by the house salads I’ve enjoyed at Thai restaurants, this is the perfect side companion to Asian-style noodle or rice dishes. Or, a larger portion can serve as the centerpiece of a meal alongside a simple tofu or tempeh dish. Who knows if this salad resembles anything from authentic Thai cuisine, but either way, it’s refreshing and flavorful.

Colorful and inviting, this salad features the usual suspects — lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and pepper — but what gives it a little something extra is the addition of broccoli and pineapple. Then, it’s made extra luscious with a coconut peanut dressing. As I often do, I offer a shortcut option using a bottled Thai peanut satay sauce, which has similar ingredients, and then some.

Walnut & Mushroom Vegan Taco Crumbles (with Bulgur or Quinoa)

July 4, 2019 By Nava Atlas Leave a Comment

Beef-less taco crumbles are so easy to make from whole foods. These beefy-textured vegan taco crumbles are made with walnuts, mushrooms, and either bulgur or quinoa. Use the latter if you want to keep this gluten-free (and also make sure to use GF soy sauce in that case). Nicely seasoned and deliciously moist, these crumbles are great in their own right, not necessarily as a dead ringer — excuse the metaphor — for ground beef.

For traditional-style tacos, use hard taco shells or soft corn tortillas. Layer with this filling, followed by your favorite add-ons. Use any combination of shredded lettuce, vegan cheese shreds, chopped tomatoes, slivered onions, cilantro, vegan sour cream, and/or pico de gallo or salsa.

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