Simple vegan dinner ideas, please.

[Azure]

My oldest son's new girlfriend will be here on Friday and we will give her a ride back to college after dinner. She is vegan and I am trying to decide what to make for dinner. I was thinking about some kind of soup, some home made bread & a salad. I know it really isn't all that difficult, but for some reason I am having trouble making a decision.

[kimberlyf0]

We eat plant based/vegan and a soup/salad/fresh bread meal is one of my favorites to serve. I have a vegan split pea soup that I like to make in the pressure cooker. Pasta is another meal that is easy to do vegan, just by using a vegan marinara sauce, and it would also go well with a salad and fresh bread. Really, I am sure that she will be so touched that you made a vegan meal for her!

[lessisbest]

I just purchased "The Oh She Glows Cookbook" by Angela Liddon and she has a lot of vegan recipes at: http://ohsheglows.com/

I incorporate a lot of vegan/vegetarian recipes into our diet because they help keep the food costs down, and we try to stick to whole foods. My motto: Always keep a stack of homemade bean burgers in the freezer. ;) Serve them with all the fixin's on wholegrain buns and sweet potato oven fries. Even the meat-eaters will enjoy them!

[CathyA]

Some vegans won't even eat certain breads if they have whey/eggs/butter in them.
Jarred spaghetti sauce (with no meat/cheese/dairy) in it with non-egg noodles is good, with a salad.
One meal I made my vegan DD a lot is a cashew rice pilaf. It has a lot of mushrooms, onions and broccoli in it. The rice is cooked with vegetable stock.
Then there's always a Gimmelean burger with the fixin's, including a sliced avocado.
When making something, Just look closely at all the ingredients, and make sure there isn't a little dairy in it.
DD isn't particular about what's in bread, but some vegans are.
And for dessert............oreos are "accidentally" vegan..........as are some Marie Callender pies. You can buy vegan ice cream (but it isn't cheap!)
You could also pick up a box of Breeze Almond milk (original) in case she wants that to drink or in her coffee/tea.

[Miss Cellane]

How about vegan chili? With some nice crusty bread?

[creaker]

I made this last night, first time - it was good. It would have gone well with some crusty home made bread.

Braised Coconut Spinach & Chickpeas with Lemon

http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-braised-coconut-spinach-chickpeas-with-lemon-164551

[catherine]

This is an easy quinoa salad that we all love. Might pair well with a lentil/bean soup.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/zesty-quinoa-salad/

[kimberlyf0]

Some vegans won't eat bread with whey/eggs/butter in them because the bread isn't vegan :) only vegetarian. There is a whole range of vegan/plant-based eating and some people choose to eat a mostly vegan diet but wouldn't call themselves vegan. Some are just learning. Some call themselves vegan and eat some animal products which to me means they are not vegan, but I don't get into them with it. (I wouldn't even claim the vegan label when I was still eating honey, instead I would say I followed a plant based diet.) Some vegans eat honey, some don't, and the ones who don't are often aghast at the ones that do. Some go so far as to check for l-cysteine in breads and determine if it was derived from chicken feathers. Some won't eat products made with white sugar as it is potentially processed with bone char.

I try to be sensitive to these subtleties; I bake my bread with unrefined sugar so no bone char, and home-baked bread doesn't have l-cysteine. I don't buy food made with colors so I don't have to worry about the red coming from insects. A vegan eating at my house can be pretty sure that the little details have been covered. I do this because a long time ago I was a young, enthusiastic vegan and hated when people suggested that I just eat the --fill in the blank-- even though it had a little whey in it (I actually have a whey protein allergy, which is rare, and have had it my whole life) or a little animal broth, or a little gelatin, etc. At the same time, I applaud the efforts of restaurants to offer plant based food and I don't ask about bone char sugar or chicken feather l-cysteine.

If a person has made the effort to feed me I do the best I can, trying always to be grateful to their efforts without compromising my values. Count me among those who don't eat bread with animal products in it :) At a family gathering I was offered apple pie with just "a little" butter in it and I politely declined (they had also used store-bought crust but had no idea what was in it, but I would have declined just for the butter). But if someone goes out of their way to make vegan brownies and I know they have white sugar in them I will eat them (not all white sugar is processed with bone char, which makes it hard to stand firm on). Hopefully by this point most people know I rarely eat sugary desserts and won't try to bake for me. Indeed, I ask people not to go out of their way to feed me unless a plant based meal is something they want to cook and eat; it makes too much work for the cook otherwise. I happily bring a salad and main dish to almost every gathering I attend :)

I hope the OP is able to find something simple and truly vegan to serve!

[Zoe Girl]

i have some meals that are accidentally vegan, i really didn't try for a vegan recipe but i ended up with it. My faves are (and i can send more details if you want)
* red beans and rice, super fast, with greens on the side
* stew with garbanzo beans, winter squash, spinach and canned tomatoes over brown rice
* gravy, yes my regular gravy is vega, with a burger patty and some potatoes or veggies
* minestrone soup, just put the cheese as an optional side, i did this for christmas even and had italian sausage on the side for meat eaters
* lentil soup and sourdough bread, sourdough is not as likely to have milk/butter in it but check

i have a good friend who has a severe dairy allergy, and all of these are safe for her, i like to make meals everyone can eat together mostly, and also provide protein for the vegan/veggie person. i have had a 'mixed household' for many years here, usually i am the veggie person, and anything to make it easier.

[Azure]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and tips. It's very helpful. I know she avoids refined sugars but does eat honey. She suggested spaghetti but we just had that on Tuesday. So I am still thinking. Maybe I'll try chili.

[Azure]

We haven't eaten the chili yet, but the taste test was really good. Good enough that I might add it to regular rotation. DH isn't thrilled that I didn't buy any ground beef for the meat eaters to add to our chili lol