Help me, vegans!

[thefourthvine]

Because of my baby's suspected dairy allergy, I have joined the ranks of the more-or-less vegan. (I can actually still eat eggs, but they aren't a huge part of my diet anyway.) And, see, I've been a vegetarian since I was ten. I know how to be a vegetarian! It doesn't require thought or effort! Whereas this veganism thing is very new and very, very hard.

Normally I'd just hit Google and research the shit out of this. But, well, I have a four-month-old baby. I don't have time to make out with Google the way I used to. So I am hoping to use the friends list shortcut - that there are vegans on my friends list who might have advice for me. Or, I guess, people on my friends list who aren't vegan but just love to Google.

Basically, here's what I need to know:

1. What are the basics of a vegan pantry? What are the special things that vegans keep around all the time, that make cooking or meals easier?
   
   
2. What are really good vegan products?
   
   
3. What are some good vegan recipes? Right now I'm relying much too heavily on fake meat, and that is not how I like to cook or eat. At least, not this much. I might as well be a carnivore! So - recipes? I especially need ones for balanced meals that are super-fast or that I can make in a crockpot. Suggestions of cookbooks featuring these things would also be very welcome.

Help? Please? Anyone? I will take links or comments or just supportive pats. I am experiencing involuntary dietary change and it's very scary!

Comments

[jadelennox]

Rather predictably, my vegan pantry (I'm not a vegan, but I go through more or less vegan phases, barring cheese) is full of soy. I was indifferent to soy milk until I discovered Silk brand in the refrigerator case (not the pantry-safe version), and now I go through two cartons a week of plain and chocolate. Tofu, and there's always a few bricks of it in the freezer which has a very strange texture but can be mashed up as a nice filler in stews. Textured vegetable protein, not as a meat substitute, but again, as a nice protein rich filler in stews.

I can't eat wheat, but I eat a lot of quinoa and rice. Quinoa has the advantage of cooking quickly and being a complete protein. I often cook extra rice and keep in the fridge to use over the course of the week.

To replace eggs, I have gotten quite happy with flaxseed as a binder, and they very much prefer it to the equally common applesauce or banana. I've never used EnerG egg replacer, and I don't see myself trying it.

Mostly, though, I get by perfectly happily with local produce -- and aren't you in California? You probably have a vastly superior selection of good local produce. Zucchini and summer squash are my main summer fillers, potatoes and winter squash are my main winter fillers.

I think the most important thing is a good vegan cook book. A friend recently got me Vegan with a Vengeance, which I would love, except that a lot of the foods in it aren't seasonal at the same time and I've become a farmer's market addict, so I'm always eating seasonally. Southern Cooking Vegetarian Style is also one of my favorite vegan cookbooks. Lots of recent vegetarian cookbooks have a great vegan recipes, although Molly Katzen's books and the Vegetarian Epicure DON'T.

Honestly? I would try just starting with interesting things based on vegetables, that don't have cheese. Protein shouldn't be too much of a problem, especially given that it sounds like you will still be eating eggs, and throwing in soy or quinoa or nuts -- do you like peanut butter? There are some fantastic winter stews with sweet potatoes and peanut butter and greens -- should be an easy adaptation for someone who's already a cooking vegetarian.

my general method for quick vegetable cooking is:
-- start sautéing some onions and garlic
-- look and see what other vegetables I have. Throw them in the pan. Start sautéing.
-- decide what flavors I want, and add some combinations off the spice rack, maybe wine or juice or stock, or something like pickapeppa sauce (which seems to be an ingredient in many vegan recipes)
-- decide whether I want this meal
---- to be a stirfry (in which case, keeps sautéing, serve over rice)
---- to be a casserole (throw in a casserole dish with eggs if you will still be eating eggs and maybe a little bit of soy milk, throw in the oven, go change the baby)
---- to be eaten next to potatoes, in which case throw some potatoes in the oven
---- as a burrito, in which case, warm burrito, maybe add a little bit of rice
---- to be a quiche (take a frozen vegan piecrust out of the freezer, add some eggs if you will still be eating eggs and a little bit of soy milk, throw in the oven, go play with the baby)

You see what I mean? Endless possibilities. Frozen pie crusts help a lot, at least if you will still be eating eggs.