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

[vass]

c) Choc chip cookies

d) Pad thai Panda. I use 2-minute noodles (I think in the US that's ramen?) instead of the rice noodles. (pic)

e) From Leah Lenemann's 365+1 Vegan Recipes: Lentil and Barley Soup
2/3 cup brown lentils, 1/3 cup pot barley (pearl barley works if you can't find unpearled/pot) 1 onion, 2 sticks celery, 2 carrots, 5 cups water, 2tsp dried mixed herbs (Lenemann's not very good at herbs - add whatever fresh herbs you like) 1tbs miso.
1. Cover the lentils and barley with boiling water and leave to soak a few hours or overnight. Drain and rince.
2. Chop the veg finely.
3. Combine all the ingredients but the miso, bring to boil.
4. Simmer for 30-40 minutes until tender. Remove a little of the liquid and mix thoroughly with miso until smooth. Mix thoroughly and serve.

f) Spaghetti aglio e olio: spaghetti with a huge quantity of garlic fried in a medium quantity of olive oil (with salt and pepper and maybe a little chili) counts as food. It even counts as a real recipe. And it's good.

g) Tomato risotto. I don't think you can make this with an infant, but in case you want to try: take a package of arborio rice, a litre of vegie stock, and a bottle of tomato puree. Fry some garlic in some olive oil in a big pan, then add the arborio rice so it gets coated with garlicky olive oil, then turn the heat down really low, and keep adding a cup of stock or tomato puree or water and stirring until it's absorbed then adding more for an hour or until the rice is finally perfectly soft. You can't leave the stove at all during this process. Music is an ingredient in risotto.

h) Soup, general ideas: tomato, potato, leeks, and brown lentils are all good soup ingredients. And any other vegetable you can think of. Curry, general ideas: you can get a curry base from the supermarket (they come in cans or jars in the foreign foods aisle) and add them to potatoes, tomatoes, lentils, broccoli, cauliflower, pumpkin, carrot, sweet potatoes, etc. Pasta sauce, general ideas: think of a pasta sauce as being like a vegetable soup, but less liquid.

i) Lasagna: you can make a white sauce / roux with margarine, flour, and soy milk. Layer this with lasagna and a mixed vegetable (or lentil) pasta sauce. It doesn't taste like traditional lasagna, but it does taste good.

j) Cheesecake: Leah Lenemann again:
1 cup granola, 2tbs margarine, 1 1/2 cups tofu, 2tbs vegetable oil, 3/4 cup maple syrup, 1/2 cup pecans.
1. Grind the granola in a blender. Melt the margarine and mix with the granola. Transfer to a pie dish and press down well.
2. Blend the tofu, oil, and maple syrup in a blender. Chop the nuts and stir them in.
3. Pour the tofu mixture over the granola crust and bake at 350'F for 30-40 minutes until well risen and turning golden brown. Cool and then chill before serving.
(I would recommend adding just a little lemon zest to the tofu mixture.)

4. What are some good vegan sites or communities?
The Vegan Lunchbox: scary, scary, perfectionist vegan stay-at-home mother. I recommend it as a source of food porn, not a standard to live up to. Includes the loaf studio, a script for creating Seventh Day Adventist style lunch loaves.
cheapvegan: for recipes and advice. Ask your questions there and you'll get a bunch of answers.
PETA used to have a site that was useful to vegans, though wrongheaded, but they seem to have reorganised, so it no longer appears to be useful.

[vass]

Oh, important PS. DO NOT go to PETA's website. I just thought that one through. It is a bad place for anyone with an animal-harm squick.

PPS: one more recipe, Cheap and Easy Chickpea Curry. This is absolutely awesome if you add a brick of frozen spinach before cooking.