Easy Vegan Recipes: Oat Cookies, Fried Capsicums with Tomato Sauce, and Stewed Leeks, Carrots and Kidney Beans

This week I'm focussing on easy vegan recipes. First we have something sweet, and then two recipes for quick lunches or dinners.

Looking for something to snack on? The recipe for these great oat cookies originally comes from Food Not Bombs and is available through the Vegan Cuisine Cookbook on Wikibooks. This is the simplest cookie recipe I've ever made, but the results are delicious. I don't like my cookies very sweet, so I halved the sugar.

This Turkish side of fried capsicums with tomato sauce from Twins in Kitchen is extremely easy. It's done in 15 minutes and goes well with any Mediterranean dinner. I also like to eat at as a quick snack with some bread.

Last but not least, we have this dish of stewed leeks, carrots and kidney beans in tahini sauce. It makes a good pairing for the capsicums, but can also stand alone. It's simple to prepare but complexly flavoured and delicious.

What are your favourite quick and easy vegan recipes? What do you make when you feel uninspired but want something good to eat?

Peppers with Sundried Tomato and Isot Pepper Stuffing

For a long time, I hated stuffed vegetables. They were either soggy or undercooked and had plain, flavourless fillings. So when I was stuffing these beautiful red peppers I decided to make a rich filling out of kidney beans, smoky isot pepper and sundried tomatoes. The peppers were roasted before stuffing to intensify their flavour.

This recipe is super good for an easy weeknight dinner. It comes together very easily, and you can make a salad to have on the side while the peppers are roasting. Isot pepper adds a wonderful depth of flavour to this dish, but if you can't find it, you can replace it with 1/8 tsp of chili powder.

Peppers with Sundried Tomato and Isot Pepper Stuffing

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 long peppers/capsicums
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
10 sundried tomatoes
1 (400 g) can kidney beans
1 tsp isot pepper/urfa biber
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tbsp tomato paste
100 ml breadcrumbs (gluten-free if you want)
3 tbsp water

Method 

1. Cut the peppers in half. Remove stem and seeds. Roast at 200 C for 20-40 minutes, until they're as soft as you like them. Chop the onion finely and mince the garlic. Rinse the sundried tomatoes and chop them finely.

2. Heat an oiled pan over medium heat. Fry onion until softened. Add garlic and fry for a few minutes. Add sundried tomatoes and fry for a few minutes more. Remove from heat.

3. Drain and rinse the kidney beans. Mash them and combine with the onion mixture and all remaining ingredients. Stuff the peppers and roast for 10 more minutes.

Quick and Healthy Snacks: Tapas

Vegan Tapas make great snacking material. They're quick, easy, and packed full of veggies. Best of all, they're delicious.

If you're keen to get your day's vegetables all at once, Gazpacho is the soup for you. It's a thick, velvety cold soup bursting with ripe tomatoes and refreshing cucumber and seasoned with vinegar, garlic and olive oil. My favourite recipe is this one.

If you're looking for something comforting and a little more filling, try Pan con Tomate, thick slabs of baguette toasted and topped with grated tomato, salt and olive oil. I love to pile them up with more grated tomato and drizzle extra olive oil on top. So good!

 

What are your favourite Tapas? Do you know of any other Spanish dishes that adapt themselves well to vegans? I would love tips!

Leeks, Carrots and Kidney Beans in Tahini Sauce

This combination of leeks, carrots and kidney beans looks unassuming, but has a deep rich flavour from the tahini. It makes a lovely Turkish meal when combined with another easy side, like capsicums in tomato sauce.

 

Leeks, Carrots and Kidney Beans in Tahini Sauce

Serves 2 as a side
Closely based on this recipe

Ingredients

2 carrots
1 leek
1 tbsp tomato paste
250 ml water
1 (400 g) can kidney beans
3 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp lemon juice

Method

1. Chop the carrots and leek. Heat an oiled pot over medium heat. Fry the carrots for a few minutes. Add the leeks, tomato paste and water and stir well. Put the lid on and simmer until the vegetables are tender. Drain and rinse the beans and mix them in.

2. Salt well. Mix together the tahini and lemon juice. Spoon over the top of the vegetables. Close the lid and let rest for a few minutes before serving.

Balsamic Mushroom Bruschetta

These juicy mushroom bruschetta make a great vegan starter. The sharp and sweet vinegar plays well with the fresh parsley and savoury mushrooms. And they only take a few minutes to put together!

Balsamic Mushroom Bruschetta

Makes 4 slices

Ingredients

1/2 onion
250 g button mushrooms
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt
4 slices of nice bread
flat-leaf parsley (optional)

Method

1. Dice the onion, slice the mushrooms, and mince the garlic. Heat some olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until glassy. Add the garlic and cook for a minute.

2. Add the mushrooms and fry until they release their liquid. Then add the balsamic vinegar, and cook until the liquid is gone. Salt to taste. Top slices of toasted bread with the mushrooms and a generous amount of chopped parsley.