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?

Custard Rolls

As these rich custard rolls rise and bake, the wonderful smell of yeast will fill your house. Try baking them on a Sunday: in the down time, you can laze around reading a book or watching your favourite TV series - for me, it's Gossip Girl or The Good Wife (a legal drama, not a show about housewives), or a re-run of Black Books or Miranda.

Custard Rolls

Makes 9 rolls
Dough based on this recipe

Ingredients

dough
120 ml soy milk 
1/2 tsp corn starch
1/2 tsp rice flour
2 tbsp water 
30 ml lukewarm water
1 tsp vanilla essence
4 tbsp margarine
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tbsp sugar
600 ml flour
1 1/2 tsp yeast

filling
vanilla pudding or custard mix (many brands in the supermarket are vegan)
soy milk as needed
sugar as needed

Method

1. Heat the soy milk until warm but not hot. Mix together the corn starch, rice flour and 2 tbsp water. Combine all dough ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Turn out onto a lightly-oiled surface and knead for 10 minutes. Put back in the bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled in size (about an hour).

2. Prepare pudding/custard with soy milk and sugar according to directions.

4. Cover a large baking pan with baking paper. Stretch the dough into a 20 by 30 cm rectangle. Spread the filling thickly over the dough. Starting with the long side of the rectangle, roll up into a log and pinch the edge of the dough to seal.

5. Cut with a sharp knife into 4 cm slices. Place them in the pan with plenty of space between each slice. Cover and let rise again until doubled in size (about an hour). Bake at 180 C for 20-25 minutes, until a light golden brown.