Vegan Recipes for the Cooking Impaired

I went vegan when I was in college, many moons ago. Since I went to a community college and I still lived at home, I didn't really have to worry about what to buy in the campus cafeteria. It was a good thing, too, because back then, not nearly as many schools offered vegan or even vegetarian options, except maybe French fries or fruit.

Since I lived nearby (and I was new to activism), I never attempted to "veganize the school cafeteria." If I was going to be on campus for a while, I brought my lunch from home and nuked it in the microwave, if necessary. Usually, it was something boring though, like boiled broccoli and cauliflower or a phony baloney sandwich. I wasn't much of a cook back then, and I never had enough time (or money) to make something more inventive anyway. When I was in school, I really could have used PETA's Vegan College Cookbook, the new cookbook with 275 recipes that can be made with only a few inexpensive ingredients and no stove. It would've been one of the few books I actually opened!

But even though I'm older and can cook a bit better now, I still need this cookbook. I don't always have the time or patience to make recipes that have mile-long ingredient lists, and I'm too frugal (i.e., cheap) to buy many exotic spices and oils and such on a regular basis. So the simple sandwich, snack, and smoothie recipes still appeal to me.

Here are a couple of the easy ideas from the book. Try them along with the recipes for fresh salads, hummus wraps, and veggie burgers, and you'll feel like you're really cookin'.

Skinny Chick Chickpea Salad

1 (16-ounce) can chickpeas, drained

1 1/2 cups celery, diced (can usually be found on any salad bar)

1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise

2 tablespoons lemon juice (fresh or from the squirter)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

Salt and pepper, to taste Pita (optional)

Mix the chickpeas and celery. Add the remaining ingredients and season with salt and pepper. Serve in pita pockets or as an individual salad.

Melon-Berry Bliss

2 frozen bananas (peel and cut into chunks before freezing)

4 or 5 cantaloupe chunks (grab them from the dining hall salad bar)

4 or 5 honeydew chunks (grab them from the dining hall salad bar)

1 cup frozen blueberries

1 cup apple juice

Blend everything together until smooth.

See, no matter how old you are, there's no need to subsist on unfrosted blueberry pop tarts, peanuts, raisin bran, and bananas alone!

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Vegan Recipes for the Cooking Impaired

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