The Easy Vegan Kitchen

Here are some of my top tips to make your easy vegan kitchen work for you. The kitchen cupboard is the nerve centre of your kitchen - keep it well stocked and you will save time dashing to the shops for that single ingredient and will always have a delicious meal at hand even when the fridge is looking bare. For example, store purchased organic beans make a great addition to soups and make tasty dips that can be literally on the table in 10 minutes. You will find many delicious quick recipes in my latest book Go Vegan available world-wide on amazon. 

Marlene’s Quick Bites and Roll-Overs

Cook Once – Eat Twice

Time savers are a great way to cook your food.  Cook double and use the rest for tomorrow’s lunch.  Cook more than you need and freeze the rest.  A good idea is to freeze in small portions, so you have ‘ready-made’ meals when time is of the essence.

• Make a weekly menu plan, it makes it possible to use leftovers efficiently and makes meal preparation simpler.
• Make double the sauce and use for another dish later in the week.
• Salad dressings are easy to prepare in larger batches. Depending on the dressing, it will keep for at least a week, although some can be stored for a month or longer. Dressings are versatile and can be used not only on salads but to also dress up simple vegetable and grain dishes and adds a quick boost of flavour.
• Cut fresh vegetables enough for several days so that all the cutting is done, and you can cook quickly.
• Alternately peel and chop carrots, onions, etc., bag them and freeze. When needed, just take out as much as you require and reseal.
• Mince fresh garlic and keep it in the refrigerator for ready use. Minced garlic will keep for about two weeks in the refrigerator in a sealed container.
• Juice some fresh lemons or limes at a time and store the unused juice in the refrigerator in a sealed container. This will time when putting together salads, dressings, and other recipes. Fresh lemon juice will keep for about 10 days.
• Beans will last three days after being cooked. Cook enough beans to use in a soup, stew or casserole. I cook up batches of azduki beans and freeze them in portions.
• Grains will last up to five days in a glass sealed container in the refrigerator. I make our short grain brown rice porridge in one batch for breakfast that lasts us through the working week. I simply warm the required amount each morning for breakfast. Grain and beans are good to re-use with a nut or seed garnish but make the vegetables fresh.
• Prepare larger amounts of brown rice, beans, and other longer-cooking foods and freeze them in small portions so they will defrost more quickly when you need them and will be the right amount required for the number of people you will be serving.
• Learn how to use a pressure cooker. Pressure cooking can cut standard cooking times by about two-thirds while preserving more nutrients than conventional cooking methods.
• Purchase some good organic soup stock cubes. I use miso bouillon stock that instantly delivers a delicious base for all my soups.
• Sea vegetable dishes last for days. Cook up a good amount and then use a small portion every other day. I switch between, arame, hijiki and nori.
• Always have some wholegrain pasta (brown rice is good), bulgur, couscous and other partially refined grains at hand for last minute meals.
• Have a stock of organic cooked beans and other foods on hand for when you get stuck.
• Choose two new recipes from your cookbooks every week so that you are constantly expanding you range of dishes and your familiarity with the foods.
• Adding some raw food to each meal is a winner and it’s simple as no cooking required!

Short Cuts to Healthy Eating for Busy People!

Most people think you are tied to the kitchen when you eat this way but if you organise yourself you can spend literally 20 minutes in the kitchen and have a delicious meal ready by having prepped and stored various items like vegetables, grains and bean dishes and soups beforehand.  As you will see from the above quick tips, a breakfast, lunch or dinner can be put together in no time at all.  It is all about planning ahead and being organised.  Storing and reheating cooked food makes it possible to assist you in serving delicious healthy meals in as little as 10 minutes.

Using soba, udon, quick cooking grains, lightly boiled or steamed vegetables are all quick ways to cook something tasty up in no time.

Miso soup should be taken daily as this will help to alkalize the body: ‘Miso Broth’ quick version, recipe in my book Go Vegan. The added ginger juice will increase your cells sugar uptake, help with digestion and circulation. Make a batch of this to last you for 3 or 4 days. Miso soup with wakame and a side dish of steamed greens such as kale and collards, creates a sense of calm. I love it and live it daily. Any wholegrain porridge along with a few seeds and some ground flax and shelled hemp will set you up for the morning. You can also watch me making miso soup with vegetables on my cooking video channel. 

In good health