The Fitness Coach's Choice: 10+ Tasty and Easy-to-Make Vegan Recipes

Most people tell me that they have never eaten a vegan meal in their life. Let me tell you one thing: if you’ve ever eaten a banana, this statement is false.

Eating vegan is easier than you may think. Skip the cream, cheese and meat and you’re halfway there. Making a dish healthier is a more difficult topic, but also doable. A huge part of my last post How to Go Vegan: From Meat Eating to Vegetarian is simply eating more whole foods and vegan alternatives.

Let me tell you ten healthy vegan recipes, that I’ll recommend you as a Certified Fitness Coach.

Prevent Deficiencies As A Vegan

Meat is not a super package. You don’t have to worry that much about deficiencies. People eating a normal western diet suffer from way more deficiencies than vegetarian or vegan people do. Most people are deficient on fiber for example, which is crucial for our gut health and the prevention of gut cancer.

Make sure you’re eating a variety of fruits and vegetables. Eat the rainbow they say – lots of colorful foods in your diet are a great source of healthy antioxidants. Also make sure you incorporate some nuts and seeds in your diet (Tip: Flaxseeds, add them to the breakfast recipe idea Nr. 3).

If you go fully vegan, you have to consider supplementation. Vitamin B12 is crucial. Watch a video about the supplements that you truly need here.

10+ Energy-Boosting Vegan Recipes

These 10+ recipes will help you get started with a healthier diet. They’re not calorie-dense, made of whole foods and don’t contain any salt or too much oil. They will keep you satiated and energized the whole day.

Credit where credit is due. These vegan recipes are inspired by the books Thrive, 10th Anniversary Edition: The Plant-Based Whole Foods Way to Staying Healthy for Life by Brendan Brazier,^[1] and Power Foods for the Brain: An Effective 3-Step Plan to Protect Your Mind and Strengthen Your Memory by Dr. Neal Barnard.^[2]

Life is short. Let’s start with three dessert ideas.

Dessert Ideas

Finding the right desserts was hard as first. Most of the conventional dessert options contain dairy.

These are simple dessert options that literally only take minutes to prepare.

#1 Banana Ice Cream

This recipe only has one ingredient. Super fast and easy.

Ingredients

• Ripe Bananas

Steps

• Peel and slice the bananas, place them in a container and freeze them for 1 hour.
• Remove the frozen bananas from the freezer and let them thaw a little at room temperature.
• Place the bananas in a food processor and process until smooth and creamy, like soft-serve ice cream.
• You can vary the recipe by adding a little cinnamon, vanilla or cocoa powder.

#2 Fruit Pops

This is an all natural treat on those hot summer days.

Ingredients

• About 3 cups unsweetened fruit juice of your choice, such as grape, pomegranate or orange juice (squeeze at home and use the pulp for more health benefits)

Steps

• Fill an ice pop mold (set of 6) with the juice, put a wooden stick in there.
• Let it freeze for a couple of hours.
• To remove a frozen pop from the mold, run briefly under warm water.

#3 Vanilla Berry Sorbet

This refreshing sorbet makes a light finish to any meal.

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries or strawberries
• 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup date sugar

Steps

• In a blender, combine all the ingredients and blend until smooth.
• Adjust the sweetness with the date sugar amount to taste if needed.
• Pour into a freezer container, cover and freeze for a couple of hours.
• To serve, remove the sorbet from freezer and let stand at room temperature until soft enough to scoop out.

Image Credit: Two Peas & Their Pod

Breakfast Ideas

Your morning sets the tone for your day. A healthy breakfast will keep you mentally sharp and energized.

#4 Baked Oatmeal

This nourishing breakfast will help you start your day the right way.

Ingredients

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
• 2 1/4 cups rice milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots for raisins
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• Rice milk, for serving

Steps

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit and lightly oil an 8 x 8-inch baking pan.
• In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and stir until well combined.
• Pour into the prepared baking pan and bake uncovered for 30 minutes.
• Cool slightly, then cut into 8 squares.
• Serve warm, topped with a little rice milk and extra cinnamon.

#5 Banana- Chocolate Pancakes

A good way to help children start down the vegan journey – they will love this dish!

Ingredients

• 2 peeled and mashed bananas
• 2 dried dates, stoned
• 20g amaranth
• 250ml chocolate hemp milk
• 250ml water
• 70g buckwheat flour
• 4 tablespoons of linseeds
• 4 tablespoons of hemp protein
• 3 tablespoons of carob powder
• 2 tablespoons of caca onibs

Steps

• Blend all these ingredients together.
• Pour very few coconut-oil (use an oil-spray) into a baking pan.
• Pour the ingredients into the baking pan until you have the right size of the pancake for you.
• Bake for 5 minutes, turn it to the other side and bake for another 5 minutes.

#6 Breakfast Bowl

Conventional cereals contain a lot of refined sugar and artifical sweeteners. This breakfast bowl is all natural and will help you get those antioxidants in early on.

Ingredients

• 1 banana
• 1 pear
• 1 date, stoned
• 3 tablespoons of almonds
• 1 tablespoons of flaxseeds
• 1/2 cup of millet flakes
• 1/2 tablespoon of grated ginger
• 250ml soymilk

Steps

• Peel the banana.
• Stone the pear.
• Cut the banana, pear, almonds and the dates into tiny pieces.
• Put all the ingredients into a bowl.
• Add the soymilk. Enjoy!

Dinner Ideas

End your day with style – the vegan way.

#7 Almond-Flaxseed-Burger

The good thing about the vegan diet is: You can eat the ingredients raw. There’s no need to heaten the patties up in a burger, but you can try it for extra taste.

Ingredients

• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 cup of almonds
• 6 tablespoons of flaxseeds
• 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of coconut oil

Steps

• Blend all the ingredients together.
• Form two burger patties. You can eat these vegan-meat-patties raw or put some coconut oil on them and put them into a baking pan at medium heat.
• Cook until they’re golden.
• Add them to two whole-grain pieces of bread.
• Add some vegetables for extra taste.

#8 Chickpeas-Curry-Pizza

Yes, you can even eat pizza on a vegan diet.

Ingredients

Crust:

• 230g of grounded sunflower seeds
• 180g of cooked chickpeas
• 60ml of coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon of cloves
• 1 tablespoon of curry powder
• 1/2 tablespoon of curcuma

Toppings:

• 1/2 middle-sized sweet potato
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1/2 piece of broccoli (floweret)
• 1/2 piece of cauliflower (floweret)

Steps

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees fahrenheit.
• Blend all the ingredients for the crust together.
• Stir it until it forms lumps.
• Put some coconut-fat on the baking plate.
• Distribute the blended mass evenly on the baking plate.
• Add the toppings.
• Bake for aprroximately 45 minutes in the oven. Baking time can be adjusted, according to your likes.

Image Credit: Vegan Richa

#9 Amaranth-Hemp Seeds-Salad

Low on calories and very tasty. Light dish. Great for helping you lose weight.

Ingredients

• 1 Nori leaf, chopped
• 4 handful of mixed salads
• 10g of amaranth
• 1 handful of sugar snaps
• 2 tablespoons of hemp seeds

Steps

• Put all the ingredients in a bowl.
• Add some dressing, I recommend an italian dressing.
• Make sure you use only a little bit of oil.

Beverages & Smoothies

Tip for making a smoothie: Remember to start with the slowest speed at the blender and slowly amp it up. Otherwise the ingredients won’t blend together as good as they should.

#10 Chocolate- Hemp milk

Ingredients

• 875ml of water
• 135g of hemp seeds
• 2 tablespoons of carob powder
• 2 tablespoons of date sugar

To do: Blend all the ingredients together in a blender. Simple.

#11 Breakfast Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1 very ripe banana
• 2 cups frozen fruit (I prefer raspberries)
• 1 cup nondairy milk (I prefer soy)

Combine all the ingredients in a blender. Blend for about 2 minutes.

#12 Perfect – Crunchy Smoothie

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup Breakfast Smoothie (see #2 Smoothie)
• 1/4 cup toasted dried oats
• Fresh berries

Steps

• Layer 1/4 cup of the smoothie at the bottom of a glass.
• Add a 2-tablespoon layer of oats next.
• Followed by another 1/4 cup of smoothie, then the last 2 tablespoons oats.
• Finish it off with the last 1/4 cup of smoothie.
• Top with fresh berries. Crunchy and tasty.

Featured photo credit: Stocksnap via stocksnap.io

Reference

[1]	^	Brendan Brazier: The Thrive Diet, 10th Anniversary Edition: The Plant-Based Whole Foods Way to Staying Healthy for Life
[2]	^	Neal D. Barnard: Power Foods for the Brain: An Effective 3-Step Plan to Protect Your Mind and Strengthen Your Memory

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