My Current Favorite (Vegan) Recipes

As those of you who follow me on Instagram (@escapingconrete) might have noticed, I've been eating mostly vegan for the past week. Vegan basically means eating no meat, fish and dairy products. I'm not sure if eating strictly vegan is something that is attainable for me but I do like to try new things and it's been a lot easier than I thought. I've never been a big meat eater, same goes for dairy. I do enjoy fish (especially salmon!) so I'm not sure if I will be able to remove it from my diet completely. 

I do not wish to start a discussion about the moral and health benefits for (not) becoming vegan. 

I used to think that banning whole food groups from your diet was wrong and unhealthy but those views have changed now. I do not want to command people to stop eating animal products either, I think that's a choice everyone must make for themselves. Now that's out of the way, let's look at some delicious vegan meals that I've tried this week!

Roasted Tomato Basil Pesto Pasta

(Photo by Oh She Glows)

This was my first time making pesto and now I don't know why ever bought pre-made pesto. Making it yourself is so easy! This recipe does take a while because you have to roast the tomatoes but except for that it's very quick and easy. Oh and absolutely delicious! The recipe is from Oh She Glows and you can find it here. This is what my version looked like:

Strawberry Vanilla Overnight Oats

(Photo by Fit Food Finds)

I first made overnight oats a few months ago and I absolutely hated it. I only used milk, cinnamon and oats and it tasted bland, slimy and just downright horrible. I didn't understand what the hype was about, how could people enjoy this? But I kept seeing overnight oats recipes everywhere so a few days ago I decided to give it a second try. I found this recipe, which isn't strictly vegan because it contains Greek yoghurt but I made it with vanilla soy yoghurt instead, and loved the way it looked so I decided to give it a last try. And luckily it turned out to be just as delicious as it looked! The vanilla soy yoghurt gave it a nice sweet taste and the texture wasn't runny and gross like with my first try. I already made it twice this week! Do any of you guys know any other vegan overnight oats recipes? I want to try them all! The recipe is from Fit Foodie Finds and you can find it here. This is what my versions looked like:

Creamy Avocado "Carbonara"

(Photo by Crunch and Chew)

Another pasta recipe (what can I say, I love pasta!) but this one is a lot quicker to make. I love avocado so when I came across this recipe I just had to try it! I don't like the original pasta carbonara sauce but this one tasted so good! The avocado makes it really creamy and the walnuts add a nice bite to it all. Even my little brother who isn't too happy about my enthusiasm for healthy eating ate a full plate! He did add a ridiculous amount of Parmesan but oh well, baby steps. The recipe is from Crunch and Chew and you can find it here. My version looked like this:

Vegan Sugar Free Banana Bread

(Photo by De Groene Meisjes)

I have a love/hate relationship with banana. On its own, I can't stand it. But in a smoothie, overnight oats bowl or apparently in bread, I really like the sweet, subtle flavor it creates. I was looking for healthy, vegan snack ideas when I found this one. It's vegan and gluten/sugar free! (Mine isn't gluten free because I used regular oats instead of gluten free ones.) For the filling I chose walnuts and dried apricots. I was a little wary because I had baked a bread with mango filling once which turned out to be a complete disaster (it stayed wet and doughy on the inside while the outside turned hard as a rock). Luckily this did not happen here. 

The bread tasted so good it only lasted two days! I topped it with some homemade peanut butter and it made a great snack or even lunch. The recipe is from De Groene Meisjes and it's unfortunately all in Dutch. I'm sure if you google "vegan banana bread" though, you will find loads of English recipes. You can find this recipe here. Mine turned out like this:

I hope you found this blog post inspiring, even if you aren't vegan/vegetarian. Should I do more food related blogposts? I you are interested in seeing what I eat on a daily basis you should follow me on Instagram (@escapingconcrete), I post pictures daily!