Quick & Easy Vegan Recipes: No Cooking Required

This article was originally published on Suite101.com.  To see the article in its entirety, click on this link:  Quick and Easy Vegan Recipes.

These recipes involve no cooking time, and some of the ingredients are raw. The beauty of eating raw (just ask the doctor!) is that food is the way nature intended. Raw foods contain maximum nutrients and lots of fiber. Raw foods also help people feel fuller because of fiber’s bulk. Someone wanting to eat a vegetarian meal might not want all of the ingredients to be raw, but it's nice to skip using the stove on occasion, especially when it's hot outside.

Veggie Pita Sandwich

Vegans who avoid yeast can't eat this sandwich, but whole wheat pita bread is one of the few breads that many vegans can eat, because milk is not used as an ingredient. (A good substitute is a whole wheat or spinach tortilla.)

Split the bread and stuff full of favorite veggies. Some good choices are chopped lettuce, tomatoes, and onions. Other good vegetables in this sandwich are alfalfa sprouts, mushrooms, avocados, and cucumbers. Sprinkle with Italian dressing or vinaigrette.

Vegetable Marinade

Take Italian dressing or just vinegar, oil, and spices along with minced garlic. Add halved cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced (and peeled if desired) cucumbers, thinly sliced onions, halved mushrooms, and bite-size broccoli and cauliflower. Can eat immediately (tastes great!) or can marinate for blended flavors.

Mexican-Style Wrap

Start with a whole wheat tortilla. Open a can of black beans and drain. Place several spoonfuls of beans on the tortilla. Follow with chopped romaine lettuce and tomatoes; can add diced onion if desired. Follow with a spoonful or two of salsa or pico de gallo (temperature or flavor to taste). Pinto or kidney beans can be substituted for black beans.

For a side dish, chips and salsa are a nice addition to this wrap.

Fruit Salad

This dish is different every time and can be made with any ingredients on hand; it's really good if there is fruit that needs to be eaten right away. Simply cut up any fruit available and mix it together. It's really good if at least one fruit is really juicy (such as a pineapple, watermelon, or a citrus fruit, such as a clementine or tangerine). Other good additions to a fruit salad include bananas, strawberries, apples, grapes, honeydew melon, pears, and peaches. Canned fruit can also be used (as well as the juice from the can), but fresh fruit is best.

It's Hot Outside!

Other good meals for hot weather include gazpacho (an unusual but delicious cold soup) and bean salad. It takes some imagination, but it's nice to have some no-cooking-required options on occasion.

(Original article publication date:  September 19, 2009.)