- Hi, my name is Tiffany,
and I'm gonna show you what I eat for breakfast,
lunch and dinner as a Chinese vegan.
- Hi, my name is Brittani,
and I'm going to show you what I eat for breakfast,
lunch and dinner as an Italian vegan.
- Hi, my name's Venetia,
I'm gonna show you what I eat for breakfast,
lunch and dinner as a Greek vegan.
- [Tiffany] For breakfast,
I made tomato bean curd over toast.
This meal is inspired
by the classic Chinese dish tomato egg.
We're replacing the eggs with bean curd or tofu skin,
which replicates the texture of eggs really well.
Add some turmeric water, nutritional yeast,
black pepper and some black salt for that extra eggy flavor.
Saute until the bean curd absorbs most of the water.
And then transfer it onto a plate for later.
Next, add a little more oil to the pan
and add some chopped tomatoes.
You're gonna wanna cook this down until the juices
from the tomatoes start to seep out.
And then add some ketchup, some sugar,
and mix until combined.
Add the bean curd back in.
And stir in some corn starch slurry to thicken.
It's super simple to make and it's such a good
go-to comfort food and ultimate pick me up.
I probably make it once or twice a week now.
It's normally served over rice, but I had mine over toast
to make it more breakfast like.
I remember I'd always order this at Chinese takeout places
when I was younger.
And it wasn't until recently that I rediscovered this dish
and learned how to veganize it.
You can't not feel intense joy while eating this.
It's sweet and savory and comforting
and just filled with all around goodness.
- [Brittani] For breakfast,
I made a vegan version of Nutella.
I started off by combining dry roasted and skinned hazelnuts
with some pitted medjool dates in a food processor
and blended those two together until the hazelnuts
were roughly chopped.
Next, I added some raw cacao powder
to the date and hazelnut mixture.
And continued blending in the food processor
until that became smooth.
If the mixture appears to be dry,
you can always add a little bit of water
and then continue blending.
You can also choose to soak your dates
in prep for this recipe,
as it will make them a bit softer and easier to blend,
especially if they're on the dryer side.
Once I finish blending up this goodness,
I immediately spread it on a piece of toast
and enjoy it with a side of fresh fruit.
Nutella was definitely a staple for breakfast growing up,
so this felt like a trip down memory lane.
And I was pleasantly surprised at how simple
and delicious this vegan Nutella was,
but also how easy it was
to incorporate whole food ingredients.
- [Venetia] For breakfast, I made kerasi,
which is like a cherry preserves
and put it on top of yogurt.
Here I'm just emptying some regular Forager vegan yogurt,
and trying to Greekify it by thickening it up.
You can put paper towels on top,
put it in the fridge overnight, that thickens it.
I'm gonna start the kerasi process.
I put some cherry, sugar,
water, lemon juice.
Bring that to a rapid boil.
You'll see it kind of boil up here.
Now a perfectionist would skim the foam off the top here.
I've never had anything in my life and thought,
"Wow, they really didn't skim the foam off this."
So I'm not going to do that.
I'm testing to make sure that the sauce
is thick enough here.
You can go ahead and plate it.
Yummy.
Some cinnamon, some walnuts.
Delicious.
Eating yogurt on camera, very awkward,
but very delicious.
- [Tiffany] For lunch,
I made veggie chow mein or stir fry noodles.
In a small bowl, add some dark soy sauce,
regular soy sauce, maple syrup,
and Sesame oil.
Whisk it and set it aside for later.
Next, you're gonna heat up some oil in a pan,
and add in some onions and garlic.
When it's cooked down a bit,
add some shiitake mushrooms and saute until slightly brown.
Add some carrots.
And continue to saute.
And add some bok choy.
This dish is super forgiving,
so you can really use any variety of veggies
you have on hand and it'll still turn out super tasty.
Once everything is fully cooked,
I added in some chow mein noodles, the sauce mixture,
and stirred it all together until fully combined.
Since this is a pretty simple dish,
I love going in on my toppings.
I added some beans sprouts, green onions,
crushed peanuts, and of course chili oil for that kick.
Such a versatile, delicious classic Chinese dish
that I always love coming back to.
- [Brittani] For lunch, I made macco di fave,
made with dry fava beans and wild fennel.
I started off by combining my dried fava beans with water
in a large stockpot, along with a whole peeled onion,
some carrots, celery stalks,
and some fennel fronds.
I brought that to a boil over medium high heat
and gave it a good stir.
And covered the pot, reduced the heat,
and let it simmer for a few hours
or until the beans were tender.
Next, I removed the onion, celery stalks,
and added in some freshly chopped and sauteed garlic.
I then used an immersion blender to puree the fava beans,
carrots, fennel fronds and garlic,
until it became smooth and creamy.
I chose not to remove the carrots as I find they tend
to add a nice flavor and some subtle sweetness.
I enjoy this lightly topped with some fennel fronds
and served alongside a crispy piece of bread.
- [Venetia] For lunch, I made gigantes,
which is a baked bean dish.
Put in some canned butter beans, some fresh tomatoes,
red onion, dill,
pepper, salt.
Give it a good mix.
I love looking at all the colors here.
It's so pretty.
Put in some canned tomato sauce,
that helps bring it all together.
Water, garlic,
olive oil and a bay leaf,
and some tomato paste for good measure.
Give it another mix.
I love that this dish is already vegan in its original form.
Pop it in the oven for an hour.
And viola, vegan tzatziki is very easy to make.
Give it a try.
And sop it all up with some crusty bread.
Delicious.
- [Tiffany] For dinner,
I made orange glazed tofu and mushrooms over rice.
To start, you're gonna break apart a block of firm tofu.
I highly recommend freezing and thawing your tofu
to get a meatier texture.
I'm using shimeji here,
but if you can't get your hands on it,
I highly recommend lion's mane in this recipe,
as it replicates the fatty part of meat super well.
Add in some corn starch and five spice powder.
And mix it together until fully coated.
Here we're going to shallow fry this,
so heat up some oil in a pan.
And make sure that it's hot
before adding the tofu and mushrooms.
If you're not super keen on frying,
you can definitely bake this in the oven or air fryer.
Let at each side crisp up before turning.
Drain out any excess oil and then add in some garlic.
For the sauce, we're gonna combine the juice of an orange,
maple syrup, soy sauce and rice vinegar.
Pour over the tofu and mushrooms.
Cook down the sauce until it gets nice and thick and glossy.
And then you're gonna add in some sesame seeds.
And serve it over rice.
I feel like what makes or breaks the dish
is the textures and flavors.
By taking plant-based alternatives and preparing them
in the exact same way, you're really able to achieve
that same burst of flavor while choosing something better
for your body, the environment and the animals.
- [Brittani] For dinner, I made pasta alla norma.
I started off by sauteing some freshly chopped garlic
and oregano in a large stockpot with some vegetable broth,
making sure to stir frequently.
I like to saute in vegetable broth,
as I find it tends to add flavor,
while also pack some nutrients.
I added in my chopped eggplant and stirred to combine.
Then continued sauteing the eggplant
until it softened and browned.
Next, I added in my chopped tomatoes,
and stirred to combine with my chopped eggplant.
I typically use fresh Roma tomatoes to spice it up a bit.
I added some salt, pepper and hot chili flakes,
gave it another good stir and let it saute some more.
Lastly, I added my cooked pasta and stirred to combine
with my chopped eggplant, tomatoes,
and other delicious ingredients.
I enjoy this topped with fresh basil leaves
and dry roasted pine nuts.
My Nonna and her family also ate this dish often
and others like it.
- [Venetia] For dinner, I made spanakopita.
We're gonna start with the vegan ricotta.
Put in some pressed, extra firm tofu, vegan cream cheese,
lemon juice, salt, pepper.
Give it a good mix.
Then we're gonna start on the filling.
You can thaw some frozen spinach.
And put in two blocks of vegan feta cheese.
Don't skimp on the feta, it's the best part.
Put in your vegan ricotta, some sauteed leek,
green onions, dill,
celery leaves, mint,
Italian parsley, some olive oil,
and give it a good mix.
Salt.
Pepper.
Yeah, go ahead and mix it with your hands.
It's messy, but that's the only way to do it.
Here I'm kinda preparing my vegan eggs,
just to kind of combine everything together.
You can use the Follow Your Heart brand, I like that one,
but really probably any brand is fine.
Give it another mix.
And set it aside.
We're gonna start on the filo.
Don't be intimidated.
You're gonna go ahead and butter the base
and then put in your first layer of filo.
And you just kinda keep repeating this
until you've used up half the package.
Go ahead and put in your filling.
And just kinda smooth it over to make sure it's all even
and you don't have any lumps.
Now put in the other half of the filo container.
And go ahead and butter each layer again.
Now you can kind of go ahead and fold in the edges.
Give it another little layer of butter on top.
You can put it in the oven for about an hour
until it's golden brown.
Just be checking it.
We would have spanakopita at every family holiday.
Spanakopita, delicious.
(gentle music)