20-Minute Vegan Meals For A Beginner Vegan

♪ I'm cooking in the kitchen, gonna make my wholesome tacos. ♪ What's up everybody? It's your girl, Merle. And it's your girl, Joyce. People are talking, birds are tweeting, they're coming down, they're landing on my shoulder, and people are telling me that you're doing a month-long vegan challenge. I am doing a month-long vegan challenge, and I'm on day three, and I feel really stuck because I'm just going to my crutch of ordering really bougie vegan restaurants. And I mean, the food is really delicious, but if I'm gonna take this journey seriously, I have to ask my favorite expert and learn how to cook some vegan meals. I'm gonna show you three delicious vegan meals that you can make in 20 minutes. Okay. You excited? I'm excited. All right, let's do this. We are gonna make some delicious vegan tacos. You like tacos? I love tacos, you know it's my weakness. Okay, so I'm gonna have you do something real simple. Just toss some of that oil in the pan. Okay. And then this next part is fun, it's satisfying, and it feels good. You're gonna take that tofu and take it in your bare hands and just crumble it up. It feels nice, it's like a stress release. Oh yeah. Ooh, listen to that noise, that's the ASMR that people came for. That's what they came for, baby. This will help to release some of the water from the tofu as well. Okay, so Joyce, what really made you inspired to do this vegan challenge? I really will say that my whole life, I've had a deep, passionate, once in a lifetime love with meat. It was getting to a point where in the pandemic, I learned that meat is definitely the food that I use to get most of my nutrients. And I was having vegetables less and less, which may have caused my digestive system to get a little messed up now that I'm older and I'm not 19 years anymore, and I can't have filet mignon before the club. Like as a Haitian person, being vegan and veganism is something that's really new to our culture, and I wanna try something that is delicious and healthy for me. All right, so you're gonna season this up, all right? We're gonna start with some soy sauce. We have some tomato sauce. I love tomato sauce. We got some chili powder, garlic powder. Mm, I love garlic powder. Mm-hmm, cumin. We got some pepper. This is cayenne. We can put in as much as we want. Okay, and then mix her up. I mean, I'm smelling it already, and I feel like maybe it's because I haven't eaten anything all day. That helps. After I found out that Cheez-Its is not vegan. Heartbreaking, I know. You know, the good news is this is all you have to do. That's amazing. It's very quick, like it's a pretty short recipe. And of course, you can add, subtract, whatever you want to this. This is just like a nice base. If you want nutritional yeast, if you want more heat, whatever you want. Now we're gonna make a delicious, simple little crema. Okay. So we got some vegan mayo, some vegan sour cream. All right, and then we got some chipotle powder. Don't. Garlic powder, lime juice. Ooh, I love lime juice. Same, and then you are gonna pinch some salt in there. One for my haters. Oh, ----. One for my congratulators. And one for a hoe on Tinder. So the nice thing about this chipotle crema is that you're not breaking out a blender, because let's be honest, they're a pain in the butt to clean. And instead of using actual chipotle peppers, we're using a chipotle powder. Let's make some tacos. Oh my God. You can't bite me. Okay, I got excited. All right, so now it's time to assemble. I'm gonna set you free and let you just do this how you want. Okay. You've earned it. So a perfect Joyce taco assembling for me is always putting the sauce at the bottom, because I've always hated when the sauce was only on top and it wasn't evenly distributed through the meat. Now I'm gonna put the taco meat on top of that. I like to put my salad over it. You know, we vegan now. We eat our vegetables, baby. I was gonna say, these are just a vehicle for me to try to get my greens in. Literally. We are going to take some tomatoes. Tomatoes are my favorite part. Just a little bit, because we don't want to overwhelm. Oh, wow. That was a dollop. And then we got our vegan cheese. Ready? Ready. Cheers. We both overstuffed. I know. Whoa. That's really good. I know. Meal prepping tacos, so smart. Or burrito. On to the next. So we're gonna make a creamy one pot tomato pasta. I'm excited. Super simple. Okay, see, you just know. Your instincts are kicking in. Just toss the oil in there. It's olive oil. And then we've got some good old tomato paste. And then garlic. You know I love garlic. For the vampires. Robert Pattinson can never make out with me. Why? Because he's a vampire. Right, right, right. Next ingredient's personalized to you. We're gonna be using onion powder instead of actual onions, because you don't like the texture of onions, right? But you like the flavor. But I love the flavor of onions. It's something I get dragged on by my family constantly. Well, now you have a quick fix. Onion powder. All right, now you're just gonna mix that up. And we're gonna let that cook for about three to five minutes. So this is what bougie people do? Because I would have dumped the tomatoes in there. They're giving them a little space. You just don't want it to be mushy, just skins floating around, you know? Ooh, that crack, that sizzle, that pop. Oh, damn. Another three to five minutes. We're just gonna get these so that they break down a little bit. They release some of their juices. And, you know, the skins get nice and wrinkly. All right, so I got a question for you, Joyce. What have you been cooking since you've embarked on this vegan journey? Macaroni and cheese. Okay. And then just eggs. That's not vegan. That's not vegan? Just eggs is not vegan? Oh, just eggs. I thought you said eggs. Don't you almost give me a heart attack? I think, like, eight bucks for that. Now we're gonna take a little pinch of salt, pinch of pepper. Salt, bae. Salt, bae, who? Literally, Salt J. You, my friend, are hilarious. They call me Pepper Bae. All right, we got some vegetable broth. And then we have some non-dairy milk. And this is almond milk, I believe. Okay. Okay, and then we have the fanciest pasta I've ever seen. I was about to say, look at, what kind of pasta is this? It's Campanella, of course. Campanella. Campanella pasta. We're gonna go ahead and mix that up. We're gonna bring it to a boil. And then we're gonna let that simmer for like 10 minutes. All right, so now you're gonna go ahead and add in some kale because we, again, we're just finding ways to sneakily get more greens. Yes. That tastes good. Now that we have the kale in the pot and it's covered up, we're just gonna let that wilt for a few minutes. Ooh, she's wilted. She's wilted. And now, this is your introduction to nutritional yeast. Joyce, nutritional yeast. Wow. It smells like nothing. But it's got a cheesy flavor to it. Oh, that's why all the girlies love it. Uh-huh. Oh yeah, you're really dousing it. Oh, I can smell that old yeast in the air. That's icky creamy, baby. All right, look at this magnificent feast you have made. Literally, we made this together and I'm so excited to try it. Ready? Yes. Cheers. This is so good. Oh yeah. Do you think you would make this for yourself? And don't worry about my feelings. Tell me the truth. Yeah? I like it because it's creamy, it has that cheesy taste that I'm obsessed with. It's filling. I feel like one bowl of this, I could still take a nap. There you go. And probably poop immediately. And that's important to a girl like me. Bonus points. So we're gonna make a chickpea and broccoli sesame rice bowl. I am so excited for this. We're gonna start off by making some rice. One thing I know how to do is make rice. So as you know, we'll bring it to a boil, then we'll let it simmer, and bada boom, bada bang. That'll take about 20 minutes. We're gonna let that work its magic while we do the rest. Go ahead and add some nice neutral oil to your pan. And then we got the frozen broccoli and some chickpeas. Toss them both in there. We're gonna let those cook until the broccoli's kind of revived back to life. I love that sound. I love a good sizzle, I really do. That is an ASMR moment. So we're gonna let those do their thing. It'll take about 10 minutes or so, and then we'll add in the rest of our seasonings. I do have a question for you though. Oh boy, I'm ready. What was the hardest thing about transitioning to veganism for you? I will say two things. I really used to love a good mozzarella. A mozzarella. I used to, when I was producing Tasty videos, top down, I would sometimes eat an entire ball of mozzarella throughout the shoot. So giving up mozzarella, and then also going out to eat. I feel like it's a little trickier than even vegetarian, because a lot of people think vegetarian and veganism are the same thing. I thought I was really gonna miss stuff, and I wasn't gonna feel a difference, but energy wise, I started to feel a little peppy. I love that. Pepping my step. All right, I feel like she's good. We're gonna do tag team. I love how you use your shirt as mittens all the time. Just in case. Don't do this at home, kids. Use oven mittens. So now, we've got the empty pan. You're gonna put some sesame oil and some garlic in there. We're gonna let those do a little dance for a couple minutes. All right, so I'm gonna add some soy sauce. Ooh. Uh-huh, some rice wine vinegar, some maple syrup, sriracha, and this is a little cornstarch slurry, which is just equal parts water and cornstarch, and that's just gonna thicken this baby up. And then, you're gonna mix that all up. Ooh, I see it thickening. It's gonna simmer down and thicken, and then, we're gonna toss these bad boys in there, and then, we're done. That was literally fast. I know. We're gonna add these people back in. I like this, because this is like a nice takeout vibe, too. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like you're about to watch Sex and the City. You got your glass of fruit wine. Or some sake, and you got some chopsticks. Mm. All right, so you go ahead and assemble your bowl. You got your rice. Mm-hmm. You can add in your chickpeas whenever you want. And your broccoli. And then, we got some nice toppings. Garnishes always make me feel like if you do that in your everyday life, then you're like an actual adult with a high credit score. Yeah, I feel that. Ready to try? Yes. All right, let's do it. Cheers. Cheers. Ooh! We'll deal with that later. All's fair in love and veganism. Girl, this is good. Honestly, I really enjoyed this. The chickpea, the good seasoning, overall, the flavoring, and how quick this recipe is. Yes. Like, this one's a grab-and-go. My number one dish would be the tacos. They were so good. The tofu came with a punch, baby. My second dish would be this, the broccoli and chickpeas. And my third would be the pasta. All of them are good. I'm gonna eat all of this. And even though there's not much leftovers left, I'm still taking it home. I'll give you my bowl. Yay! Do you feel like you're ready to take on the rest of your challenge now? I feel like I'm prepared. And I feel like I got to spend some quality time with my best friend. That's just a little bonus. If you love Joyce as I do, and let's face it, everyone does, you should follow Joyce on her own personal YouTube channel. A Tribe Called Joyce. Yeah. And I am so excited to be going on this journey where I become vegan for 30 days. And it's already day three, and I've already had a lot of ups and downs. So please, when this video comes out, check it out to get the full story. Hell yeah.