5 cheap vegan meal ideas to 'bring' to school/work!

Hey guys!!

If you haven't seen already, I posted a video on my instagram showing you 5 easy, cheap, vegan and gluten free meal ideas to bring to school/work. I know that with today's climate most of us are not going into work or school, but we still have to take a break in the day to eat. So why not eat something that's easy to make, and is great brain food to keep you sustained? These meals can also be made in advance as meal prep!

I use chickpeas a lot as my preferred protein but you can use any bean/legumes such as lentils, black beans, kidney beans and so on. I had a lot of cans in my pantry, but I would usually bulk buy the beans dry and let them sit in water 3-4 hours before using as a cheaper alternative!

Some ingredients like cashews and jackfruit might seem more expensive, and they are compared the rest, but I bulk buy the cashews to be used for many recipes and a can of jackfruit will be used for around 3 meals. As the jackfruit is used for a recipe that can make around 7 flatbreads which is around 2 meals for me, the jackfruit comes to be around 50p per serving. Really recommend bulk buying as it can save you money in the long run!

Here are all the ingredients and methods!

1. Protein salad in a mason jar

Ingredients: makes for 2

• handful of green such as spinach or kale or both

• 90g quinoa

• 50g chickpeas (or any form of protein such as lentils, beans or tofu and tempeh although more expensive)

• 25g vegetable in season such as fennel

• 1 spring onion diced

• 1 tbs sauerkraut (optional, I have a highlight on my instagram on how to make this at home)

For the dressing:

• 1tbs tahini

• 1tbs oil

• 1tbs vinegar

• 1tsp syrup (maple, agave, etc)

• salt

• pepper

• 2tbs lemon juice

• 1tsp - 2tsp water

Method:

1. boil 230ml of water and add the quinoa - cook for around 15-20 mins

2. if you chose to use fennel, wash and cut into slices

3. preheat oven to 180C

4. on a baking tray place the fennel and coat with oil, salt, pepper and desired spices

5. cook for 20-25 minutes

6. if you chose to roast other vegetables, this method works as well, simply check the cooking time frequently

7. if you use other vegetables that need to be cooked on the hob, do so now

8. clean your fresh greens and chop

9. make your dressing by adding all ingredients and mixing

10. run your quinoa through a colander and let cool

11. place your greens into the jar

12. add your quinoa

13. add your chickpeas

14. add your seasonal veg

15. add your spring onion

16. add your sauerkraut

17. add your dressing and voila!

2. Zucchini balls with cashew cheese dip

Ingredients: makes 10-11

• 200g shredded zucchini

• 90g quinoa

• pinch of salt

• 2 tbs chia seeds (as chia seeds can be on the pricier side especially if not bought in bulk, you can skip this option and add some oil)

• 4tbs water

• 1 spring onion

• 2 gloves garlic

• 60g gluten free flour

Cashew dip:

• 50g cashews

• 1/2 lemon juice

• pinch of salt and pepper

• water

Method:

1. Cook the quinoa for around 20 minutes

2. Add the flour, salt, chia seeds, garlic, spring onion, herbs and zucchini to a bowl

3. Once the quinoa has cooled a bit add to the bowl with the water

4. Start to gradually mix in all ingredients, adding more water if needed

5. Place some flour in your hand and roll 1tbs worth of mixture into a ball shape - do this until mixture is finished (should make around 10)

6. Add some oil to a pan and wait until heated up

7. Place 2-3 balls into the pan and cook on each side for around 2 minutes - flattening them a bit for a more even cook

8. As they are cooking, start on the dip by adding the cashews, lemon, salt, pepper and water to a blender

9. Blend until the consistency you like

10. Enjoy by dipping the zucchini balls into the 'cheese' dip!

Before heating them up the next day, I had one cold (I was v hungry), and I promise you it was even better! All the ingredients had really come out and the spices were just perfect! I ended up having some with the dip and chopping some up for a pasta salad.

3. Zoodle Ramen in a Jar

Ingredients: makes 2

• 2 zucchini

• 1 medium sized carrots shredded

• 1tsp fresh ginger grated

• salt, peppers and herbs/spices of choice

• spring onion

• black chickpeas (or any protein of choice)

• spinach/kale

• veg stock

Method:

1. Cut your zucchini intro strips with either a knife, grater or a zoodle cutter

2. Add the veg broth cube or powder to a mason jar

3. Add in the ginger and spring onion (only add the spring onion if your stomach is not sensitive to raw onions)

4. Add in the zoodles, carrots, black chickpeas and kale

5. Add in salt, pepper and herbs of choice

6. When ready to eat, add hot water to the mason jar and enjoy directly or place into a bowl

7. The mason jar without water can be stored in the fridge for a few days, perfect meal prep!

4. Sweet Potatoe muffins

Ingredients: makes 10

• 1 muffin tray

• 150g diced sweet potatoe

• 20g mixed nuts (optional - more expensive by a bit)

• 240g gluten free flour

• 40g chia seeds

• 1tbsp baking powder

• pinch of salt

• 50ml oil + some for the tray and the sweet potatoes

• 60ml vegan milk of choice

• 1tbs mustard (optional)

• handful of spinach or a green you can find

• 1 carrot grated

• 2 spring onions

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200C

2. Place the sweet potatoe in a tray with some oil, salt, pepper and herbs of choice

3. Place in the oven to cook

4. Add the flour, chia seeds, baking powder and salt to a bowl and mix together

5. Add the oil gradually while mixing in, and re-peat with the milk

6. Add a tbs of mustard (optional)

7. Take out the sweet potatoe and reduce heat to 160C

8. Add the carrots, chickpeas, kale and sweet potatoe

9. Add the spring onion and herbs of choice and mix all together

10. Coat the muffin tin with oil or butter and place mixture in

11. Cook for around 30-40 minutes

12. Can enjoy alone with a vinaigrette, tahini dressing or the cashew 'cheese' dip!

5. Chickpea flatbread with hummus and roasted veg

This recipe has more steps to it, but they can all be done in advance to meal prep the ingredients to be assembled when needed :)

Ingredients: makes 6-7 flatbreads

Flatbread:

• 142g chickpea flour (you can also use an other GF flour but measurements might differ so check!)

• 1 tsp salt

• pepper

• 240ml of cold water

• 2 tbs olive oil + for skillet

Lemon Hummus:

• 1/2 lemon juice

• 1 can chickpeas (keep the water)

• 1 garlic clove

• mixed herbs

• 1tbs tahini

Fillings:

• salad greens

• 1/3 can of jackfruit

• 1 spring onion

• 1/2 can chickpeas

• 1 red belled pepper cut intro strips

• 1 parsnip cut intro strips

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C

2. Place the belled pepper, parsnip and chickpeas into a oven tray

3. Add oil, salt and pepper and mix, then place into oven for around 30 mins

4. Add a can of chickpeas, lemon, garlic, salt, pepper and 1/2 the fava water (from the chickpea can) into a blender

5. Blend until smooth and place in fridge to store

6. Place the spring onion in a heated pan with some oil

7. Add the jackfruit, tahini, paprika and mixed herbs and stir (to make this really taste like pulled pork you can add barbecue sauce, just more expensive)

8. Once cooked through place to the side or store if making this before hand as a meal prep

9. Add flour, salt, pepper, oil and water to a bowl and mix - adding water gradually and to reach a smooth consistency

10. Add flour to a clean surface

11. Create a ball like shape with 1-2 tbs of the dough and place on the surface to flatten down (if you have a rolling pin you can use it)

12. Heat up a pan and place one of the flatbreads

13. Cook evenly on each side for around 3 minutes, or to the crispiness you prefer

14. Cut up any fresh greens you may have such as salad or cucumber (best to buy fresh and organic from the farmers market as it is cheap, better for you and good for the environment and the local community! If you don't have a local market, check online for business that sell 'ugly' veg boxes or veg boxes in general)

15. Once all ingredients are done you can assemble by placing some hummus in the centre, some roasted veg, jackfruit and the greens

16. Bend the flatbread in half and place in container to take to school/work!

17. You can freeze any excess flatbreads and use whenever, I had mine with vegan chocolate spread and bananas the next morning and it was beautiful!

Hope you get to try these out, let me know if you do and what you thought! As always, thanks for all the support, remember to join the mailing list of my blog and subscribe to my instagram account! If you have any ideas for future blog posts, don't hesitate to message me.

Martina xx