Vegan Essentials

When I was first going vegan I had no idea that there was a whole new world of ingredients and replacements to be explored. The possibilities and options are basically endless.

The following collection represents what has proven to work for me and the way I cook. 

Nutritional Yeast

Bam. The first one is a major one. I love nutritional yeast and here is why. It is extremely versatile: 

• you can use it to thicken sauces and soups
• It adds a nice mustard-y flavour to your food
• You can sprinkle it over your pasta replacing parmesan
• And that's just naming a few!

It also contains a lot of B-vitamins, folic acid and proteins. There is nothing this allrounder can't do. There is even a sweet alternative of it to shake up your baked goods.

Almonds

Everyday's super food. Even though I very rarely - if ever- use them as an ingredient, you can never go wrong with having almonds in your kitchen. Recent studies have shown that they can help prevent Diabetes and are good for your bones. 

Got almonds?

Chia Seeds

I know, I know. Chia Seeds are HUGE at the moment, but they deserve every bit of it! 

• They contain a lot of calcium. And by a lot I mean a LOT. Forget everything you know about milk. The calcium found in Chia seeds excels the calcium found in milk five times.
• They never expire. They just don't. You can easily store them four/five years 
• They contain more iron than spinach does (even though we all know that spinach does in fact not contain as much iron as its reputation might suggest)

Let's just say that Chia seeds are superior to pretty much anything edible.

non-dairy milk

This one is kind of obvious. It's just never wrong to have a carton of almond or rice milk in your fridge. You'll have to figure out what works best with your preferences. In my case it's almond milk, coconut milk and a classic soy milk.

I just love the options you get from purchasing non-dairy milk. There is always a different flavour depending on which kind you chose. It just never gets boring.

Coconut Oil

There is no excuse for not having coconut oil in your life. Have you ever google'd it? There if NOTHING it can't do.

• It's an amazing conditioner or hair mask - just massage it into your hair and let it set for a couple of minutes before rinsing it out
• It also works as an leave-in conditioner. Just make sure not to put it anywhere except your ends. Otherwise your hair will look greasy
• You can use it as body lotion. It's true. And you'll end up smelling A-M-A-Z-I-N-G
• There's a lot of b-vitamins and amino acids in there
• It's just really good for you

Flax seeds

ah yes. Good old flax seeds. The main reason it put them in this post is because they're my favourite egg replacement. Just mix a couple of tea spoons of ground flax seeds with the same amount of water, give it a stir, et voila. You'll get an egg-white like slimey consistency which will help keeping your ingredients together. Of course there are a lot off known egg-replacer out there, natural or artificial, I just prefer Flax seeds because they are very healthy and beneficial for your digestive organs. 

Kale

Kale is kind of big at the moment. In Germany you don't get fresh kale all year round because it's a winter vegetable. But once the season starts, you can work into anything. I like myself a nice kale-quinoa salad. I might post a recipe another time. It's a great addition to any smoothie and just healthy as hell. Many people are put off because it might taste bitter from time to time, depending on the batch you've grabbed. Additionally, in Germany kale is mainly used for really hearty dishes and a lot of people don't like that cuisine. But give it a try. It deserves every bit of the hype it's getting at the moment.