Vegan meal prep ahead ideas

[EAL]

Hey all.

I know a lot of people here are not vegan but I know many of you eat less meat due to the expense.  I am vegan and have an easy time making great meals at home but not necessarily things that re-heat well or save easily.  I have a few go-to meals but am trying to expand my horizons.  What are some great ideas for meals I can prep a few days in advance and pack for work for lunches or nights I'm working late at my other job? I would love suggestions and your guys' go-tos.  Thanks!

[Choices]

Yum!
Black beans with sauteed bell peppers and salsa.
Hummus and veggies.
Trail mix of nuts and dehydrated fruit.

Rice or pasta and veggies with a honey mustard or mustard vinaigrette sauce.
Sometimes I eat oatmeal for lunch or dinner. Microwave it for a few minutes with cubed apples, cinnamon, and water.
This bread is also delicious and very filling. http://www.mynewroots.org/site/2013/02/the-life-changing-loaf-of-bread/
I also put chopped nuts on a lot of veggie casseroles to add a little protein and texture without an overwhelming flavor.

[Catbert]

 Roast a big batch of mixed veggies.  These can be used as a main ingredient in lots of meals: 

Pizza toppings
add to a basic marinara sauce for pasta
make a salad a meal
veggie sandwich
veggie chili
side dish to anything

[Zikoris]

One of my favourite lunch options is to make up a big batch of tortillas and chili and just bring a burrito set each day, assembled at work.

My other favourite lunch is calzones - I make a batch of pizza dough, use 1/3 of it for a nice deep dish pizza, and the rest to make about eight calzones. My favourite filling is pesto sauce, vegan chicken, potatoes, broccoli, zucchini, and red or green peppers. I throw a bit of paprika in as well. These have the bonus of being really easy to eat as well.

[GuitarStv]

This slightly spicy vegan peanut thai curry can be made in large batches, freezes/reheats really well (just the sauce, make fresh rice), and is filling:  http://cookieandkate.com/2013/spicy-thai-peanut-sauce-over-roasted-sweet-potatoes-and-rice/

[Lnspilot]

Lately I've been getting my ideas from The Cheap Lazy Vegan, and Oh She Glows.

And I second Cooke and Kate; she has a great website, too.

[GreenSheep]

I freeze just about anything and everything! Most things freeze well, even though they might not have that crispy edge anymore -- but in general the flavor is still fine. I like the idea of roasting some vegetables and keeping them on hand, either in the fridge or the freezer. Even just having some leftover chopped veggies in the freezer can speed things along. (I am actually eating a bowl of roasted veggies (with miso, rice vinegar, and smoked paprika on them) as I type this.)

Another nice thing to have on hand is a cooked sweet potato or two. You can just slice one open, scoop out the guts, mash them, mix in whatever you want (I recently tried a recipe that had you add pineapple, coconut milk, cinnamon, and walnuts -- yum!), then place it all back in the skin and eat. Super fast if the potato is already cooked.

Banana "nice cream" is a guilt-free sweet treat, maybe for a snack at work if you have a freezer.

Yes, Oh She Glows is fantastic. Veganricha.com is also excellent, especially for her Indian food. I also pull some vegan things from mynewroots.org (also mentioned above) and halfbakedharvest.com (not a whole lot of vegan food, but the things that are vegan or can be veganized are very good -- try her spicy southwest quinoa bowl!). I also love straightupfood.com and thevegan8.com. Real food, not terribly complicated. I think people (not you, necessarily, but people in general) have this idea that vegan food has to be complicated. It really doesn't!

I'm not a huge salad eater (I realize how odd this sounds, as most people think vegans live on lettuce), but I've seen some very nice make-ahead salads that are layered into a jar with the dressing on the bottom. I do make a kale salad with Chef AJ's Hail to the Kale dressing (easily found via Google, though I don't see a link to Chef AJ's official website). That will last for a couple of days in the fridge without wilting.

I travel for work, for about 6 days at a time, so I take my frozen meals with me. You can take them in your carryon as long as they're completely frozen. Or you can take them to work and let them defrost by lunchtime, then warm in the microwave.

Overnight oats are also an easy breakfast option, for home or work or travel. And obviously smoothies are easy to make at home and take with you for a mid-morning snack at work.

[Beardog]

Spicy peanut sauce goes great on pasta and/or veggies and lasts a long time in the frig.  Something like this:

http://www.chowhound.com/recipes/peanut-sauce-10658

For super easy lunches, you can cook a batch of brown rice or other grains like quinoa in advance and top it with a frozen vegetable mix and good quality olive oil or some seasoning that you like.  I pack up a whole bunch of containers with the grain and just toss the veggies in on the day that I plan to eat it.

There are prepared curry sauces that you can buy in small cans from the international food section of your market (or sometimes in pouches or packets), or small Asian or Indian groceries if you have access to these.  These sauces can be added to a can of beans and veggies like onion, garlic, sweet potato, greens, etc.  There are also South American sauces that can be added similarly to beans.

If you like pancakes or waffles, these can be made quickly from scratch without eggs or cow's milk and can provide a nice change in pace.

One of my favorite treats is whole grain toast with slices of avocado.

Hope that helps!

[Kitsune]

Tofu curry with vegetables freezes really well, either in a pot for re-heating for a full dinner or in individual portions on rice. I use Mark Bittman's recipe, but I imagine the logic transfers to whatever recipe you prefer!

Chili freezes in single-sized portions quite well. So does soup, as long as there are no chunks of potato or pasta - those go funky in minestrone if you freeze it. Rice-and-veggie soup works well, as does squash cream soup, pumpkin and coconut cream soup, broccoli or zucchini cream soup (no actual cream in any of these, just a bit of potato or rice for thickener and the appropriate use of a stick blender!)

I've made a really excellent lentil-and-veggie 'shephard's pie', topped with mashed potatoes, and just frozen that in bake-able containers. Super tasty, super convenient on nights where I got home and couldn't face making dinner. Just stick in the oven for 1.5 hours, and done.

I highly recommend making huge batches and freezing portion sizes - means you never have an excuse to not bring lunch/dinner, because you always have a quick tasty microwave-able option!

In the fridge: hummus, veggies, smoothie ingredients, etc.

(also, because this makes me think of another thread: note that all these options are affordable, vegan, AND gluten-free. Woot!)

[GreenSheep]

Two people have mentioned pancakes now, so I wanted to add my recently-discovered pancake tip. There is no need to stand over a hot stove for half an hour cooking 3 pancakes at a time. Pour the batter into roundish puddles on parchment-lined cookie sheets and pop them in the oven. Cooking time will vary, but try starting with 5-10 minute per side (don't bother flipping if they're too fragile to flip) at 400 degrees. They won't get that browned look like the ones you do on the stovetop, but they taste equally good for a lot less effort.

Then, as mentioned above, you can freeze them. I put them in a big Ziplock bag with a sheet of parchment paper between them. (Tortillas, by the way, can also be frozen this way.)