PCRM’s Easy Vegan Recipes For The 21 Day Vegan Kickstart

It’s Day 2 of PCRM’s 21-day vegan kickstart.  Today’s guest chef  Dilip Barman, a long-time advocate of plant-based nutrition and a Food For Life Instructor with Physicians Committee.  He shows us how to make delicious and sweet ambrosia as well as a ten-minute colorful vegetable stir fry.  Both easy vegan recipes can be made in no time.  let’s see how it’s done…

Let’s Meet Our chef

Dilip Barman has been involved with the plant-based lifestyle for decades. He is President of the Triangle Vegetarian Society @trianglevegsociety in North Carolina where he hosts the country´s largest vegetarian (all vegan) Thanksgiving. Dilip is a Food for Life instructor with the Physicians Committee, whose goal is to improve lives through evidence-based research in food and nutrition.

Dilip is the Executive Producer of the documentary film, Code Blue that shows how lifestyle choices can profoundly affect health; this film had its international release on May 26, 2020.  Dilip is on advisory boards of the Plant-Based Network and Piedmont Farm Animal Refuge; a “Vegan Information Point” and Speaker Bureau member of the American Vegan Society; and North American representative of the International Vegetarian Union. He has given cooking demonstrations and talks nationally and internationally.

Dilip’s recipes have appeared in a variety of local and international news programs, books, magazines, newspapers, and online. Dilip teaches at a number of local schools, including as the Nutrition Education Director of an elementary and middle school where he created a Healthy Snack Program to provide nutrition education and healthy plant-based food several times per week.

In May 2020,  Dilip helped to found a monthly internet show So Many Cooks in the Kitchen, where a dozen or more whole food plant-based Food for Life instructors go kitchen-to-kitchen sharing nutrition and food preparation tips. The show, as well as a spinoff that began in August 2020, So Many Kids in the Kitchen, has been picked up by the Plant-Based Network.

Dilip writes on plant-based eating and lifestyle for a local online periodical, The Local Reporter and for the Plant-Based Network´s member magazine, and is a features writer for a regional magazine, Saathee, serving the South Asian community of the Southeast (US). Dilip is proud never to have repeated a meal for his wife in over sixteen years of knowing her (since mid-2004); he blogs about his plant-based creations at dilipdinner.blogspot.com. He tweets (about whole food plant-based eating and nutrition, as well as math, which he also teaches, and other topics) at twitter.com/dbarman.

Press inquiries can be directed to Dilip’s email at dilip@trianglevegsociety.org or check out his home page: dilip.info

Dilip Barman.

PCRM Vegan Kickstart Day 2 Recipe 1

The ten-minute stir fry vegetable dish that PCRM suggests for the vegan kickstart is a delicious dish made with all sorts of colorful phytonutrients.  Chef Dilip shows us how to assemble this meal, and shares the vegetables he likes to use in his veggie stir fry.  It is so important to eat the rainbow and get all sorts of colorful food varieties in your meals, and this dish does just that.  It is a quick and easy meal to make with little preparation and is ready to eat in ten-minutes or less if you pre-cook the rice.  So it is the perfect recipe for busy people who have trouble finding the time to cook healthy meals.  Let’s see how it turned out.

The ingredients for PCRM’s ten-minute stir fry.

The plated and ready to eat ten-minute stir fry.

PCRM's Ten Minute Stir Fry Vegetables

Prepare the rice in advance, and you will have this stir-fry ready in about 10 minutes! Top with pre-marinated, baked tofu for an optional protein and calcium boost! This recipe features a variety of different colored vegetables, which are packed with antioxidants that keep you healthy.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course Main Courses, Lunch, Dinner

Cuisine Asian

Servings 3 servings

Calories 532 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 Cup diced bell peppers or carrots Dilip omitted the carrots and used 1 medium bell pepper, roasted directly on gas stovetop
• 1 Cup corn kernels or green peas or a combination of both
• 1/2 Cup sliced green onions or chives; if using chives add at the end of cooking (Dilip used 2 or 3 green onions, sliced)
• 1/2 Cup diced celery Dilip used 2 stalks of celery
• 5 Cups pre-cooked brown rice or quinoa Dilip used 2 cups rice
• 1 Cup diced precooked potatoes; or 1/2 cup more rice Dilip used a medium Japanese purple sweet potato, but any sweet potato is fine
• 1/4-1/3 Cup tamari Dilip used 1 tsp of Tamari
• 1-2 Tbsp water Dilip omitted the water
• sea salt to taste (Dilip omitted the salt)
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 tsp garlic added by Dilip
• 1/2 tsp lemon pepper added by Dilip
• baked tofu (optional) added by Dilip

Instructions

 

• In a large nonstick skillet over high or medium-high heat, combine the bell peppers or carrots, corn or green peas, green onions, and celery, stirring occasionally.
• Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, then add the rice, potatoes (if using), and 1/4 cup of the tamari.
• Cook for another 3 to 4 minutes, stirring a couple of times. Add the water if the mixture is sticking.
• Heat the rice through, and toast it a little in spots, if desired. If using chives, add those and stir. Taste, add the remaining tamari, and season with salt and black pepper if desired.

Notes

Note: Not all soy sauces are gluten-free, so check the label. Tamari is usually safe.

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 532kcalProtein: 14gFiber: 9g

Keyword vegan, nut-free, gluten-free

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

PCRM Vegan Kickstart Day 2 Recipe 2

The PCRM vegan kickstart ambrosia recipe is so beautiful and healthy, full of fruits that will satisfy any sweet tooth, without any added sugar.  Fruits are just as important as vegetables for a healthy diet, so this bowl of fresh fruits will give you a big nutritional boost.  I am a huge fruit fan because fruit satisfies my sweet tooth so that I don’t run and grab the first sugary thing I see in the cupboard.  Let’s take a look at how Dilip’s Ambrosia turned out.

The PCRM Ambrosia ingredients Dilip used.

The plated and ready to eat Ambrosia recipe.

PCRM's Ambrosia Recipe

This fruit-sweetened snack will not only satisfy a sweet tooth but will also provide healthy antioxidants.

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Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Servings 4 servings

Calories 188 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 oranges peeled and chopped
• 2 Cups pineapple chunks Dilip used 1 1/2 c pineapple
• 1 banana sliced (Dilip recommends 1 or 2 bananas)
• 1/4 Cup shredded coconut Dilip uses 1/8 c
• 1/8 Cup dried cranberries Dilip uses 1/4 c and then quartered each cranberry
• 1 Tbsp orange juice concentrate Dilip omits this
• 1/2 tsp almond extract optional (Dilip uses vanilla extract instead)
• 1 Tbsp water

Instructions

 

• Combine the oranges, pineapple, banana, coconut, and cranberries in a medium bowl.
• Combine the orange juice concentrate, water, and optional almond extract in a small bowl.
• Pour over the fruit and toss until evenly distributed.
• Store in a covered container in the refrigerator, leftover ambrosia (without the banana) will keep for up to 2 days.

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 188kcalProtein: 1.8gFiber: 3.9g

Keyword vegan

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

That Ends Day 2 Of PCRM’s Vegan Kickstart

Thanks for joining us for Day 2 of the PCRM vegan kickstart collaboration.  Come back every day through January 21st for new healthy recipes.  And if you are looking for more delicious easy vegan recipes to cook up, we have plenty for you to choose from so be sure to check those out.  Until next time…keep cookin’!

Dilip showing off his two delicious PCRM recipes.