Vegan and Vegetarian Recipes

I had a negative comment on my magnum opus, my regularly updated blog post about Best Places to Eat Near I-95 between Washington, DC and Miami, and on to Key West. It’s been my most enduring and popular blog post, with well over 10,000 views. The negative comment was that I didn’t list any vegan or vegetarian restaurants. I responded that on that I-95 runs through rural areas south of DC, with the exception of Richmond until you get to Jacksonville. You don’t get a lot of vegan places in the rural South.

You can get vegetables at most of the places, and my reviews often feature them, especially collard greens, green beans, butter beans, and the ubiquitous slaw. But the vegetables aren’t vegetarian. They’re flavored with side meat, or should be. I’ve examined issues for vegetarians in barbecue places, and the results were pretty dismal. Vegetarians are little better off in vegetable-centric Meat and Threes, the other main type of local restaurants near I-95.

I have posted and re-posted on a barbecue place with a separate vegan menu and kitchen, BBQ4Life, and gave it a great review. You should try it if you’re near there. And I’ve made a point of posting recipes that are or, with minor modifications, such as butter and egg substitutes, can be vegan or vegetarian. Here are a few.

VEGAN

Let’s start with a summer favorite, Gazpacho.

Here’s an excellent Curried Chick Peas recipe complete with video by Max McMullen Clark, the young British chef. The curry is very good and you can adapt itfor other vegetables and legumes.

And speaking of chick peas, my recipe for Hummus is always a hit.

I’ve posted a recipe for Kale in a genuinely flavorful form. No, really. And the technique can be used for most vegetables, sometimes after blanching.

And a recipe for Salsa that you can use even in the winter.

OTHER VEGETARIAN

This Bourbon Sweet Potato dish is a must for Thanksgiving, and can be vegan with your favorite substitute for butter.

This sensational Coconut Cake recipe, my favorite cake recipe of all time, could be vegan with a substitute for condensed milk.

This is a great Pound Cake recipe.

Here’s Nancy’s Potato Salad recipe, which would require your mayonnaise substitute and skipping the four hard-boiled eggs.

I use this method for Grilled Asparagus all the time. (There’s also an asparagus with eggs recipe, but you can ignore that.)

I love the classic way to make Pimiento Cheese.

For those of you unconcerned about eggs, here’s a very special (to me) recipe for Sopa de Ajo.

The opportunities expand, of course, for lacto-ovo-fisho vegetarians, with recipes such as those for salmon and crab cakes. For those of you who only avoid red meat, I also have recipes for fried chicken and, from the Middle East, chicken with Cheetos. I’ll be on the lookout for other possibilities. Meanwhile, I welcome your suggestions both of restaurants, especially non-chain places within 15 minutes of I-95 in Southside Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia, and recipes that don’t include substitutes.

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