Vegan Cooking Tips
Vegan Ground Round
Fast, warm, and comforting entrées are always welcome but especially during the winter. To rustle these up, select a veggie ground round product you like or a neutral-flavored veggie burger. If you have selected a veggie burger, you will be crumbling it before beginning to cook it.
There are basic "flavors" that you can prepare with your ground round. You can then incorporate them into a dish, or cool and freeze them for later use.
The chart below shows some basic flavor blends that you can sauté before adding your vegan ground round or crumbled veggie burger selection.
To begin, preheat a sauté pan or frying pan and spray with vegetable oil. Once the vegetables in your mix are soft, you'll add your veggie ground round, sauté, and stir until the mixture is heated. If you need to add some liquid to prevent sticking, you can use either vegetable broth or tomato juice, depending on the flavor you would like.
Once you have your "flavor mixture," you can combine with cooked pasta, potatoes, rice, barley, or other grains of your choice and serve as a fast, hot entrée. The chart features some ideas for each flavor combo.
If you have more time, you can layer your flavor mix with cooked pasta, rice, cooked diced potatoes, or cooked grains; some additional vegetables (such as grilled eggplant or zucchini, sliced cooked mushrooms, or diced mixed vegetables); and a sprinkle of shredded vegan cheese. Then, bake as a bubbly casserole.
Veggie Ground Round Products
- Boca Ground Crumbles
- Lightlife Smart Ground Original and Smart Ground Taco and Burrito
- Morningstar Farms Ground Meatless Crumbles
- Yves The Good Ground Round Original and Mexican
| 'Flavor blend' | Vegetables and Spices | Combine With or Serve Over |
| Southwestern/Central American | Diced onions, bell peppers, or your choice of chilies (depending on the heat you like), diced and drained canned tomatoes, and cut corn | Steamed hominy, crumbled cornbread, steamed rice, soft or crisp tortillas, or steamed quinoa |
| Cuban | Onions, bell peppers, a hint of cumin, a hint of garlic, a hint of cinnamon, and raisins | Steamed white or brown rice or fideo (thin, short pasta that resembles angel hair) |
| Lebanese/Middle Eastern | Onions, garlic, mint, and cinnamon | Steamed rice, traditional or toasted couscous, bulgur, or shredded pita or lavash bread |
| Mediterranean | Minced garlic, onions, oregano, basil, diced mushrooms, and drained and diced tomatoes | Your choice of 'short' pasta (such as rotini or small shells), steamed greens, or toasted, sliced Italian bread |
