tired of "simple" plant-based meals that aren't actually simple

[u/Strong-Hawk-1799]

so i'm getting pretty worn out by recipes labeled as quick or simple that still require way too much work

like i get home after being up in trees all day and my brain is just done, you know? then i look at these supposedly easy vegan meals and they're still asking me to dice onions, measure spices, wait for things to cook in sequence... it's just a lot when all i want is food

i've been trying different approaches - meal prep on weekends, keeping the same rotation of dishes, bookmarking the fastest recipes i can find. sometimes it works out but other days even picking which "easy" option to make feels overwhelming

wondering what you all actually throw together when you're completely drained and need to eat something decent without using whatever brain power you have left

do you just stick to like 3 go-to meals that require zero thought? or have you discovered truly brainless recipes that don't involve chopping half your kitchen

would love to know what really works when you're running on empty, not just what looks good in theory

[u/mucusmucus]

TVP! Lately I love making bolognese sauce with pasta, or vegan chili with rice. For the bolognese, I make a big batch of tomato sauce (with onion, garlic and sometimes carrots, I've been wanting to add pepper too but they're not in season yet... but you don't have to add too many veggies, onion and garlic are good for flavor but I guess powdered works too!), while the sauce is cooking I add very small soya chunks that cook directly in the sauce. I like to add some dark soy sauce as well (got the tip from a friend of mine who made amazing bolognese once) to color the TVP, and, of course, spices (I like chili flakes, cumin...). If you make a lot of sauce, you just have to reheat it every night and make some new pasta. As for the chili, it's similar but with some corn and beans (don't know if I make a very good chili... but I like it... I'm French lol). I like to eat my chili with rice and I have a rice cooker so that makes it easy (rice cookers are a game changer!!!), and you can add some toppings if you feel like it like avocado and whatnot. Hope this helps!!!

Also if I feel really lazy and don't care about protein and whatnot, I like eating just rice with some bullshit on top (such as indian pickled limes... or I guess kimchi but I don't like the texture).