Easy Vegan Lunch

One thing I was worried about when I recently became a vegan was that I would have to spend a ton of time prepping and making meals. Previously, I had gotten into a rut where convenience foods like pizza and nachos became my staples, and any time I attempted to eat healthier I would go into extreme meal prep mode. So exhausting! While doing a ton of meal prep at once can make life a lot easier, I was doing it in a way that wasn't sustainable for my day-to-day life.

I've been exploring meal ideas that don't require me to spend hours in the kitchen, but are still vegan, filling, and healthy. I threw together this grilled veggie sandwich this weekend, and it took very little time, but was SO delicious! I hope you love it as much as I did.

Grilled Veggie Sandwich

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 ciabatta bun
• 1/3 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 julienned sweet pepper (I personally like a mix of yellow and orange)
• 1/4 medium zucchini cut into half-moon slices
• 1/2 medium portobello mushroom, sliced
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp oil (I prefer grape seed oil)
• dash of salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 3 tbsp vegan baba ghanoush

1)Add oil and balsamic to a frying pan on medium heat. 

2)Once warm, add vegetables, salt, and pepper.

3)Sauteé until slightly tender, about 10 minutes.

4)Toast ciabatta bun.

5)Spread baba ghanoush thickly on toasted ciabatta. Personally, I really like Sunflower Kitchen because they make theirs vegan (some prepared brands add milk ingredients for some god-awful reason!), but you could always make your own, too! Check this out for an easy recipe.

6)Add sautéed veggie mix to buns. 

Tada!

Pretty easy, right? I love that this took only about 15 minutes to make, start to finish, and was SO filling. See? Delicious, quick, and easy vegan meals DO exist! 

I will be posting a ton more of my easy vegan meal ideas in the future, so feel free to subscribe so you don't miss out!