Honoring Diversity Through Plant-Based Cooking

Food is a universal language that we all speak and understand, with many of our favorite dishes, meals, ingredients, and recipes resulting from years of cultural collaboration and shared experiences.

And that’s why so many of us love food; because cooking and eating together is a way to celebrate diversity — of tradition, of history, of background, of ingredients, of ritual, of technique.

Meatless Monday is an international movement, and we are proud to shine a spotlight on some of the amazing plant-based dishes and recipes being developed by people from all walks of life. Let us honor the diversity and importance of food by paying respect to the diverse group of individuals making plant-based eating accessible and delicious to all.

Tex-Mex Tater Tot Casserole

One of our favorite culinary mashups, Tex-Mex cooking ties together the best of southwest comfort food with Mexican flavors and ingredients. This recipe for Tex-Mex vegan tater tot casserole by Larisha Campbell from Make it Dairy Free, is completely plant-based, using black beans, walnuts, and a homemade vegan cheese sauce to recreate that taco taste and texture.

Source: Make it Dairy Free

Chick’n and Waffles

Comforting soul food’s star is definitely chicken n’ waffles. Thanks to this chick’n and waffles recipe by Jenné Claiborne from Sweet Potato Soul, now plant-based eaters can relive the sweet, savory, crispy, crunchy magic of everyone’s favorite brunch dish.

Source: Sweet Potato Soul

Risotto Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Shitake Bacon

So many universally loved ingredients and flavors come together in this plant-based dish. Sweet Potato Risotto Stuffed Boats by Haile Thomas brings together rich and creamy risotto, hearty sweet potatoes, and topped with savory, umami-packed ‘bacon.’ Finished with vegan cashew crema and dried cranberries, this is a Meatless Monday masterpiece.

Source: Haile Thomas

Spicy Chicken-Fried Cauliflower

The name of this dish is enough to make your mouth water. This recipe for spicy chicken-fried cauliflower from I Can You Can Vegan uses a homemade, plant-based buttermilk as well as a seasoned flour mixture to give these nuggets of cauliflower a decadent, crunchy breading. Serve these up as an appetizer or plate them up with a side salad for a main course.

Source: I Can You Can Vegan

Vegan Crunch Wrap Supreme

The original Crunch Wrap Supreme from Taco Bell is a discus of meat, cheese sauce, tortilla, sour cream, lettuce, and tomato; not exactly Meatless Monday fare. But thankfully, this recipe for a homemade vegan crunch wrap supreme from The Geneus Life captures all the grandeur of the original, while using only plant-based ingredients. Spicy tofu sofritas and cashew queso are a welcomed departure from their fast-food animal-based counterparts.

Source: The Geneus Life

Vegan ‘Cheeze-Its’

One of the ultimate snack foods, the Cheez-It possess a perfectly toasty, cheesy flavor that’s hard to decipher, but easy to recognize. The Ashleys, creators of the blog Eat Figs, Not Pigs, have captured the enigmatic taste of the Cheez-It without using any cheese or dairy at all. Their recipe for vegan “Cheeze-Its”  uses vegan cheese shreds, nutritional yeast, and a diverse array of spices and seasonings.

Source: Eat Figs, Not Pigs

Click here for more Meatless Monday recipes. When posting pictures of recipes to your social media network, tag @MeatlessMonday use #MeatlessMonday to show the plant-based community your creation.