Sometimes people complain that vegans are a pain in the ass to cook for, but it ain't so. I have a good tip, developed from cooking for vegans at Mudcat Gatherings.


We offer two crockpots for Friday night arrivals. I start with ONE pot, making a very rich vegetable stock first. Sometimes I have it on hand already, frozen. Next I add the solid veg matter, add basic herbs, and let it cook just a bit. Anything fozen is nuked first so it goes in warm.

Once the flavors have begun to blend, I divide all that in half, putting half in the meateaters' crockpot. To each pot I now add the protein.

For vegans this will be pre-cooked beans or lentils, usually a mix of several varieties. Tofu also sometimes goes in, stir-fried first to add flavor and solidify the texture a bit. Seasonings are corrected/added.

The meateaters' pot gets cubed, pre-cooked meat. (I keep a couple of pounds of leftover roast meat in the freezer, so it's just thaw and cube and toss in.) Seasonings are corrected/added.

I top these off with added liquid if needed. V-8 or canned tomato sauce for the vegan pot, milk or canned broth for the other. Seasonings are again corrected. No salt-- people have to add it if they want it.

As the first arrrivals come in, I start the rice or couscous pot. We lay out all this with serving spoons, plus optional grated/cubed cheese and the bread and beverages that arrivals always bring, also wedges of lemon and bottles of hot sauce... a cutting board and serrated knife... I leave the glassware cabinet door open just above the food. I set out the full dishwasher-basket of clean silverware, napkins, a stack of our metal prison trays, as well as all the bowls we have.

It's not that hard to include vegans in large-scale cooking. I can do all this in about an hour, if I start with a clean kitchen and the freezer is well stocked. Before going to bed, I combine the two crocks' leftover contents and any leftover rice, and save it for the post-Gathering days when I don't feel like cooking for us.

~Susan