I am running across more blogs that are being written by cooks for households of varied and divided diets- some vegan, some carnivore, some gluten-free, and some a little of everything omitting and including based on personal ethics and health decisions.  I think it is great that everyone is becoming more respectful of one another in this aspect. I remember when myself and other vegetarians I know were younger, a very popular excuse for our parents pushing meat-laden diets was a refusal to “prepare a special/extra meal”…. there really is no need for this and if you are reading this thinking you have to cook two separate dishes every night to support a vegan and a meat-eating diet, keep reading- Imma show you how to do it hassle-free!

For this I am using a stir-fry I made with my husband one night for dinner. I buy meat for his meals in very small portions, and he is very picky about distributors and if it is grass-fed or local (we probably watch too many documentaries..I have ranted here before lol) but usually enough to separate over a few meals. it will be cooked either in a separate pan or at the very end of the components. (we are using stainless steel and I have known some vegans to be picky about the pans even when they are not in use, but I just clean mine between meat and veg.)

We used:

***optional*** for meat-eaters- 4-6 oz any lean meat(cook separate- see below, we used some grass-fed beef)

fresh rice noodles- about $1.50 from our discount grocer (also at asian markets) 

1 key lime - from an 8/$1 special :)

veggies of your choice (we had mushrooms and onions on hand, not the best combination for these spices but easy! suggested would be bok choy or napa cabbage, bell pepper,daikon, carrots, broccoli, bean sprouts)

some peanut butter-  about $2, about ½ cup used

garlic (powder or minced or fresh, we used minced)

rice vinegar- was $5 when i got it, it was already in pantry- you only need 1 tblsp

about 1 tblsp of sugar (vegan) or agave syrup

*these bottom 4 ingredients combine to form your peanut sauce for noodles. easy peazy.

prepare your peanut sauce- this is one component of dish- good for dipping any of the veg or meat into, and excellent on the noodles. 

in a large pan, heat a little plant-based oil. stir-fry chopped veggies over medium heat, seasoning with soy sauces or vegetarian stir-fry sauces as you like. when these are done, set aside and cover- this is one component of your dish.

you can then cook the meat in this pan if you want to keep things tidy, or another if you are picky like that ;) season however you like or add any sauces that were off-limits to the veg (like oyster sauce). this is that component. you can plate it over the veg or rice noodles at the end of cooking.

for the rice noodles, prepare according to package, but is essentially adding them to hot water for a few seconds- you are then able to add these components together as you like to form vegan and conventional dishes! Happy Nomz to all.

pics of both.

with meat (sorry…this is for the experiement that is this blog!)

and the vegan version…

you can pour the sauce over the noodles and it tastes like pad thai….