• i make a vegetarian (but not vegan) gnocchi with sundried tomatoes and spinach and a sauce made from tomato paste and cream. so easy and so tasty.
• japanese curry is so easy too. carrots, onion, potato, capsicum, and mushrooms all in a pot cooking until soft, then you add vege stock and golden curry mix in and the whole dish makes itself. serve with rice!
• stews and soups are always good too, especially when packed with lots of lentis. you just prep all the ingredients and chuck them in to cook themselves.
• vegetarian nachos, just make a bean / lentil based chili!
• not vegan but shakshouka is also great too because it's heavy on the protein. essentially just onion, capsicum, lots of diced tomatoes, which you then crack about 6 eggs into to cook.
• i went a long time not eating imitation meat, but you can get some really delicious fake sausages and burger patties, both of which you can just cook up and chuck in a bun with a few more ingredients.
• there are lots of delicious and varied ways to make tofu dishes. my friend made me a marinated tofu sandwich once and it blew my mind.
good luck! confidence comes with practice. just stick to a simple list of dishes until you feel more comfortable, then you can look to branching out more. make things that you know you love to eat, or that you feel inspired to cook, so that you start to associate cooking with a reward or a treat. and have fun!
