It's not all brown rice and broccoli...

As someone whose primary motivation for being vegan is ethical (and whose past experience with an eating disorder makes me wary of restrictive dietary rules), my cooking is guided first and foremost by the desire to prepare food that tastes good.  It just so happens that the meals that please my taste buds (and, just as importantly, are well-recieved by my body!) tend to be colorful and include (but not always exclusively) plenty of fresh and whole foods.  Here are some highlights from yesterday:

Blueberry Banana French Toast

1/2 banana, sliced
3/4 c non-dairy milk (my current choice is Edensoy Original)
cinnamon
2 slices bread of choice (I used Ezekiel's Sprouted 100% Whole Grain)

Earth Balance Organic Buttery Spread
maple syrup
blueberries
strawberry fruit spread

1. Puree the banana, milk and a dash of cinnamon in a blender.  Pour mixture into a shallow bowl wide enough to fit a slice of bread.
2. Preheat a nonstick skillet on medium heat; lightly grease with oil (regular or spray) or melted Earth Balance spread.
3. Soak one slice of the bread in banana-milk mixture, turning once to fully coat both sides.  
4. Transfer soaked bread to skillet; if there is room for another slice repeat the previous step with the second slice of bread.
5. Allow bread to cook for a minute or two before flipping over with a spatula (you might need to add another light layer of oil in the middle of doing this if not using a non-stick skillet).  Repeat as needed until both sides are lightly browned and a little crispy.
6. Serve with desired toppings (I slathered on some Earth Balance and drowned in maple syrup heated with blueberries and strawberry fruit spread).

Nachos

Before...

I don't think this dish requires much of a recipe beyond the basics:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (note: you could also use the broiler but I'm a scaredy cat about such high heat!).
2. Prep and cook veggies of choice (I sauteed some garlic, red peppers and collard green ribbons in olive oil with sea salt, black pepper, chipotle powder and cayenne).
3. Add desired protein (I used black beans and homemade chipotle sweet potato seitan) and saute until browned/heated through (depending on what you use).
4. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper (this makes it easier to transfer the finished product to a plate).  
5. Arrange tortilla chips on foil and pile on some vegetable-bean mixture and vegan cheese (I used Daiya cheddar-style shreds).  
6. Heat in oven until cheese starts to melt (just a few minutes).
7. Remove from oven and transfer to a plate (or you can just eat off the foil/parchment paper).  Layer on toppings as desired-- avocado (tossed in lime juice), salsa, vegan sour cream/cashew crema, etc.

and after!