Guides
Technique, storage and the things that actually go wrong — answered from 324 recipes cooked and tested in Nikoleta's kitchen.
How to eat vegan cheaply
Plant-based food is only expensive if you buy it pre-made. Dried legumes, tofu and rice are among the cheapest protein in any shop.
The vegan cooking mistakes everyone makes first
Burnt paprika, crowded pans, boiled miso, unpressed tofu, acid added too early, cake cut before it cools. None are obvious, all are avoidable.
Creamy without dairy: what actually works
Five things make a sauce creamy and none is cream — cashews, silken tofu, white beans, potato or coconut. They're not interchangeable.
How long does tofu keep?
Unopened, until the date on the pack. Opened, three to four days in fresh water. Cooked, three to four days. Frozen, three months — but it comes out a different tofu.
How to get tofu crisp without a deep fryer
Press it, tear it rather than cube it, coat it in cornstarch, then leave it alone. Stirring is what stops tofu crisping.
How to press tofu (and when you don't need to)
Wrap it in a tea towel, weigh it down, leave it 15 minutes. No press needed. The half nobody tells you — plenty of tofu shouldn't be pressed at all.
Getting enough protein without meat
Of 100 recipes here, 57 carry 20g of protein or more per serving and 20 carry over 40g. Here's where it comes from and where it goes missing.
Silken, firm, extra-firm: which tofu for what
Silken for anything blended or spooned. Firm for anything fried. Extra-firm when it gets handled a lot. The difference is water, and it decides everything.
Why your tofu tastes of nothing
Because it's still full of water and an hour isn't long enough. Press it, marinate overnight, and season harder than feels right — tofu dilutes whatever it absorbs.
Why vegan food tastes flat — and the five things that fix it
Almost always one of five things is missing: salt, acid, fat, umami or browning. Meat and dairy supply four of them without being asked.