Honestly, back in undergrad there was a falafel shop just round the corner from halls. That stuff was a godsend. There's no reliable cure for hangovers, but that falafel came close.
Chips (fries) are vegan unless you cooked them in an animal fat, garlic bread is pretty easy to make vegan, and cauliflower wings are banging because they're just a vehicle giving structure to fried batter and sauce
There's this misconception that vegan means forced healthy. It's not. If I want to be an unhealthy vegan I will eat some pasta, bread, fries... All mixed up.
Traditionally unhealthy stuff, all vegan. And don't come with "you can fry with fat" no I'm from Spain not France, here we fry with virgin olive oil as a default.
People whose main diet has always been meat are used to being able to put one thing (a cut of meat) in a pan with some seasoning and have it be the primary component of a meal that could likely satisfy on its own. Any veggies are always an accessory supplement to the meal. Maybe they enjoy them, maybe it's for the health benefits, but they are always on the side or as a garnish and would never satisfy on their own.
When they try to imagine omitting meat from their diet, they replace it 1-for-1 with vegetables and imagine a chunk of some vegetable (like cabbage in this instance) as the main component of meal. I've been to restaurants that need a token menu item for vegans/vegetarians so they serve literally what I just described and it's always disappointing and never satisfying.
But most vegans/vegetarians know that making a good, satisfying meal without meat goes beyond that format of one primary component with optional accessory details. It requires a little more effort and some imagination but a well constructed meal without meat is just as (if not subjectively more) satisfying/healthy/delicious as one with meat.
I had an X to close that pop-up. You can also try using Reader view in Firefox. I'm just copy and pasting recipe below, not bothering with markdown.
Edit: never mind, that needed some markdown lol
This vegan-friendly cabbage pasta recipe is delicious, easy, very cheap, and quick to make. Can feed lots of people with super simple ingredients.
500g / 1.1 pounds farfalle pasta (aka bow tie pasta or pasta of choice)
1 head of green cabbage, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon salt
⅓ cup oil*
Pepper, to taste
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Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the pasta, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain and set aside.
In the meantime, in a large pot on high heat, add in the cabbage and salt and place the lid on.
Stir from time to time for it to cook down evenly. Cook with lid on for 10 minutes or until the cabbage is soft and has released water. At this stage, if the cabbage becomes too dry, add a splash of water to prevent burning.
Remove the lid and continue cooking for a further 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add in the oil and stir well; this will help you achieve slight browning of the cabbage. Just make sure to continue stirring and that it doesn’t stick to the bottom, cooking for a further 10-15 minutes.
Add the cabbage to the pasta and stir well, adjust seasoning (if more salt is needed to taste).
Serve with freshly cracked pepper on top.
Notes
Oil: You can use olive oil, sunflower oil, rice bran oil, vegetable oil, canola oil, or grapeseed oil. I use the latter.
Honestly I'm not even vegan myself. Would like to be eventually, just not there yet. I just like kraut. I actually picked up a taste for kraut when I was doing keto. I never used to like it but I've learned to love it.
I am omnivorous, and you can pull my cabbage from my cold dead hands, that vegetable is so delicious. Raw in coleslaw? Good. Stir fry al dente? Good. Braised till tender? Good. Burned in the iron skillet then topped with flavored oil and sesame seeds and seaweed? So good. It is so versatile and so delicious.
I never did like cabbage rolls before becoming vegan, I'm just not into them, and that was all I really knew of cabbage before so I thought it was gross. But it's a world of delicious.
I'm doing the thing a little child does when they can't imagine what some unknown food could taste like so they instinctively recoil and assume it must be disgusting.
But I do like cabbage. Might give it a try some day.