You don't need your stove to make this crunchy, spicy, vegan wrap
Where would vegan cuisine be without nuts? It would be less interesting, I'd say. We wouldn't have cashew cream (and all its uses), we wouldn't have almond and so many other nondairy milks, and we wouldn't have all those tacos, "meatballs" and other dishes made with ground walnuts instead of beef.
It would surely be a little protein-challenged, too. Vegetarians can get their protein fix from eggs and dairy, after all, while vegans are looking primarily at beans, grains and nuts (all of which I love).
Nuts play an even bigger role for raw-food vegans, who use them for no-bake pastry crusts and the like.
I eat much less dairy and fewer eggs than I did when I first became vegetarian four years ago, but I'm still not vegan - and I'm certainly no raw foodist.
But I appreciate many of those recipes, especially in the middle of stifling summer heat, and one of my favorite sources for them is the charming Laura Miller, whose YouTube series "Raw. Vegan. Not Gross" frequently makes me laugh out loud.
In her cookbook of the same name (Flatiron Books, 2016), she offers a recipe for Spicy Mango Chili Wraps that represents everything I want to make and eat this time of year.
The filling, based on the triple threat of cashews, walnuts and almond butter, gets its punch from a hefty dose of red pepper flakes and a sweet-and-sour seasoning of maple syrup, soy sauce, ginger and lemon. You dollop that into raw cabbage leaves (a new one on me, and one I'm likely to repeat), and in addition to silky mango slices, top it with slivered carrot, bell pepper and jicama for a sheer riot of crunch.
The next time anyone tells you that vegan food is boring, here is your answer.