Readers delight,does it need any tweaks?

Question

I'm writing a recipe called Readers Delight! which I have shared on Genius Kitchen (previously Food.com). My goal is for the recipe to have one ingredient for every letter in the alphabet. This is the recipe so far:

• 1 (24 ounce) can alphabet pasta
• 1⁄2 cup orange juice
• 3 large carrots
• 1 avocado, pulp
• 1⁄3 cup wheat germ
• 4 cups croutons
• 3 teaspoons sesame seeds
• 1 pinch salt and pepper
• 1⁄3 cup red pepper flakes
• 1 yellow banana

DIRECTIONS

• Pour soup & orange juice into a medium pot.
• Add all ingredients except croutons.
• Cook over medium heat for 45 minutes.
• Add croutons toward the end of the cooking process.
• Serve warm or chilled.

Now my question is this: after viewing this recipe, does it need any tweaking to be vegan-friendly? If so what tweaks would you recommend?

Answer 1

Most of the ingredients you've listed are unprocessed vegetables, fruits, or seasonings all of which are already vegan. There are only two ingredients which might raise concern: pasta and croutons.

Pasta is usually purchased in one of three ways.

• Dry pasta in a box is almost always vegan, with only basic ingredients like semolina and wheat flour. This dry Catelli alphabet pasta is vegan.
• Fresh pasta (not dry) might not be vegan, because it is often prepared with egg.
• Canned pasta might not be vegan because dairy products are common in the sauce, such as with this can of Alpha-getti.

Croutons are commonly made by brushing slices of bread with butter (a dairy product). Many pre-packaged croutons available in stores are not vegan, so either read labels carefully or make your own.

To make sure this recipe is vegan, I suggest the following tweaks:

• Recommend dry alphabet pasta specifically, or leave it up to the reader to find some canned alphabet pasta that is vegan.
• Link to a recipe for vegan homemade croutons, like this one from Oh She Glows.