Check out ethnic foods (restaurants might help you here), like Indian and
Thai which uses a lot of peanuts & tofu that give protein while still being delicious. Mexican food also has a lot of good veggie options, though most will add cheese (but is optional) so be careful of that if you're wanting to go the full vegan route.
Granted, much of this probably comes from around the world (though it's conceivable some is grown and produced locally), but maybe you can adapt foreign recipes to what's available. If you're that passionate about it then study it...and stay away from those that are just trying to manipulate you with guilt as they're just trying to rip you off.
Best I can suggest is Mediterranean (falafel is a tasty classic with protein and can be delicious with other items, including from other ethnic cuisines), and also Italian (plenty of mushrooms, olives, tomatoes, herbs & spices, pasta, etc, meat and cheeses are optional).
I'd personally say much of this is as easy as preparing chicken, though if you're not used to it then you'll need to get used to it. And these foods aren't only tasty, but also filling. It shouldn't take too long before it becomes routine (think of it as exercising your will so that you improve yourself mentally on top of your other goals).
One other possibility you could look into is finding veggie potlucks. I used to go to some that were hosted by the Unitarian Universalists (UUs) who would host a topic either at the church or someone's home, and everyone would bring a vegetarian dish. Most everyone brought something with cheese in it to add protein and flavor as well as to make it more filling, which left the vegans (who eschew dairy as well which is different from standard vegetarians, typically seeing it as animal exploitation) out...and many vegans didn't seem to know what to do other than buy from the store or make something no one was really interested in. I took it as a challenge and made several vegan recipes without any dairy, and even the vegetarians were getting at it. I ended up sharing many recipes, though this was over 15 years ago.
The vegans, I should add, were typically new to the lifestyle, and surely more know how to make food that is good now, rather than merely throwing extra money for vegan to pat themselves on the back. That is why I think you should look for veggie potlucks in your area, and call the UUs to see if they know of any, in which you can learn more about what works for you. On top of that, mixing with them (especially if you become friends with any) will make it all the easier for you to adapt to it and stick with it.
And to back what someone else said, beware of vegan vanilla ice cream. For many, the vegetarian/vegan lifestyle is more trendy than anything else, and so many will try to gouge you with it through unethical prices (they're charging you for your self-esteem as much as the food). While vegan ice cream is normally passable to me, one vegetarian shop praised this absurdly priced vegan vanilla ice cream saying it was worth the price and better than the real thing...I ended up getting it (I was expecting a pair of vegans to visit) and it was so disgusting (not in a spoiled way either, but like someone lightly stroked vanilla over beach sand and then froze it) I couldn't eat another bite. No one else liked it, not even the vegans, and most of it went down the sink.
The point being, just because it costs more doesn't mean it's better, better tasting, or healthier. And I know that were I to ever go vegan that I'd stick with ethnic foods and the like, not go to shops catering to my lifestyle (for that matter, I've found the prices at most vegetarian/vegan restaurants to be ridiculous as well). It's really not inconvenient to make your own, the food items that you can purchase from most ordinary grocery stores, or shops that cater to a specific community whose prices are much more reasonable.
