What a vegan eats in a week part 2.

This is the rest of my what I ate in a week post:

Thursday lunch - salad sandwich and a veggie samosa

Thursday dinner - veggie stir fry

Friday Breakfast - beans on toast

Friday Lunch - roasted red pepper and rice burrito with guacamole, salsa and side salad

Saturday Breakfast - vegan bacon roll

Saturday lunch - vegetable pizza with vegan cheese, dessert - peanut butter and caramel crispy rice square

Saturday Dinner - salad with marinated green olives

Sunday Breakfast - bagel with jam, orange

Sunday lunch - veggie wrap with nachos

Sunday dinner - roast vegetables, potatoes, stuffing, gravy, dessert - fruit salad

I hope you found this interesting and can see that a vegan diet doesn't have to be boring, and can be varied and filling.

VVx

The Ordinary Vegan - Inside a vegan kitchen

Many new vegans or those contemplating becoming vegan wonder if you need to buy lots of new products or fancy equipment in order to live a vegan lifestyle. So this week's The Ordinary Vegan is a bit different. I am going to show you around my kitchen!

Let me start by saying that the only thing you need in a vegan kitchen is a good chopping board, a set of good knives, a cooker and lots of fresh vegetables, fruit, grains, seeds, pulses, herbs and spices. Everything else is a choice. I love kitchen gadgets and so have more than most, but I spend most of my time in the kitchen making food, photographing food or writing about it!

These are my store cupboard essentials:

A range of oils, spices, vinegars, seasonings, nutritional yeast and stock cubes.

A range of tinned produce, vegetables, beans, lentils, chopped tomatoes and a quick veggie chilli if I'm feeling too tired to cook.

I have a savoury and sweet snack cupboard with naughty vegan treats in like nuts, crisps, crackers and biscuits.

A huge pile of cookbooks for meal ideas and inspiration. These don't need to be vegan cookbooks, many recipes can be easily adapted for a vegan diet.

In my fridge, I always have some non-dairy milk and butter, usually some vegan cheese, salad and lots of sauces. There is usually a tub of leftovers in the fridge for a quick lunch and some Jus-Rol pastry for quick and easy pies. Ooh, there's always a bar of dark chocolate in my fridge for when only dark chocolate will do!

In my freezer, I always have my own vegan ready meals. I always cook in large batches and freeze portions for after a hard day at work. You will often find some dairy-free ice-cream, homemade bread rolls and a few vegan burgers or sausages in my freezer too along with some frozen vegetables.

Moving onto my kitchen gadgets. I have a blender for soups, smoothies and sauces. A radio to listen to whilst I'm cooking and washing up! :-)

A food processor for breadcrumbs, pesto, salsas, chopping nuts, seeds, onions, and to use in baking. 

A bread machine. I love my bread machine and I make all of my own pizza bases, bread rolls and loaves. Often I use the dough setting to do all of the kneading and mixing and proving and then bake in the oven for a lovely finish.

 A pestle and mortar - I use this to grind herbs and spices, make dips and grind seeds and nuts.

 The slow cooker is great for casseroles, soups, curries, stews and marinades.

Finally, a mixer. I do a lot of vegan baking in my kitchen and a good mixer makes light work of it!

I hope you have enjoyed the tour around my kitchen. If you love cooking and trying new recipes come back tomorrow for a brand new recipe of the week.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Recipe of the Week - Guest Recipe from Little Miss Meat-Free

For the first Vegan Recipe of the new year, I am very honoured to have a contribution from Little Miss Meat-Free (aka Katy). Katy is a passionate vegan home cook who enjoys creating dishes for family and friends. She also shares vegan recipes on the blog Little Miss Meat-Free. After living in south London for a few years, she has now returned to Yorkshire. You'll find Katy driving around in her beloved 'Mini' or baking a cake in her small kitchen. 

Katy's blog can be found at:

 

http://littlemissmeatfree.blogspot.co.uk

or you can follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Lilmissmeatfree

Borlotti Bean Bake with Winter Herb Dumplings

Nothing beats the aroma of winter herbs baking in the oven. Team this with seasonal vegetables and savoury borlotti beans for a true ‘comfort-food’ experience. Serve straight from the oven with fresh crusty bread.

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the bake:

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 large potatoes, cubed

1 onion, chopped finely

3 carrots, chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

3 celery sticks, chopped

400ml water

1 tin Borlotti beans, drained and rinsed

2 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried sage

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp salt

½ black pepper

For the dumplings:

200g white plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

½ tsp dried sage

½ tsp dried rosemary

½ tsp thyme

250ml soya milk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. In a large casserole dish, add the oil, potatoes, onion, carrots, garlic and celery and cook over a medium heat for 5-6 minutes.
3. Pour in the water and Borlotti beans. Stir in the cornstarch. Add the paprika, oregano, sage, rosemary, thyme, salt and black pepper and cook for 3 minutes.
4. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes.
5. In the meantime, prepare the dumplings. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, sage, rosemary and thyme in a bowl. Make a well and stir in the soya milk until it forms a thick dough.
6. Place tablespoon sized amounts of the dumpling dough on top of the casserole. Place the lid on the casserole dish and cook for a further 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Little Miss Meat-Free

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For more of my recipes, click here.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Recipe of the Week - Festive Mince Pies

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without mince pies! And being vegan does not mean you have to miss out on the festive fun. Whether you want to opt for the super easy - assemble them yourself option or choose your fruits, soak them and bask in the homemade aromas filling your kitchen, I've got you covered.

This recipe is really easy to make and all of the family can share these festive pies. If you don’t want to make your own mincemeat, Sainsbury’s sell a jar which makes around 24 small pies for around £1, which is vegan! Even easier  VVx

Ingredients:

Jus-Rol ready rolled shortcrust pastry – All Jus-Rol pastry products are vegan and labelled so.

450g Sainsbury's Mincemeat in a jar or:

56g Vegan suet

56g Bramley apples, peeled and chopped

30g Candied peel

56g sultanas

56g Raisins

56g Currants

42g Demerara sugar

20ml Brandy – or Apple Juice for a non-alcoholic version

Frylight 

Soy milk for brushing pastry

Icing sugar for dusting

Method:

Mix all of the ingredients together in a mixing bowl and put into a sterilised jar overnight. 

The next morning, take the pastry out of the fridge and leave at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Unroll the pastry and use a cutter slightly larger than the circumference of the pastry tart tin holes to cut the bases. 

Spray the pastry tart tin with Frylight and place the bases into the holes pushing into the edges.

Roll out the remaining pastry and cut out a smaller round top for each pie using a cutter.

Spoon a heaped teaspoon of mincemeat into each tart case and cover with a pastry lid. Pinch the lids around the edge to seal the pies and pierce the top with a sharp knife to create an air hole.

Brush the pies with a little soy milk and place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan.

Take the pies out of the fridge and bake on the middle shelf for 18-20 minutes until lightly browned on top.

Place the pies on a cooling rack for 20 minutes to cool and then dust lightly with icing sugar.

Don't be afraid to be creative, add stars or lattice tops. Serve warm or cold on their own or with dairy-free custard.

Eat and Enjoy!

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

For more delicious easy vegan recipes click here.

Vegan Vox Reviews...222 Veggie Vegan Restaurant - London

I visited this restaurant in Kensington, London last year before I started this blog and therefore do not have any photos of my food for you. However, I had such a great meal and experience that I wanted to review it for you anyway.

222 Veggie Vegan was my first ever visit to an all vegetarian restaurant. We visited at lunchtime for the buffet and I'm so glad I did. Everything on the lunchtime buffet was vegan with half of the dishes raw and gluten-free too.

The lunch buffet is great value for money, with an all you can eat sit in meal for £7.50 or a take out box for £5.50. I tried some of every option on the buffet - there was stir fry, noodles, salads, curry and rice.

I washed it down with a glass of organic agave-sweetened cola. All of the food is low fat, low salt, non-GMO, contains no artificial ingredients and is organic. They had clear labels on gluten-free and wheat-free options. They will make up allergy free specials on request and they had a hot soup and fresh bread option at lunch as well.

222 is a small restaurant but it wasn't overly busy when we visited. I have heard that it can get very busy in the evenings when they offer the full menu which is available to look at here.

The chef, Ben has been a vegan for a long time and is committed to great, healthy, vegan freshly cooked food - no frying or microwaves allowed!

The buffet is served 12-15:30 and dinner 17:30-22:30.

You can find 222 Veggie Vegan at:

222 Veggie Vegan Restaurant

222 North End Road

West Kensington

London W14 9NU

It is a few minutes walk from West Kensington and West Brompton underground stations. I can't wait to go back in the evening and try the a la carte menu, I've heard on the vegan grapevine that the burger is amazing! Lunch Buffet 5/5.

What are your recommendations for great value tasty vegan lunch restaurants? Comment below and let me know.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Recipe of the Week - Slow Cooker Leek and Potato Soup

Now we are well into autumn and nothing is better than piping hot slow cooked soup. I make this soup in my slow cooker and leave it cooking all day. You can prepare the vegetables the evening before if you like and then put it together in the morning before work. By the time you are back from work you will have lovely warming soup to greet you.

Here's what you need:

Serves 3

1 leek
1 onion
1 potato
1 carrot
1 red pepper (optional)
1 clove of garlic (or a teaspoon of Lazy Garlic)
2 stock cubes in 750ml boiling water
dash of vegan Worcester sauce (or Henderson's Relish)
2 tbsp dried parsley
2 tbsp dried chives
3 tbsp soy milk
salt and pepper to taste

First wash, peel and chop all of the vegetables into small bite-size chunks.

Next make up the stock in a jug using boiling water and two stock cubes.

Place the vegetables into the slow cooker with the root veggies at the bottom as they take longer to cook.

Next add the garlic, herbs, sauce and seasoning.

 Then pour over the stock, stir, cover and cook on low for around 8 hours.

After 8 hours, stir again and add the soy milk. Stir this into the soup and turn the heat off.

If you have a hand blender you can blend the soup to your liking or wait for the soup to cool for 15 minutes and add it half at a time to a jug blender. Pulse until at a consistency you like.

You can then serve straight away with some warm bread and vegan butter (perfect!) or freeze in foil containers for another day.

This soup keeps in the fridge for 2-3 days and can be frozen for 3 months. Just take it out of the freezer as you leave for work in the morning to defrost and warm it on the stove when you get home. Simple and easy!

Eat and Enjoy!

For a round up of my weekend at Vegfest London, come back to the blog on Thursday for Vegan Vox Reviews.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx