#veganuary: the month’s up – so what’s my verdict?

Closely following the trend of Dry January and Movember, a record 50,000 people signed up to take part in Veganuary this year. Organisers claimed the primary driver for people taking part was animal welfare, with the environment only being the third consideration after health. But I think (or I would hope) that by now, everyone is aware of the environmental impact our animal protein rich diets are having on the planet . So with a keen interest in curbing environmental degradation coupled with my enthusiasm for taking part in a challenge, I signed on the dotted line and started browsing the internet for inspiration.

My initial concerns starting out were (obviously) having to give up feta cheese for another month having already done it in June and not being able to eat eggs in all their forms – sometimes a fried egg sprinkled with salt is just absolutely necessary. Finally, being an avid baker, I was concerned baking would be out of the question and with my flatmate’s birthday approaching, I was genuinely upset I wouldn’t be able to bake her a cake.

But my preconceptions were far from accurate and I have had so much fun experimenting in the kitchen and trying new products. Here are some of my highlights:

• Being a vegan for the month essentially gave me a free pass to eat even more peanut butter than normal (which is a lot). I once made myself allergic to kiwis from eating too many and I am currently praying history doesn’t repeat itself. But in the meantime, I’ll keep eating the stuff by the spoonful (as well as in vegan cookie form).
• On the subject of nuts, I always knew cashew nuts were the answer to everything – perhaps even life itself. But this fact has been even more entrenched this month. It makes everything taste so deceivingly creamy! I once ate 6 servings of cashew cream in one go, so it must be good.
• You will all be pleased to hear that I made a very successful birthday cake which, if I wasn’t going around shouting “it’s got avocados in it!”, no one would have guessed was vegan. [Side note: I think my flatmate liked it. Or maybe she was being polite…].

Accidental vegan chocolate cake with the addition of (the most incredible) avocado chocolate frosting

• HOMEMADE VEGAN CHEESE IS AMAZING. I haven’t stopped shouting about it all month but I probably should because I think I am annoying everyone. Read more about my newly founded passion here (I’ll only let you off the hook if you’ve already sat through at least 3 of my vegan cheese anecdotes).

• Chia seeds are weird. But also the greatest gift to vegans. It’s like eating a bowl full of frogspawn, but in a really good way (did I sell that to you?). Oh, it’s also really great at replacing eggs in dishes (I was able to make a vegan version of my go-to banana pancakes – instead of the egg, mix 1 tablespoon of chia seeds with 3 tablespoons of water and let it stand for 5 minutes until it jellifies). For the record, that’s a warm peanut butter (see, just can’t get enough of the stuff) chocolate sauce below.

Banana, oat and chia seed pancakes

• My shockingly low willpower when confronted with the obligatory office birthday cake and sweet treats has – hopefully – been whipped into shape. I haven’t craved sugar all month and I am very much hoping this trend continues. [Disclaimer, I did succumb to the odd Oreo/Party Ring….]
• But if you are ever in need of a dairy-free sugar hit, there are so many exciting options open to you. Take my chocolate orange chocolate pots, for example (made out of tofu but shhh, don’t tell anyone). Or….meringues, perhaps?
• Because vegan meringues are a thing, readers. I wish I could tell you this in person because the faces people pull when I reveal the secret ingredient is just priceless. CHICKPEA WATER! Yeah, you heard that right. When you whisk bean juice with sugar (aquafaba sounds more grown up), it acts in just the same way as egg whites. I came to the conclusion that some kind of magic must be involved. And it didn’t even taste like hummus…(shame, really).

Meringue nests with cashew cream, banana and salted caramel peanut butter sauce (sorry)

Although I enjoyed my month of forgoing dairy and eggs, I’m still not convinced going vegan is the simple solution to sustainability that so many argue it is. Demonising livestock is a risky business and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly. If we all stopped eating animal products over night, what would the outcome be? Yes, carbon emissions would drop by an estimated 70% and our health would improve, with an estimated 8 million deaths being prevented each year. But aside from all the social, economic and cultural implications of going vegan (for a start, what would happen to all the farmers?), a global transition to a plant-based diet would create a health crisis in the developing world.

So the take home message is that unfortunately for us, there is no silver bullet to the world’s complex and interdependent sustainability challenges. Generally speaking and from a personal point of view, I don’t consider diets advocating excess to be the answer. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – it’s all about moderation. If we were all to cut down on our – currently – unsustainable levels of meat and dairy consumption, not only would our health and well-being benefit, but so would the planet. Research has shown that shifting to a mostly vegetarian diet, or even simply cutting down meat consumption to within accepted health guidelines, would make a large dent in greenhouse gases.

So no, I won’t be sticking to a strict vegan diet any time soon. But neither will I be jumping back onto the full-blown animal product bandwagon. Call me a vegan with benefits, if you will. And boy oh boy, am I looking forward to a pair of perfectly poached eggs this weekend….

#whatveganseat

Cauliflower is so this season

Cauliflower has always been considered the ugly duckling when compared to their more refined sibling, the broccoli. Often served as a grey soggy mess with school dinners, or doused with the heaviest of cheese sauces to mask the dodgy smell that permeates the room when overcooked (enough to give anyone the ‘cauli-wobbles’!), the humble British veg hasn’t fared well over the years. But what a meteoric rise to fame this benign brassica has enjoyed recently – with extreme makeovers thanks to the likes of Ottelenghi, the cauli (as we all now like to call it) has been promoted to broccoli’s hip big sister, complete with some new-fangled accessories – tahini, almonds and za’tar….to name but a few.

If you haven’t yet kindled a new and wonderful love with this most British and versatile of veg (or even if you’re a die-hard fan like me), I’ve written about my 5 favourite ways with cauli to provide you with cauliflower inspo galore.

If your’re: craving curry in a hurry
Turmeric and cumin roasted cauliflower

No curry night in my family home is complete without roasted curried cauliflower – the flavoursome florets are so moreish that there have been many occasions where they didn’t actually make it to the main meal.  To make, cut the head of a cauliflower into florets of equal size and place  on a roasting tray. Sprinkle with generous teaspoons of both turmeric and cumin (however much you feel like, really) and season generously with salt and pepper. Toss in some melted coconut oil and roast until tender (though a little bit of bite is very welcome).This goes exceedingly well with a simple dal or makes for a very exciting addition to any weekday lunchbox (if you manage not to snuffle all the leftovers before then). If you try one thing from this post, make sure it’s this – trust me, you will never look back.

The Eco Glutton

If you’re: short on time
Egg  fried cauli-rice

I actually discovered this through one of those “eeek I have nothing for dinner”-type-moments. I had some leftover cauliflower, an overlooked red onion and an egg. I ended up briefly whizzing the cauliflower into rice size particles (you can also grate it) and stir-frying with some frozen peas, onions, soy sauce, fish sauce (yes, I always have some lying around) and finally, mixing in an egg (1 per person) until it’s cooked through. If you’re lucky enough to have some coriander to hand, generously sprinkle over the top to take it to the next level. It’s as simple as it sounds but the result was a downright success, promoting the dish from an easy solution to fruitless-fridge syndrome to a weekly must have.                                         

If you’re: craving comfort food
Cauliflower cheese

When done badly, cauliflower cheese can be so ‘bleugh’. But when done well, it is possibly one of our nation’s greatest comfort foods. The firm (most definitely not overcooked) white flesh of the cauliflower smothered in a decadent cheese sauce with just the right tang of mustard, is  a rarely beaten combination. I like to sprinkle mine with breadcrumbs over the top before cooking for an extra texture dimension. Check out BBC Food for a basic recipe to get started.

BBC Food

If you’re: looking for a meat-free Sunday roast
Herby roast cauliflower centrepiece

I know cutting down on your meat consumption can be difficult, especially when you have the family coming round on a Sunday, eager for your renowned roast chicken. But why not swap the bird this weekend for a cauliflower? (I’m serious). Not only will you be saving (a lot!) of your hard earned pennies, but I think even the most ardent of meat eaters would be satisfied with the firm, meaty texture and the charred undernotes that only come with roasting.

To serve two people comfortably, choose a medium sized cauliflower and trim the outer leaves (don’t remove them completely – they’ll crisp up in the oven and taste divine). Blanch the cauli in boiling water for 3 minutes and once cool, lovingly massage the ‘meat’ with some olive oil, salt, pepper and seasonings of your choice. Put 100g of pearl barley and 500ml of stock at the bottom of a casserole dish and proudly place your cauliflower atop. Roast in the oven for around 50-60 minutes until a knife easily cuts through the middle . Once cooked, remove the cauli and finish off the pearl barley by cooking briefly on the hob until it reaches a desired consistency. Once cooked, stir in plenty of herbs (any kind of pesto works well – I like watercress) and you will be left with a perfect rissoto-like accompaniment.

The Eco Glutton

If you’re: feeling adventurous
Cauliflower cake

Ottelenghi has had a momentous part to play in bringing cauliflower out of the dark ages and into the 21st century, bringing along with it flavours from the Middle East. This is possibly one of my favourite recipes from his book, ‘Plenty More’. A cross between a frittata, a savoury cake and cauliflower cheese, it really has got everything going for it. Yes, it uses a fair amount of eggs, but depending on the size of your company, it will yield a fair amount of leftovers which taste even better cold the next day for lunch. Luckily for you, the recipe is also online and can be found here. Enjoy!

The Eco Glutto

What’s your favourite cauliflower recipe? Let me know in the comments below.

 

 

Diary of a self-confessed vegivore

I’ve considered going vegetarian for environmental reasons on many occasions and even went through with it for a while. But I still eat meat because guess what, I enjoy it. The odd bacon sandwich the morning after the night before, a roasted leg of melt-in-the-mouth lamb with the family on a lazy Sunday or a turkey with all the trimmings on Christmas Day. Even though I’m salivating at the thought, I could live without meat and get by happily. But why should I deprive myself and miss out on the occasional culinary treat?

Having said that, as much as I love meat, I love vegetables 10 times more. I’m what you’d call an aubergine advocate, a broccoli believer and a Jerusalem artichoke junkie. Vegetables make up the majority of my diet, with meat being eaten very rarely – who else thinks the vegetable accompaniments to meaty roasts are the highlight? Give me cauliflower cheese and braised leeks over a hunk of beef any day.

VEGIVORE n. A person with a strong fondness for eating vegetables.

So does that make me a vegivore? Or maybe a flexitarian?  As far as I can tell, they’re both interchangeable in the sense that it is someone who eats a predominantly vegetarian diet, but who eats meat or fish occasionally.  The best definition of a vegivore I’ve found is “a person with a strong fondness for eating vegetables”. I can relate to that.

Moving away from my ode to vegetables and on to more serious matters – the truth is, demand for animal protein is growing and, according to a report by Chatham House, the global consumption of meat is forecast to increase 76 per cent on recent levels by mid-century. When considered with global resource constraints and climate change, this trend is simply not sustainable.

Cattle are the animal species responsible for the most emissions, representing about 65% of the livestock sector’s emissions (source:FAO)

With this in mind, we’ve seen a slight shift in thinking over the last few years. Take the growing rise in popularity of Meat Free Mondays as an example – you can’t go on Instagram on a Monday anymore without seeing swathes of dutifully snapped meat-free meals all hash tagged up to their eyeballs. Regardless, a considerable public awareness gap still exists around the link between livestock, diet and climate change. Being a vegivore is not only for Mondays, after all, and efforts need to be made to develop impactful messaging around the need for dietary change. The message is crystal clear: globally we should start eating less meat. Alongside the fact that doing so is better for the environment, there are numerous motivations for embracing a vegivore lifestyle.

Greener

Meat is a ‘hotspot’ for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water use, pollution, land use change and biodiversity loss – with livestock production the single largest driver. The livestock sector alone accounts for 15 per cent of global emissions, equivalent to exhaust emissions from all the vehicles in the world. Without radical shifts in global meat consumption, it is unlikely that temperature rises can be kept below 2°c – the international community’s stated aim to support a reduction in the impacts of climate change.

Healthier

There is no single definition of a healthy diet and I will probably find myself in hot water with my nutritionist mother if I even attempt it. I will, however, quote Eating Better, who state that if people in the UK ate meat no more than three times a week, 45,000 early deaths a year could be prevented and the NHS could save £1.2 bn a year. Just, wow.

Cheaper

Yes, cheap chicken is well, cheap. But inexpensive meat comes at a cost to the environment, even if it doesn’t damage your wallet. Vegetables can be even cheaper and they really don’t cost the earth (literally as well as metaphorically). Savvy vegivores will find themselves down the local market or greengrocer, hunting for bargains. I’m also a fan of saving perfectly satisfactory salad and slightly past-their-best vegetables from the brink of being binned by supermarkets. Lettuce reduced from a pound to 20p? Thank you very much.

Yummier (if that’s a word?!)

At the end of the day, the proof is always in the eating. Vegetables often get the prejudiced rep of being bland, boring and all-round bleugh. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride seems to come to mind. Yes, Brussel sprouts can be grim when they’re aggressively boiled, but how wonderful they can be when cooked properly! Open up one of Yotam Ottelenghi’s cookbooks (the man is a legitimate veggie visionary) and your eyes will be ravished by inventive, satisfying and comforting dishes where vegetables are the star of the show.

Do you need any more convincing?

Vegetables are so hot right now.

Ottelenghi’s roast cauliflower and chickpeas with warm tahini yoghurt. Needless to say, the man’s a pioneer. Who needs chicken when you’ve got cauli? Credit: Guardian.

 

Nuts about kale

A true British hero – kale is one of the few green leafy vegetables that is abundant during the coldest months of the year and is one of the most nutritionally rich vegetables grown in Britain. As well as being an excellent source of vitamins C, A, and K, it is a very good source of manganese, dietary fibre, calcium, iron and magnesium (an extensive list indeed!). Studies have even shown that eating kale lowers the incidence of a variety of cancers and is more beneficial to bone health than dairy products. What’s not to love!?

To add even more impetus to its superstar status, kale is grown in the UK, mostly by farmers in Lincolnshire and is at its most plentiful from October. So why not make the most of this great British, seasonal brassica and include it in your weekly repertoire – you’ll not only be giving your health a kick start, but will be reducing the air miles your food has travelled at the same time!

As well as being boiled and sautéed, kale is great eaten raw in a salad. It makes a great substitute for lettuce during the winter months, which is generally imported from the sunnier climes of Spain. Why not go all the way and replace summery salad items such as tomatoes and cucumber for much more seasonal items such as shredded cabbage and grated carrot?

My favourite winter salad places kale firmly in the limelight – raw kale with an Asian peanut dressing. I could just eat a great big mound of this stuff in one sitting it’s so good. It’s incredibly simple too – lightly toss some prepared kale along with some shredded cabbage (optional) and parsley with a dressing made up of soy sauce, chilli sauce, a splash of rice wine vinegar and tahini/peanut butter. Sprinkle with some dry roasted peanuts and hey presto, a nutritious and delicious lunch is served.

Healthy pizza. No, really….

Picture the classic takeaway pizza. It’s one of those things that, every so often, whether it be after a night out or at the end of a lazy duvet day, feels completely obligatory – the perfect cheesy, doughy pick me-up. But also picture this; the pizza has been and gone – greasy stains are all that remain, along with the bloated feeling which is your stomach reprimanding you for overdoing it on the stodgy white dough. The perfect example of a love-hate relationship.

Yummy in your tummy. Or not?

But what if your relationship with pizza could be purely one of sweet, unadulterated love? Read on fellow pizza lovers.

Cauliflower is my new BFF and could be yours if you let go of the preconceptions I know most of you will have. It’s not exactly the sexiest vegetable out there and is often drowned in a cheese sauce to make it remotely bearable…..but, it is so versatile! Versatility is the new sexy.

I urge you to try this at home. Don’t expect a bread like crust though – it’s more of a vehicle for the endless varieties of toppings you can put on the top (I thought that was the whole point of pizza dough anyway). I chose to top mine with some ricotta, rocket leaves and lemon zest for a fresh and zingy tasting pizza.

You will need:

340g raw cauliflower

1 large free-range egg

50g grated mozzarella cheese

2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Serves 2 (or 3 for a light lunch)

Line a tray with greaseproof paper and pre-heat the oven to 210C/420F/Gas mark 7.

Grate the cauliflower, or process it in a food processor (you are looking to achieve fine crumbs). Steam or boil the cauliflower, but make sure any excess water is squeezed out afterwards.

Place the cauliflower crumbs is to a large mixing bowl and add the eggs, cheese, salt and pepper. Mix well until you have a fairly stiff dough.

Place the dough onto the prepared tray and pat out into a large circle, about 12.5cms in diameter and 1.5cms thick. Lightly brush the top of the pizza with some coconut oil or an equivalent and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown and firm.

That’s the base done – now you can go wild experimenting with different toppings. Put back in the oven for a second time until it looks delicious, basically. Happy pizza making!

This is another one I made earlier – topped with mozzarella cheese, anchovies and olives.