london vegan – ¡Comemos!

Meat Me Halfway: Final Week

31st Mar 2020Leave a comment

Just to be clear, my plant-based journey has not come to an end, in fact I’ll hopefully keep it up forever, but it is time to end this series, and I’ll be honest, I’m not ending it on the best note.

Forgive my lack of commitment this time round, but what with everything going on right now, lockdown, money concerns etc., ensuring that every single one of my meals was 100% vegan hasn’t been a priority.

Having said that, I did still make and order some fab food, which I’ll detail below before ending with some highlights and top tips that you can carry forward into your own journey to realising the potential of plant-based food.

I’ll start with two amazing pasta dishes, the first being @elavegan’s red pepper pasta, with a cashew based sauce, and Rachel Ama’s sun dried tomato pesto pasta. Both of these were super easy to make, although a food processor or some kind of blender type thing is required. If you’re going plant-based or trying to eat more of it, I would definitely recommend getting one anyway as you’ll get so much use out of it.

The red pepper pasta was incredibly creamy, with quite a thick sauce, the red pepper giving it a lovely, soft, sweetness.

The flavour of the sun dried tomato pesto was much stronger – fresh basil, balsamic vinegar and sun dried tomatoes end up being quite a pungent combination, but a delicious one nonetheless.

A couple of soups were also on the cards as per. Sometimes I find soups incredibly satisfying, warm and hearty, and others just miss the mark. The first – Nadiya’s lentil and orange soup fell under the latter category. Obviously I love her recipes, but I struggle with orange-based savoury recipes, particularly in something liquidy like a soup.

The second soup was my own recipe – harissa and carrot. Whilst it tasted decent with a strong kick of heat, I’m not sure I loved it enough to make again, although undoubtedly if I’d added a load of cream I’m sure it would’ve ticked more boxes…

Drinks now! BBCgoodfood have a pretty good recipe for a chai latte, although plant-based milk is one of the things I’m finding it more difficult to get hold of at this time. Normally soy milk is my go-to but I’ve had to switch to almond milk as that’s all that’s been available. Even so, this frothy, warmly-spiced latte was a perfect morning pick-me-up when breakfast isn’t really my thing.

Dreamy indulgence from Doughnut Time is next on the list. They genuinely do the best vegan doughnuts, which are no different in taste to their normal range. I’d frozen their Vegan Fox doughnut last month as it was part of their Valentine’s range but I’d eaten so much I couldn’t justify trying this one too, so rather than miss it, I shoved it in the freezer ready for a rainy day. Cue lockdown and I’d never been so grateful for this level of resourcefulness. It’s not recommended that you freeze these doughnuts but that won’t stop me. After defrosting and 20 seconds or so in the microwave, I had the most delicious, soft-doughed, melty-buttercreamed chocolate doughnut. The fudge buttercream is incredible and I really hope they give a vegan chocolate doughnut like this one a permanent spot on their menu. Failing that, the David Hasselbiscoff is one of the best doughnuts of all time.

Trust me to be taking complete advantage of the fact that many small food businesses have upped their delivery range due to the current situation, meaning that I’ve been able to get my hands on both Picky Wops’ vegan pizzas and indulgent subs from Jake’s Vegan Steaks.

After a few teething issues on the delivery front, I received my bbq chick’n pizza and a cashew-based tiramisu. The pizza was really tasty – the chick’n pieces had a nice texture, the dough was light and fluffy and the ratio of toppings to dough was spot on. It wasn’t the best vegan cheese I’ve had – was more like a thick Béchamel style sauce, but not unpleasant. Admittedly I wasn’t a fan of the tiramisu. The cashew-based mousse/sauce/cream/whatever you want to call it didn’t have much flavour, and I got one hint of coffee from my second to last bite. That’s it. But would defo order pizza from them again in the future.

Jake’s Vegan Steaks was my other treat, after I fell in love with their subs at Vegan Nights event last year. Although I’d become obsessed with the super spicy version of their Philly Cheezesteak, I wanted to try something new so ordered the Pepperoni Pizza Steak, along with bbq chick’n fries. The pepperoni sub was decent, although they’d been pretty heavy handed with the oregano. Ultimately, I wouldn’t order it again over the Philly Cheezesteak. The fries were great; really well seasoned with tasty cheesy bbq sauce and chick’n pieces.

And that’s pretty much all I have to share this time round – as it’s supposed to be a week’s worth of meals that’ll give you an idea of how many times I cheated, but like I said, we are in exceptional circumstances.

Before signing off on this series, I wanted to finish with some highlights, mostly in London, from some fantastic businesses that deserve your support.

Redemption, Covent Garden

A lovely little restaurant/café with takeaway treats and drinks, Redemption backs on to Neal’s Yard with indoor and outdoor seating. It’s beautiful inside and the food is just as attractive. My top recommendation is the raw Banoffee Pie, pictured below.

Itsu, Everywhere

Less luxurious, Itsu is perfect for healthy veggie lunches. Sushi doesn’t have to be raw fish, and their veggie gyozas and maki rolls are some of the best.

Club Mexicana, KERB Seven Dials

Club Mexicana served up one of the best burritos I’ve had. The cheezeburger burrito genuinely tastes like a cheeseburger – god knows how, but it’s filling, cheesy and uses a great beef mince substitute.

Temple of Seitan, Camden and Hackney

Who ever thought that vegan wings would be a thing. Temple of Seitan, as the name suggests, serves up a load of fast food using the chicken substitute Seitan, and these wings had the most convincing texture. With a delicious bbq glaze, these are high on my list of recommendations.

Humble Dough, Boxpark Shoreditch

One of my favourite sweet treats now, Humble Dough serve up little pots of vegan cookie dough with various toppings. I tried the peanut butter and jam pot, which was delicious, and despite looking like a tiny portion, was the perfect amount for not becoming sickly.

And last but not least – what have I learnt during the last 7 months or so of on-off plant-based eating? It’s been a really interesting little experiment – one that is no longer an experiment and is now just a routinely part of my diet, but here are some things I want you to know…

Don’t listen to how you should feel

I still get frustrated with vegan propaganda telling you that on a plant-based diet, you’ll feel so much lighter and will have way more energy. That’s great if that happens to you, but I have experienced no such thing, and some weeks I’ve even felt awful – heavy and bloated from excess veg, beans and pulses. That’s not to put you off. I just want people to be aware that even if you don’t see the benefits that other people are claiming, this doesn’t mean that it’s not worth the changes. Don’t expect to feel a certain way, and don’t worry if you don’t. Everyone’s body reacts differently to what they put into it, and you won’t necessarily feel like a goddess overnight…

Learn to love key ingredients

There are some amazing ingredients that you should really get to grips with if you want to reduce your meat/dairy intake. If you love cooking then cashews are a really big one, as most creamy plant-based sauces use softened cashews. Beans and pulses are another saviour – chickpeas in particular can become super versatile, not only eating them as they are in curries and stews, but also turning them into a spicy scrambled egg substitute or forming them into falafel or burger-like patties. Aubergine and cauliflower should be your veggie best friends – there are an abundance of vegan recipes using these two ingredients in so many ways online, and finally… tofu. It’s a controversial one, but I honestly believe anyone can enjoy it if it’s cooked to their taste. The main danger is with it being bland, so for a genius solution, follow Rachel Ama’s recipe for chive tofu spread, which is amazing on toast.

Get to know easy replacement hacks

Plant-based milk is obviously a major one – try a few different brands and ingredients and work out which is the one for you – almond, soy, coconut? Pancakes and waffles can easily be made without eggs, just stick to flour, sugar, milk, baking powder and flavouring, and egg replacements in baking can be produced from flax seeds and even aquafaba (liquid in chickpea cans).

Don’t be too strict on yourself

If you’re not cutting out meat and dairy for ethical reasons, I don’t see the need to be super strict on yourself. Just reducing your intake is a great thing to do, so if you’re craving a Dominos pizza or a family-sized bar of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, there’s no shame in that. You don’t have to change your diet to prove anything to anyone and so there’s no harm in just going entirely plant-based part-time – even if that’s verrry part-time, as in a few days a month.

Look to the experts for inspiration

There are so many vegan blogs, youtube channels and Instagram accounts out there now, not to mention a growing range of excellent cookbooks. Explore, and get to know your favourites, as each of these cooks and bloggers comes with their own style. My favourites include Rachel Ama for vegan meals that think outside the box, Mrs Hollingsworth for amazing baking, snacks and desserts and elavegan for simple recipes using readily available ingredients. Avant Garde Vegan and Fearne Cotton are also worth looking to for ideas.

And that’s it for the time being. I’ll still be sharing my vegan week successes on my Instagram account every month (@foodtravelsldn), but this is the end of the series.

Of course there’ll be new series’ on the way, including my Around the World in 80 Plates, part 2 of which will be coming next week.

But can you guess where I’ll be heading, and what I’ll be making….?

¡Comemos!

Meat Me Halfway: Week 4

24th Dec 2019Leave a comment

We’re already 4 weeks into what I’ve decided is going to be a year-long series – sounds intense, but that’s actually only 12 posts and so I’m 1/3 of the way there already.

Again this time round, there has been an interesting mix of fantastic meals and some that were disappointing, but I’m quickly realising how diverse vegan food can be.

Vegan food used to equal bland veg and a bit of quorn but you’ll see so much variety in the things I’ve eaten, both at home and out.

This isn’t quite everything I had, as 2 meals a day plus snacks for 7 days adds up to a lot, and I waffle enough as it is, but I’ve chosen the most relevant and interesting (good and bad) things I ate.

I do love that I can flick through the non-vegan recipe books I have and find a few meat/fish/dairy/egg-free recipes. There are never loads, but enough to satisfy my vegan week cravings.

Take my first meal of Week 4 for example – yes, I’m back there again, it’s Nadiya. Soup is such an easy one to make vegan and it’s massively satisfying, both with its winter warming powers, and with it being surprisingly filling. This was a carrot, cumin and coriander soup – very easy to make (stick blenders are life-saving, and not at all expensive), with lots of curried flavour. Another example here of me using up some rubbish leftovers – literally just a bagel that had fallen apart shoved in the oven to toast and then dip.

One thing I love doing, particularly with vegan meals, is having a mini feast (oxymoron?), combining a few different recipes on one plate. It can be time-consuming and a fair bit of effort (and washing up) but it’s a great way to get in a load of different veg and healthy bits whilst making them a bit more interesting.

This one was a Rick Stein Mexican feast – 100% vegan. I think often with vegan diets people tend to combine a load of side dishes to make one meal and that’s what I’ve done here. I started off with his ‘Patty’s Green Beans’ in a kind of tomatoey, chilli sauce. I had those with the slightly more indulgent Cauliflower Fritters with Cashew Sauce, and to finish it all off, some Mexican Red Rice. I know cashews are often used in vegan pasta sauces etc but I’d never tried to make one myself. I was surprised at how easily the soaked cashews could be blended and reduced down into a thick, creamy mixture. I can’t say I loved the fritters, but I am always looking for new ways to cook cauliflower, as it’s something I used to hate.

The Mexican Red Rice was the highlight for me. It had so much to it– from the coriander, to the chilli, it really would be appropriate to use the phrase ‘bursting with flavour’. I didn’t see any one part of this meal as the ‘main’ component, but I don’t find that important, I don’t always feel like I need a meat replacement, and as previously mentioned, I’m pretty happy with a selection of ‘sides’ like these.

My first non-home-cooked meal came on a lazy weekend day when, for once, I just didn’t feel like cooking. There didn’t seem to be that many vegan options available to me on UberEats, but I did find somewhere I hadn’t heard of before, that after having a little stalk of on Instagram, looked like it had some great options. From Miranda Café I got their Peanut Butter Cacao Banana Bread and Seitan Reuben Sandwich with an Aztec Spiced Hot Chocolate.

The banana bread looked amazing in photos so that was what influenced me. It was nicely presented with a pot of berry compote on the side. To be honest, it was very dense and heavy, however, it tasted great. There was a gooey chocolatey centre to it, which added moisture, and the sharpness of the compote helped to combat the thick peanut butter on top. It is indulgent, but for an exciting vegan brunch, I would recommend it.

Then we have the Reuben sandwich. Typically a Reuben sandwich features salt beef and sauerkraut, but obviously that wasn’t going to be the case with this one. The first thing I had to do was to remove 2/3 of the salad. Now I’m not scared of a few leaves, but this sandwich contained a whole forest of them. It was pretty ridiculous (maybe this is a tactic places use to hide a potential lack of filling??). Once I’d removed that though, I was ready to dive in. The actual flavour was good, and there was a nice crunch from the seitan patty (decided I love seitan), and a slight ooze from the melted cheese. I enjoyed it, but I’d firstly say more cheese would be fab, and secondly I’m not sure about calling it a Reuben, because it bore little resemblance to one in my mind.

Finally the hot chocolate. I’ll keep it short and sweet (unlike the drink). It tasted like warm cinnamon milky water. Very overpriced. Get your hot choc from Pret. The end.

Okaaaay, meal prep for the week and how many times do I have to say – ‘and back to Nadiya?’. She has a fab recipe for an Indian 5 spice veg stir fry so this was a great opportunity to use up loads and loads of leftover veg. After prepping it all, I was convinced this would easily feed me for 5 meals, but crazily once I’d cooked it, I only managed two. It was, however, delicious and very satisfying – and that’s just veg!

We move on to treat time. Or should I say Doughnut Time, with their wonderful vegan doughnuts. So they brought out a sort-of new one. They’ve had the MEGA (large, birthday cake-sized doughnut) Chris Hemsworthy on their menu for a lifetime, and they finally created an identical mini version, aptly named Liam Hemsworthy, after his younger brother. This is a red velvet dough with a cookies and cream buttercream, chocolate drizzle and topped with chocolate cookie pieces. It’s not too intense as it doesn’t have a filling inside, and the buttercream on top is delicious.

God, you are going to get bored of me, but back to Nadiya!!! This one wasn’t planned, I just made a few changes to my meals and so had to hunt for something vegan in my cookbooks that I had all the ingredients for. And that’s how I ended up making her Red Lentils with 5 Spice Soda Bread. The lentils were delicious and creamy, and the soda bread would’ve been perfect for scooping it up if I’d perfected it. The bread did actually taste decent, it just looks a bit of a dodgy effort (not sure why it resembles a jacket potato…). To go with those I had Rachel Ama’s Curried Cauliflower with Coconut Raita which was okay but not mind-blowing. Another effort in my cauliflower research.

***

I love that Ainsley Harriott has a whole section in his Caribbean Kitchen book dedicated to vegetarian and vegan recipes, and it’s honestly one of my favourite books. Tofu is dodgy territory for me – I remember making Nadiya’s tofu with edamame bean salad months ago and surprisingly enjoying it, but anytime I’ve tried to cook with tofu since, I’ve found the texture tricky to stomach. Anyway, I decided to be brave and try his Ginger Beer Battered Tofu with a spicy tomato sauce, and I had James Martin’s Green Beans and Broccoli with Hazelnut (vegan) Butter on the side. The batter was so easy to make, and cooked so well. The crunchiness of the batter was so essential to me being able to enjoy the tofu. The veggie side was also super tasty, now that I’ve managed to get over my fear of the woody flavour of hazelnuts.

Now it’s sweet treat time again (because once a week is absolutely not enough). I went back to Mrs (Emma) Hollingsworth as I’ve loved her vegan energy balls that I made before, and her recipes are so simple, requiring very few ingredients. If you’re looking for easy vegan treats, which would be perfect to prep for lunchboxes, you can find all her recipes on her blog, although she has just released a book too.

I made her Choco Banana Crumble Sandwich, and despite it not looking as pretty as the one she made, it was a great combo of crunch from the oats, smooth, creamy chocolate and the added banana flavour.

***

How could it be vegan week without some input from Rachel Ama? As well as her Curried Cauliflower, I also made her BALT sandwich, which is smoked aubergine, tomato and lettuce. I loved the smoked aubergine but the tomatoes I’d bought were so bitter, I didn’t really finish it, so it’s a very simple and potentially tasty easy lunch but just make sure you have half-decent veg!

More successful was her Vegan Full English, which I actually made post-vegan week because it appealed to me so much! This is another one of those oxymoronic mini feasts, and the washing up I had to do was mega, but it was worth it. As well as the thinly sliced smoke aubergine, I had avocado, fried plantain, and chilli oyster mushrooms. Not stopping there, she cooks down some tomatoes with spinach for an extra health kick, and my favourite part – the beans on toast. Despite apparently being a bit of a British staple I never eat beans on toast (not that I dislike it), but putting it all together myself made it so much nicer. You top your buttered toast with the tomatoey, spicy haricot beans. This meal will keep you full for a while, whilst giving your body a whole load of nutrients.

Okay, a couple more meals to go, and this one might be my favourite. After the first part of my double shift, I headed to KERB Seven Dials Market in Covent Garden, where Club Mexicana serve up a delicious vegan menu of Mexican street food. I had a Cheezeburger Burrito and Loaded Nachos. Nachos aren’t ever really my favourite to be honest, but I wanted a side dish, and although the tacos looked amazing, I didn’t feel like a taco on the side of a burrito would really work well. The nachos were good, they looked amazingly colourful, and had flavour with a great puffed-up texture to the tortilla chips, but my mind wasn’t blown (nothing against the nachos, like I said, I never really get that excited by them as a dish). The burrito, however, was another story. Lots of places tend to describe certain dishes and flavours as ‘chee[z]eburger’ without much justification, but this burrito honestly tasted like one. The burger mince substitute was delicious, and very convincing, and I could’ve drank burger sauce… This is definitely my top recommendation for this week, whether you’re vegan or not. Ignore how bad the picture is, I was way more bothered about shoving this food in my face than how it was going to look in a photo on my blog a week later.

Okay, last and kind of least (feeling a bit queasy thinking about it), is the Ortolana Pizza from Rossopomodoro. I’d never tried their pizzas at all, let alone the vegan ones, but they seemed to have a few options to choose from. This one was topped with aubergine, capers, spinach, vegan cheese and I can’t remember what else. Actually the base/crust was great, perfect balance of doughy but not too doughy (we only use the official technical terms here), but yeah the toppings made me feel a bit gross afterwards. Maybe it was the lack of tomato sauce, I’m not sure. What this does suggest though, is that Rossopomodoro has the potential to produce a great pizza because they’ve got the base down, but maybe the main non-vegan range is where it’s at.

There we go. 4 weeks down. Next time round I’m gonna head to ByChloe which I have heard wonderful things about, so I cannot wait for that, and you will have to wait slightly longer for my next instalment of fabulous vegan recipe testing, but end of Jan I assure you I will be back here with the lowdown.

If you fancy trying any of the recipes or places mentioned above then it has to be Club Mexicana’s Cheezeburger Burrito, Rachel Ama’s Full English or any of Mrs Hollingsworth’s sweet snacks.

I’m signing off on the vegan adventures for the next month. Until then…

¡Comemos!