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!
xo
¡Comemos! 