The Vegan Thread

My pal Phoebe has just launched a vegan/ ethically sourced online market place called Carma.

Check it out and share with friends if you like :)

Apparently lots more brands launching on it soon so worth keeping an eye out!

Happier to buy from Pret also now they’ve started putting content stickers on the sandwiches. Twice previously I’ve walked away with a wrap that’s had meat in it that had been put in the wrong place on the shelves

Hi all,
I was hoping to get some guidance from you all as to where I can find a variety of vegan recipes/ what the best cookbooks are.

My partner and I are both meat eaters. We have reduced our consumption over the past year and are now looking to dip our toes into a fully plant based diet. We have agreed that we will try a two week stint to give it a go and see if it works with our lifestyle etc. We both enjoy cooking and food in general, so I want to make sure that (given I’ll be doing all the cooking) the food we have for these two weeks is something we enjoy and there is enough variety to convince my partner and myself that we could do this longer term.

Where is the best place to look? I am struggling to find where to look. There are a mass of faddy, Instagram meal plans that I don’t think will work so would appreciate the advice of the forum. I have flicked through some of the history of the chat but haven’t seen anything obvious.

Thank you all!

Good stuff. Part-copying an earlier post of mine:

I always recommend the first two RASA cookbooks. The first one is omnivorous and the second one is ovo-lacto vegetarian, but most recipes are very easy to do vegan, and there are plenty of vegan ones to start with. It's a superb style of cuisine.

Unfortunately, they don't seem to have info on the books on their web-site any more.

http://rasarestaurants.com/

The two I mean are 'Fresh Flavours of India' and 'The New Taste of India'. No need to bother with the others (they're simplified, omnivorous, and not as good).

If you're in London, you could do worse than visit RASA N16 first to see if you like this style of cooking.

Back when I first went there, in early 1997, it showed me how good vegetarian cuisine could be. I went vegan two years later.

https://www.bosh.tv/book/bosh-the-cookbook

Their food is simple and tasty.

+1 for bosh

+1 for bosh, unfortunately my other favorite book isn’t available in English.

Instead of me flinging random recipes at you, could you make a meal planner of what you already eat in a week, or what you want to eat next week? Then it’s so easy to fill in and point you to good vegan versions.

Here’s a version of our week:

Monday: soup
Tuesday: pasta
Wednesday: poke bowl
Thursday: Indian
Friday: burgers
Saturday: Asian
Sunday: falafel

Thank you all. Very helpful.

@Simba generally my meals are quite easy to convert. Already have tofu stir fry, quorn con carne (although I am not sure quorn mince is actually vegan?), chickpea/ cauliflower curry etc so happy with all of them.

The meals that I am struggling to replace are the likes of Salmon filet or chicken breast with veg. I am keen to have some non-stew based options that are similar to these types of meals. We will have a variety of salads for lunch as well so keen to avoid them in the evening.

I have just picked up Bosh from the shops and it looks great and will certainly be using it.

Quorn don't do a vegan mince yet but you could rehydrate TVP or use Sainsbury's veggie mince as that's vegan.

Vivera do vegan meat substitutes like chicken escalope. They're probably quite salty though. Something like tofu steak or tempeh might be better?

although I am not sure quorn mince is actually vegan?

Some Quorn is vegan ...

https://www.quorn.co.uk/products/vegan

... but they don't list the mince there as far as I can see.

I personally don't buy Quorn, and there are now so many veat (sorry) companies that there's very little reason to.

Snap.

Ahh, I see. That’s obviously a bit more tricky, since nothing really replaces a slab of meat, or gets a bit bland due to the lack of spices/umami.
Personally I just stopped eating those kinds of meals because I never fell for any of the meat analogs, but it took a while to unlearn as that’s what I grew up with.

A big grilled portobello mushroom. Or a stuffed one.
I like to fry leftover slices of our homemade nut loaf too

Great idea

Will keep you all updated!

Duh not soya.. 😆 Seitan could work, too much can leave you bloated though.

Dinner recommendations around Clerkenwell? Happy to move toward Old st or Exmouth Market

A fairly long article that I didn't actually find all that interesting, but I didn't know that Michael Mansfield is (presumably, based on how he is quoted here) vegan.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/oct/25/why-do-people-hate-vegans

I've vaguely been doing this.

One thing I did find was that you have to be much more organized in terms of shopping. You can't necessarily just nip into the local shop and pick up something decent.

Yes only a few days in and realised this. Not a bad thing though!

Curry time, just wish I could add more chillis.

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that looks really tasty dude. home made naan? recipe please if good as they look

They were homemade and pretty good, dough was super loose and sticky though, should've used more flour. https://minimalistbaker.com/easy-vegan-naan/

nice one dude. will be giving them a go

Those Naan do look good. Tried any modification of the recipe such as atta flour and no baking soda?