Vowing to go vegan for the new year
IF LAST week’s talk of insects as a source of protein left you cold (or even feeling slightly nauseous) and you can’t imagine serving (or being served) cricket canapés, let’s look this week at another of this year’s supposedly “hot” trends.
All the pundits seem to agree that there will be more meat-free days in 2018. Not just “meat-free Mondays”; this year it is expected to go much further. Once widely associated with animal rights activists, certain religions and the health conscious, veganism has become much more mainstream over the past couple of years, with more and more people dabbling with a vegan diet. Many of them have no intention of going vegan permanently, nor are they necessarily morally opposed to eating meat — often it is concern for the environment that is the driving factor.
According to the Vegan Society, an increasing number of people are pledging to go vegan for between seven and 30 days at a time. To a committed carnivore (or even an unrepentant “flexitarian” like me), giving up all meat, dairy, eggs, fish and seafood might sound extreme but that is exactly what thousands of people are doing this month.
Veganuary, when people are encouraged to try a vegan diet for a month after the feasting of Christmas and New Year, started in 2014 with 3,200 participants. In 2017, 60,000 people world-wide signed up.
This year, the figure has risen exponentially, with 160,000 having signed up by January 12 and more still joining daily. Veganuary 2018 sees people from 182 countries taking part, with the United Kingdom providing well over 173,000 participants. British supermarket chain Waitrose reported a five-fold increase in searches for vegan food on their website in the days running up to New Year.
Veganuary apart, keeping an eye on how much meat and saturated fat we consume is no bad thing. This week’s recipes are all packed with interesting flavours and textures — and just happen to be vegan as well, so if you want to dip your toe in the 2018 [trend] water, you can start here.
Vegan cooking can involve a considerable amount of creative thinking — as we saw last year, turning aquafaba, the water in which beans or chickpeas are cooked or tinned, into meringues — not to mention careful label reading. That is especially true here, where finding vegancompatible ingredients is not always easy. Items that are suitable for vegetarians are not necessarily fine for vegans. For example, most of the margarines here contain milk proteins, even those labelled “vegetarian”, “sunflower” or “olive oil”. However, most commerciallyproduced puff pastry is vegan — Jus-roll and Pınar are usually safe choices here but do check the packaging — so we’ll start with a winter warmer pie, packed with seasonal ingredients. 350g mushrooms, cultivated and/or wild, roughly chopped 10 cooked and peeled chestnuts, chopped
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves 2 tablespoons sherry (or Commandaria) 200g silken tofu, diced Salt, black pepper and freshly grated nutmeg
6 squares ready-rolled puff pastry (or about 350g in one piece), defrosted if frozen
Heat the oven to 220°C and line a large baking tray with nonstick parchment.
Put all the filling ingredients into a pan, season well, cover with the lid and cook over a fairly low heat for 10-15 minutes, until the tofu has melted and everything has cooked down to the consistency of a thick sauce. Set aside to cool slightly.
You can either make individual pasties using the precut squares or roll out the pastry into a large sheet and use a plate as a template to cut out two large discs. Keep any trimmings to use on something else. Place one disc on the baking tray. Pile the filling onto the centre of the disc, knock the edges up with your fingers and then sit the other disc on top as a lid. Crimp the edges together firmly to seal and score the top with a knife to make an attractive pattern.
If making individual pasties, lay three squares on the baking tray as the bases. Divide the filling among them, damp the edges, fit the other three squares on top as lids and crimp the edges firmly with a fork to seal. Pierce each lid a couple of times with a knife.
Bake in the centre of the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the pastry is golden and puffy. Serve immediately, with lots of vegetables. A pinch of saffron
2 tablespoons boiling water 1 small cauliflower, broken into florets
1 medium onion, thinly sliced Half a teaspoon chilli flakes (pul biber) 125g couscous (or coarse bulgur if you prefer)
A handful of parsley, chopped 6 dates, stoned and chopped 75g green olives, pitted and chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil Black pepper Juice of half a lemon
Heat the oven to 200°C and blend the saffron and boiling water together in a small bowl.
Tip the cauliflower and onion into a large bowl, sprinkle over the pul biber and a tablespoon of olive oil. Pour over the saffron mix and toss everything well. Spread the cauliflower mixture out on a large baking tray and roast for about 30 minutes, turning occasionally.
Meanwhile, bring a pan of salted water to the boil, add the couscous and cook according to the packet instructions until just al dente. Drain well and set aside.
When the cauliflower is golden and slightly crispy at the edges, remove the tray from the oven and add the couscous, parsley, dates and olives. Season to taste with black pepper and lemon juice (there should be enough salt from the olives). Drizzle over the remaining olive oil and toss gently just before serving. 3 large potatoes, peeled, chopped and rinsed
1 onion, thinly sliced 2 tablespoons sunflower oil 1 teaspoon mustard seeds 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 1 scant teaspoon ground turmeric 1 teaspoon ground coriander 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon ground ginger Half a teaspoon red chilli powder 1 small green chilli, minced Salt
2 tablespoons tomato purée 250ml water
A generous squeeze of lemon juice A handful of chopped coriander
Heat the oil in a large pan and make sure the lid is within easy reach. Add the mustard and cumin seeds and when they start to fizz and pop, quickly tip in the potatoes and onions and cover with the lid.
Reduce the heat and stir in the turmeric, ground spices, chilli and a little salt. Blend the tomato purée and water together, pour it into the pan and replace the lid.
Cook gently until the potatoes are soft but not mushy, stirring occasionally. If they start to stick, add a little more water and reduce the heat. Squeeze over some lemon juice and garnish with coriander just before serving.
All this week’s recipes should serve two to three.