Why top blogger wants you to realise vegan food is exciting

Aveteran of vegan cooking who has never had a taste for meat, Rita Serano can rattle off a long list of misconceptions she’s heard about vegan food: “That it’s boring, that it doesn’t taste good, that I only eat salads and that it’s hard to do” – to name just a few.

It’s exactly these ideas that Rita is on a mission to change. Her new book, Vegan In 7, features recipes that require seven ingredients or fewer, and the pages are far less green than you might image; multi-coloured stirfries, stews and cakes show there’s a lot more to her diet than pure salad.

Veganism is a way of life

The Dutch food blogger and recipe developer splits her time between Amsterdam and the French countryside, where she’s cultivated her vegan pedigree for decades. “I know vegan food is fashionable at the moment, but for me, it’s really a lifestyle,” she explains. “Eating this way, for me, is the only way to feel alive and healthy.” Today, she is buzzing with passion about the impact veganism has had on her. “I’m nearly 44 and I have so much energy – I’m not sick and I don’t use medicine at all.” Her enthusiasm for the diet – which contains no animal products of any kind – knows no bounds; she excitedly describes her recipe for salmon lax, with a twist: “It’s not salmon, it’s carrot.” “If you close your eyes and if it’s cut the right way, really thinly on a little cracker with fresh dill – it’s really has the same mouth feel, and the same taste,” she explains. People are always looking to substitute vegan options into dishes they know, and Rita has plenty ideas – from chai jam to smoky unami burgers, to an almond feta which, she explains proudly, has “completely the same structure as normal feta”.

The trend for vegan eating has exploded quickly

Now, she has more then 40k Instagram followers relying on her vegan tips, and she’s enjoying being