Whatever the future holds,
veganism is set for another flexitarian-fuelled boom this month as thousands of
people turn to veganuary in an attempt to start the year with a healthier
lifestyle and do their bit for the environment by eating less meat.
Veganism is nothing new off
course as in many cultures the practice of abstaining entirely from animal
produce has an established history. Many Rastafarians, followers of Jainism and
certain sects of Buddhism have been swearing off meat, fish, eggs and dairy for
centuries, but in the west it took an awful long time to really catch on. There
wasn’t even a commonly accepted English-language name until 1944, when a
British woodworker called Donald Watson called a meeting with a handful of
other non-dairy vegetarians (including his wife, Dorothy) to discuss a less
cumbersome label for their lifestyle choice and the word vegan actually came
into being.
These days the typical
stereotype of a vegan as someone who spends their days walking around barefoot,
wearing hippie harem pants on a scrawny emaciated frame, eating unappetising looking
bowls of lentil stew like Neil from the cult comedy The Young Ones has long gone. Social media and celebrity
endorsements have played a significant part and #vegan has had more than 61
million posts listed on Instagram alone. Vegan food is now hip, colourful and
extremely photogenic, and the image of a beautiful, social influencer drooling
over her amazingly healthy salad bowl packed full of nutritional super foods is
also a very strong and positive message for younger generations. And let’s face
it, whatever our age; we all secretly want to be trendy and we all seem to
want social approval these days. Sometimes I get the impression that we are all
somehow trapped in a millennial bubble, where we spend more time with our heads
down, scrolling through snapshots of our peers’ daily lives than actually
living our own. I mean, if it weren’t for the likes of Instagram, how else
would we see what everyone is eating?
As a fairly committed
omnivore, I just couldn’t imagine eating plant-based food all of the time, but
even I’m thinking of giving veganism a try for a while over the coming weeks. And
taking meat, fish, dairy or eggs out of cooking can actually became a catalyst
for creativity, forcing me, and many other chefs to think in new and
interesting ways about how to extract the most flavour and pleasure from the
usual suspects in the vegetable counter. As annoying as boringly hip diet
trends tend to be, in this case, it’s no bad thing. Because when it comes to
our environment, health, and the rights of animals, adopting a vegan diet, even
just for one short month, is an all-around win. A very Happy and healthy New
Year!
Vegan Thai green curry with jasmine-Pineapple rice
Ingredients serves
4
1 tin of coconut milk
1 courgette, diced
250g pumpkin, peeled &
diced
½ red pepper, sliced
300g broccoli florets
1 medium onion, finely
chopped
1 small bunch of coriander
1-2 tbsp’s green curry
paste
Juice of one lime
Seasoning
Green curry paste
A small bunch of fresh
coriander
3tbsp chopped lemongrass
3 kaffir lime leaves
4 small green chilies,
de-seeded
5g fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp fish sauce
½ tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp salt
Juice of 1 lime
Place all the ingredients
in a food processor and blend to a thick paste.
Heat a little olive oil in
a heavy-bottomed saucepan and sweat the onion, sliced red pepper and diced
pumpkin until they start to soften. Add the broccoli, courgettes, curry paste
and pour over the coconut milk. Simmer for 10 minutes until the vegetables are
cooked through. Season to taste, sprinkle with cashew nuts and serve with
boiled jasmine rice-pineapple rice.
Jasmine- pineapple rice
320g jasmine rice
700ml water
350g fresh pineapple, diced
Juice of ½ lime
2tbsp fresh coriander,
chopped
Seasoning
Bring the water the boil in
a saucepan and add the rice and pineapple. Cover with a lid and reduce the
heat. Simmer gently for 15 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let the rice
sit for 5 minutes, then fluff rice with a fork. Stir in lime juice and chopped
coriander. Season to taste.
VEGAN BANANA & COCONUT PARFAIT
WITH BANANA CARAMEL SAUCE
Prep time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 10 mins
Ingredients Serves: 4
For the parfait:
3 very ripe bananas, sliced
1tbsp honey
The seeds from 1 vanilla
pod,
1 can of coconut cream
Place 1½ bananas, honey and
vanilla to a mixing bowl. Whisk for 1 minute and add slowly add the coconut
cream and continue beating for 2-3 minutes or until smooth and fluffy. Pour the
parfait into glasses and place in the freezer for 2-3 hours.
Banana caramel sauce:
150ml water
250g sugar
200ml vegan cream
50g vegan butter
Bring the water and sugar
to the boil in a heavy bottomed pan. Cook (without stirring) until golden brown
for 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from
the heat and immediately add the cream and butter. Stir well until smooth and add the sliced bananas. To serve,
remove the parfaits from the freezer and top each one with warm caramel sauce
and serve immediately.
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