Yeah, that’s right. Vegans don’t eat grass.
We are Liv and Zoe, Exeter students, housemates and vegans. Olivia has been successfully vegan for over a year. Zoe has been successfully vegan for the much less impressive…month (but vegetarian for nearly 2 years).
The first thing to note is that it isn’t hard. There are so many wonderful options available right now, and many are being added to restaurant menus and supermarket product lists every day. Nearly every meat and a large number of dairy products have a vegan equivalent.
This does not mean that you need to replace everything at once. You can do it slowly – either go vegan for a few meals or a few days a week. Any change you make to your diet to cut down on meat and/or dairy will make a positive difference to the planet and to you.
I won’t go into the reasons why you should go vegan, or even vegetarian. It’s been covered a thousand times before. However, if you are interested this is what the vegan society has to say on the matter.
To prove how easy and tasty it can be to go vegan, every other week we will share three delicious meals and recipes with you, including which brands of meat and dairy substitutes we used as well as top tips. This week from the Vegans Don’t Eat Grass kitchen…
Meal 1: The ultimate vegan roast dinner (with Yorkshires)
Despite this roast being made in a small kitchen for five people (which included two vegans, a vegetarian and two meat eaters) it turned out amazingly. The roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings were made vegan and enjoyed by everyone. Our protein sources were the Vivera Veggie Steaks, which were delicious and almost creepy in how realistic they were.
Start with the roast potatoes. These will be the best ever:
- Put corn oil (corn oil is best for crispy roast potatoes) in a baking tray in the oven at 200°C to heat up.
- Pre-boil the roast potatoes for 15 minutes.
- Drain the potatoes in a colander and fluff the edges with a fork so that they crisp better.
- Put them in the corn oil, with some garlic cloves, and in the oven for around 40 minutes, taking them out at regular intervals to turn them.
Next up: the Yorkshire puddings.
This recipe is really basic but works really well, and there is no need for an egg substitute. These are slightly different to non-vegan Yorkshires, in that they are denser, but they definitely pleased everyone that ate them (which included the non-vegans). They taste incredible, trust us.
For vegetables, simply choose your favourites. We roasted carrots which were cut into large chunks, in the oven for an hour with sliced garlic and a pinch of caraway (or fennel seeds) until caramelised. Steam a couple more vegetables to fill up your plate.
Cook our preferred protein source (such as the Viveria steaks we used, or a nut roast) as instructed on the packet.
For the gravy, we used Sainsbury’s own vegetarian gravy granules, with a spoonful of soy sauce, half a teaspoon of marmite, a spoonful of agave, and a teaspoon of flour to thicken.
Enjoy!
Meal 2: Sweet potato with easy homemade vegan coleslaw
This is one of the simplest meals you can make. At the beginning of the week make a large batch of this vegan coleslaw, and to make an easy comfort meal just roast a sweet potato (although beware this may take a couple of hours! Just shove it in the oven and go about your day; I’ve left it in for hours before and it didn’t even burn, so don’t stress). If you pair with leftovers, like a bit of chilli, or curry, it will be an even better meal. You can also put it in wraps and sandwiches, or have it with sausage rolls (these ones from Linda McCartney are incredible and available in most supermarkets) and salad.
To make the coleslaw:
Grate a carrot, finely slice a white cabbage, and finely slice 3 spring onions. Mix with 3 tablespoons of vegan mayonnaise, a tablespoon of vinegar (any pale variety is fine – we used white wine) and plenty of salt and pepper. That’s literally it. And it’s so good.
Meal 3: Easy, healthy chocolate porridge
Of course, vegan breakfasts are not too hard – cereal with a nut milk of choice, or toast with butter. But if you want something else, making porridge in the microwave is a fantastic, filling breakfast (or lunch or dinner). And making it with chocolate is even better. Obviously.
Simply put half a mug of rolled oats in a large bowl, and then add a whole mug of soya/almond/coconut milk. You can do however much you like, simply make sure there is twice as much liquid as oats. Put this in the microwave. In our 900-watt microwave, this takes about 2 minutes, but it may take longer for you.
Then you can add the chocolate – the simplest way to get a dark chocolate flavour is to simply add a heaped teaspoon of cocoa powder. It does not end up as bitter as you think it would. Or, you can mix in chocolate chips or chopped chocolate (make sure its vegan – most milk chocolate obviously isn’t, but dark often is – or try the free from sections in supermarkets) or a large spoonful of chocolate spread.
Don’t forget the toppings!
Olivia likes to add: extra soya or oat milk and a generous squirt of agave nectar.
Zoe likes to add: chopped hazelnuts and walnuts, and sliced banana.