Veggie Prêt - Just Yes!

What more is there to say? Other than Yes! and Go Pret!

So if you don't have a clue what I'm talking about, the chain Pret a Manger are about to open their second 'Veggie Pret' shop in London, selling only Vegetarian and Vegan food.

Originally this idea started as a pop up shop but after being so popular it remained opened in Soho last year. And now a second shop is due to open in Shoreditch on the 4th of April and I'm keeping all my fingers and toes crossed that more will follow.

There are so many Vegan menu options such as my favourite Avocado & Chipotle Chickpea Salad wrap, Cucumber and Humous on Rye, Falafel Mezzo and a Cacao & Orange pot. It's absolutely fantastic news for us Vegans.

But don't worry, if like me you don't live close by to London, the usual Pret's offer many of the delicious vegan options too. It's just super exciting to see shops serving only veggie options beginning to pop up.

And hopefully this will lead to more chains realising they need to be offering more veggie options too.

Stay positive and stay kind.

Follow your heart - Vegan Eggs

So it's mother's day here in the UK and I received some Follow your heart Vegan Eggs. I wasn't sure what to expect as it comes in this cute little egg box. But basically inside you will find a bag of yellow powder.

I decided to try the scrambled egg recipe, so I followed the instructions, mixing two tablespoons of product to 115ml of ice cold water. 

Mixing the powdered egg substance and water together made a yellow thick liquid.

The instructions stated that you need a lightly oiled pan on a medium heat and that the mixture should sizzle as it hits the pan. 

As I poured the mixture into the pan it immediately started to form together like scrambled eggs. 

I followed the instructions to cook for 6-8 minutes, however it began to burn and stick to the pan at around 4 minutes. Maybe my pan was too hot or it was too lightly oiled, I don't know.

After about 7 minutes this was the amount of Vegan scrambled egg I was left with. So what did it taste like, well my youngest daughter said 'It tastes like rubber' and it did have an unusual taste with a rubbery texture. But when we added a generous dollop of ketchup and ate some with a mouthful of toast, it had the texture of egg, blind tested I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between real egg and this with the added toast and ketchup. 

I personally don't miss egg, so this wasn't for me. However, I am excited to try this product for baking or as an egg replacement in other recipes. 

Happy Mother's Day and Stay kind xx

Yushoi Snapea rice sticks

Whenever I spot a new tasty looking snack in the supermarket, I have to immediately check the back of the packet, praying there is no milk product. And the first thing that caught my eye was the clear 'suitable for vegetarians and vegans' label and so I did a little happy dance, hopefully nobody was watching.

I think it great that companies are now labelling there products as Vegan, it makes life easier and so I'd like to thank all the companies that do this.

So lets get to this new snack offering from Yushoi, well there are four flavours - Sweet Chilli & Lemon, Lightly Salted, Soy and Balsamic Vinegar and lastly Smoked Salt and Szechaun Pepper. Unfortunately Sainsbury's didn't have the last flavour so I am unable to comment on the flavour, although it sounds amazing.

These snacks have the same texture as Watsit's (or cheese puffs) but pack oodles of flavour and 18-19g of protein per 100g depending on the flavour.

My favourite was the Sweet Chilli and Lemon, these weren't particularly spicy but the heat did begin to intensify with each mouthful. I feel like most people will enjoy the Soy and Balsamic Vinegar flavour the most, 'a Japanese twist on salt and vinegar'. And if flavour just isn't your thing then I'd go for the lightly salted.

So which flavour will you try? I off to track down the Smoked Salt and Szechaun Pepper flavour.

Vegan alternatives to Honey

I have to admit that I'm not totally strict on this one. I don't ever buy honey but if on an occasion I have eaten something like a cereal that I later find out has honey as an ingredient, I don't get myself all worked up about it.

I believe every day you learn new things and you can only do your best, none of us is perfect.

These are the Vegan alternatives to Honey that I enjoy the most.....

Maple Syrup - who doesn't love this stuff over pancakes? Apparently 80% of this stuff comes from Canadian trees, it's so delicious, just make sure you don't get caught out like I did buying maple flavoured syrup! Depending on the quality, maple syrup can price anywhere between £2 - £10 and upwards.

Agave Nectar - Agave plants are grown in the Americas and the nectar can be fermented to make tequila. This syrup some say is worse than sugar as it is apparently high in fructose but it tastes amazing, so my advice is to not have too much. This one costs around £2.50 for 250ml and is available at most supermarkets.

Bee-free Honey - This little beauty is made from coconut nectar and tastes like a cross between honey and molasses, so has a deeper richer taste than the other two. It is slightly more expensive at £6 for 300ml.

There are many other syrups, like fruit syrups etc but these three are my absolute favourites. 

Have fun covering your pancakes, baking or just making life a little sweeter!

Hummus

So falafel's partner in crime is hummus, oh my goodness who doesn't love this stuff, one of my favourite things to do is to eat hummus or hummous or however you like to spell it, with some crusty bread. 

So here's what you need for hummus.....

• 1/4 of a cup of tahini
• 1/4 of lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove (pressed) 
• 2 tablespoons of oil
• 1/2 teaspoon of cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 tin of chickpeas

Take the tahini and lemon juice and pulse, then blitz in the food processor for 30 seconds until well mixed.

Add the garlic, oil, cumin and salt and blitz, scrape the sides down and blitz again. 

Drain and rinse the tin of chickpeas really well.

Add half of the tin of chickpeas and blitz.

Add the other half to the food processor and blitz again.

Add 2-3 tablespoons of water and blitz once more until smooth. 

I like to add some sweet smoked paprika on top, I purchase these tins from TKMaxx.

This is the perfect partner to falafels or served in a salad wrap or as a dip.

Hummus will keep for a couple of days in a lidded container or I freeze small portions for later use. 

Chickpeas are a plant power because they are a good source of protein, fibre, manganese and folate.

Power up on plants people and stay kind :)

Falafels

They say you never forget your first falafel, well mine was at Banksy's art exhibition 'Dismaland' in September 2015, this was three months before I would make the decision to sign up to Veganuary and I'll never ever forget the taste. I didn't at the time even consider that it was a plant-based Vegan option, it just tasted so damn good.

Since that treasured moment in time, watching the sunset from the Tropicana on Weston beach, falafel and somerset cider in hand, thinking it was a perfect day, I have tried so many recipes to recreate it, only for them to be not quite right in either texture or taste. 

So I messed around with the key ingredients canned chickpeas then dried chickpeas, tweaking the cumin etc until I came up with this one. And it's pretty freaking close to my hazy day, end of summer feeling, Dismaland falafel. 

So here's what you need....

IMPORTANT - you must soak the chickpeas overnight, I've lost count of the times I have forgotten and couldn't make this recipe on the day I wanted to and NO canned chickpeas won't do. And another warning you will end up with sticking falafel mix hands but trust me it will be worth it. 

• 1 cup of dried chickpeas (soaked for 24 hours/overnight)

• 1 medium sized onion (chopped)

• 4 cloves of garlic (pressed)

• 1 handful of fresh parsley

• 1 handful of fresh coriander (or cilantro if you are from the USA)

• 2 teaspoons of cumin seeds (grounded, I use a pestle and mortar)
• 2 teaspoons of coriander seeds (again grounded, I do these with the cumin seeds)

• a pinch of Salt and Pepper

What to do ..............

So you need to rinse the pre-soaked chickpeas really really well, let them drain before placing them in a food processor, add all the other ingredients and pulse for 30 seconds, use a spatula to scrap the sides and blitz again for another 30 seconds, you want to repeat this last step until you have a fine course mixture.

At this point you could put your mixture in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or until you want to start cooking them, this help them to stick together. However I have made these straight from the food processor and they work perfectly well.

Then here comes the messy part, take a dessert spoon and spoonful some mixture into your hands, roll each one in to a small ball, you don't want them too big or they will fall apart.

Add them to a shallow pan of cooking oil on a medium heat. I cook six at a time.

When they start to brown you will need to keep turning them until they are cooked on all sides.

Then I place the cooked falafels in a baking tray and place in a warm oven, you are just keeping them warm so you don't want a hot oven!

And then cook another batch of six and repeat until you have used all the mixture or you have enough, as you could save the mixture in a covered container in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

So how do I eat my falafels, well they are great just served with some hummus as a snack but if I'm serving these for a meal then this is what I do.....

• Take a tortilla wrap
• Spread a layer of hummus in the middle
• Add whatever salad you like, pickled gherkins work well in there too
• Add vegan mayo
• Add three falafels
• Add sweet chilli sauce or hot sauce 
• Add fresh coriander/cilantro or your favourite fresh herb
• Wrap
• AND EAT and then repeat if hungry!

Enjoy and let me know how they turned out. Stay kind :)

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