Recipe: Crumpets, vegetables and tofu within 15 minutes

This is a light meal that doesn't need much preparation or cooking time.

This recipe serves 2

Ingredients

• 14 Brussels Sprouts
• Salt
• Pepper
• About 150g of Tofu
• Soy Sauce
• Freshly chopped coriander
• 4 crumpets - I like Warbutons because they're soft, fluffy and vegan
• Vegan margarine - I use Pure Sunflower Spread
• Marmite

Method

1. Wash some sprouts and put them in a pan with some water
2. Add a little salt, put the lid on the pan and let them boil until they are as soft as you like them to be
3. Meanwhile, chop some tofu and place it on a plate
4. Drizzle soy sauce on the tofu and dress it with some chopped coriander - I like coriander so I am generous with it, you may want to use a handful, taste it and then add more if you like the flavours it adds to the dish
5. When the sprouts are nearly done, toast some crumpets
6. When the crumpets are as soft/crunchy as you  like them to be, spread some soya margarine on
7. Drain the water from the sprouts into a glass so that you can drink it or use it in a soup
8. Add the margarine to the sprouts and mix
9. Add freshly ground sea salt and pepper to the sprouts and place them on the plate

Snippets from different speakers who share their reasons for advocating a vegan diet

In a previous post I mentioned that I like hearing why people make a shift towards a vegan diet or lifestyle. This is because the reasons tend to vary so much. The footage below shows summaries from a range of people who share why they made the shift to a vegan diet.

Can you think of any other reasons to go vegan?

More about this film...

The entire film lasts 30 minutes. It explores the benefits of being vegan. Some of these are: -

• an exciting lifestyle

• eating delicious food

• consuming healthy food

• tackling the ethics behind making this shift

• global challenges that we face now and in the future.

It was produced by The Vegan Society.

Will you make the connection and become part of the solution?

Here, you can find out what made me transform my diet from one which included meat, to a vegetarian one, which was followed by a shift to a vegan diet.

"I just could not stand the idea of eating meat - I really do think that it has made me calmer.... People's general awareness is getting much better, even down to buying a pint of milk: the fact that the calves are actually killed so that the milk doesn't go to them but to us cannot really be right, and if you have seen a cow in a state of extreme distress because it cannot understand why its calf isn't by, it can make you think a lot." Kate Bush

Recipe: Mixed vegetables in a wrap within 30 minutes

This meal is becoming an all time favourite! It's quick, healthy, versatile, full of different vegetables and most  of all, delicious!

This recipe serves 2.

Ingredients for the mixed vegetable filling

•    1/2 a teaspoon of oil – I usually use olive oil
•    1 fresh chilli – finely chopped - decide whether to use all, more or less, of the chilli, based on how spicy it is, also considering how spicy you like your food to be
•    1 small carrot – chopped into small bite-size pieces
•    a handful of olives – I prefer black olives because they’re not sharp
•    1 small (200g) can of sweetcorn
•    1/2 a courgette – chopped into small cubes
•    1/3 of a yellow pepper – chopped into thin 2 cm strips
•    1/3 of an orange pepper – chopped into thin 2 cm strips
•    1/3 of a green/red pepper – chopped into thin 2 cm strips
•    vegan mince – use as much, or as little, as you would like - many supermarket own brands tend to be vegan
•    salt to taste
•    1/4 of a teaspoon of pepper
•    a pinch of cinnamon powder
•    a pinch of nutmeg powder
•    2 large wholemeal wraps

Method for the mixed vegetable filling

1.    Put the oil in a pan and heat it using a medium setting
2.    Once it's become hot, add the chilli
3.    After 20 seconds, add the carrots and cook for 7 minutes, after which they should be semi cooked
4.    Now add the olives, sweetcorn, courgette, peppers, salt, pepper, nutmeg and cinnamon
5.    Stir and let it cook with the lid on the pan
6.    After 1 minute, add the vegan mince and mix
7.    Cook until it's as soft as you like it to be – I usually turn the heat off after 5 minutes
8.    Warm the wraps
9.    Place the filling along the middle of the wrap, take the bottom of the wrap and fold it towards the centre, do the same with the sides, leaving the top open
10.    Put this on a plate and enjoy

Serving suggestions

Spread some Guacamole on to the wrap before adding the filling

Recipe: Naturally sweet porridge with nuts, seeds and dried fruit within 10 minutes

This recipe makes a nourishing, warm and satisfying breakfast, which is quick and easy to make.

This recipe serves 1.

Ingredients for vegan porridge

• 3 tablespoons of porridge oats

• 1/2 mug of water

• 1/4/ mug of milk - rice milk, oat milk, soya milk or hemp milk

• 1 pinch of cardamom

• 1 tablespoon of seeds and 1 tablespoon of fruit - I used the following

  • pumpkin seeds

  • dried mango

  • dried papaya

  • raisins

  • brazil nuts

How to make vegan porridge

1. Put half a mug of water in a pan - you can also add 1/4 of a mug of milk OR replace the water with milk

2. Add the cardamom

3. Add the oats

4. Let it boil until it reaches the consistency you like

5. Serve in a bowl

6. Add some pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, pecan nuts, chopped walnuts & any other nuts or dried/fresh fruit that you desire

Enjoy!

How the environment reacts to what we eat, how we grow it and what we waste

There's a lot of debate about how our choices and actions have an impact on the environment. It effects everyone in one way or another and because, our motivations are different, reaching a solution that all parties will be happy with, is a hard task. The video below sums up how our dietary choices, the way we meet this demand, and how we deal with waste, impacts on the environment.

A few points to look out  for as you watch the video:-

1. How much of the greenhouse emissions are caused by dairy and meat? 
2. How much of the greenhouse emissions are caused by aviation?
3. What is the one of the primary causes of water table pollution in the U.S.?
4. Which method of fishing is described as not harming the environment?

More about this film...

The entire film lasts 30 minutes. It explores the benefits of being vegan. Some of these are: -

• an exciting lifestyle
• eating delicious food
• consuming healthy food
• tackling the ethics behind making this shift
• global challenges that we face now and in the future.

It was produced by The Vegan Society.

Will you make the connection and become part of the solution?

A global shift towards a vegan diet is vital to save the world from hunger, fuel poverty and the worst impacts of climate change, a UN report said today. As the global population surges towards a predicted 9.1 billion people by 2050, western tastes for diets rich in meat and dairy products are unsustainable, says the report from United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) international panel of sustainable resource management. It says: "Impacts from agriculture are expected to increase substantially due to population growth increasing consumption of animal products. Unlike fossil fuels, it is difficult to look for alternatives: people have to eat. A substantial reduction of impacts would only be possible with a substantial worldwide diet change, away from animal products."

Source - The Guardian

Recipe: Tofu, Pak Choi, Wild Rocket, Plum Tomatoes and Cauliflower within 20 minutes

This meal took less than 20 minutes and the result was a healthy dinner, which was full of flavour.

This recipe serves 2.

Ingredients

• 200g Pak Choi
• 1/2 a small cauliflower
• 1/2 a packet of Taifun Organic Smoked Tofu with almonds and sesame seeds
• Olive oil
• About 20g of Wild Rocket
• 10 Cherry/plum tomatoes
• Salt
• Pepper

Method

1. Put enough water in a pan so that only half of the Pak Choi is immersed in water - I love Pak Choi so I used a fair bit
2. Boil it with the lid on and it should be done within 3 - 5 minutes - I drink the water after it's cooled so that no nutrients are wasted
3. Repeat this with some chopped cauliflower - again, cut the amount to suit you
4. Whilst it's boiling, take some Tofu and grill it or cook it in a frying pan with a few drops of oil
5. I took it off the heat after a few minutes, so it was semi crunchy and semi soft
6. Wash some rocket and create a bed of leaves on the plate - I love rocket so I used a lot
7. Wash some cherry/plum tomatoes and place them on the bed of rocket
8. Add the vegetables and tofu
9. Season with salt and pepper

How can we enjoy a more diverse range of fruits and nuts without the problems of pest and disease?

Like many others, I believed that we can only enjoy a more diverse range of fruits and nuts by importing them in to the country. I hadn't really thought about the problems of pest and disease, because my thought stopped at 'we couldn't grow them here.' This video explains that the usage of land has become monotonous and we are being forced to import items which we could grow ourselves!

Some of the positive impacts caused by going plant-based would be:-

• more diversity of fruit, nuts and shrubs
• there would be LESS pest and disease problems
• more tree habitats
• a positive effect on climate change

What other points did you grasp from this video?

More about this film...

The entire film lasts 30 minutes. It explores the benefits of being vegan. Some of these are: -

• an exciting lifestyle
• eating delicious food
• consuming healthy food
• tackling the ethics behind making this shift
• global challenges that we face now and in the future.

It was produced by The Vegan Society.

Will you make the connection and become part of the solution?

"The single greatest lesson the garden teaches is that our relationship to the planet need not be zero-sum, and that as long as the sun still shines and people still can plan and plant, think and do, we can, if we bother to try, find ways to provide for ourselves without diminishing the world." Michael Pollan

Recipe: A quick cooling dessert within 5 minutes

The bonus to this dessert is it includes fresh fruit. Thus giving it a 'healthy' aspect! 

This recipe serves 2.

Ingredients for a vegan cooling dessert

• 4 scoops of Vanilla Swedish Glace
• 2 handfuls of fruit - we used raspberries but you could use other fruits, such as, strawberries, pineapple and blueberries

How to make a vegan cooling dessert

1. Put some scoops of vegan ice cream in a bowl
2. Put the fruit in a small blender
3. Blend the fruit
4. Pour the blended fruit over the ice cream
5. Serve and enjoy

An MP explains why we can't continue to sustain a Western style diet

I don't know why I was surprised to hear a Member of Parliament saying that we can't sustain a Western style diet outright and on record. The truth does not and should not be dependant on the source of it! This video is under 1.5 minutes long and it compares the effects of a Western style diet and a plant-based one.

Here are some points that leaped out at me:-

• WithOUT the predicted growth population of 2.3 billion we'd need 3 Earth sized planets to sustain ourselves if everyone adopted a Western diet.
• A vegan diet only needs 1/3 of the water and land in comparison to that needed to maintain an animal based diet.
• Farmers will not be displaced and out of work as a result of people shifting to a vegan diet.

More about this film...

The entire film lasts 30 minutes. It explores the benefits of being vegan. Some of these are: -

• an exciting lifestyle
• eating delicious food
• consuming healthy food
• tackling the ethics behind making this shift
• global challenges that we face now and in the future.

It was produced by The Vegan Society.

Will you make the connection and become part of the solution?

“This civilization is the impact of the world's consumption behavior.” Toba Beta

Recipe: Udon noodles with delicious vegetables within 20 minutes

This dish was delicious!
I usually make this so that there's more veg than noodles.

This recipe serves 2.

Ingredients

•    1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil
•    2 aniseed stars
•    2 fresh chillies – chopped
•    2 pak choi – separate the leaves
•    150g of mange tout - kept whole
•    175g of baby corn – cut into thirds
•    1 carrot – cut along the carrot making 3 cm strips
•    1/4 of a small bunch of broccoli – chopped into bite-size pieces
•    2 tablespoons of soy sauce
•    1 (150g) packet of straight to wok udon noodles

Method 

1.    Heat the sesame oil in a wok
2.    When it’s hot, add the chillies and aniseed star
3.    After 30 seconds, add the carrot, pak choi, baby corn, mange tout and broccoli
4.    Put the lid on the pan and let it cook on a high heat for a about 3 minutes
5.    Add the soy sauce and mix
6.    Cook for 1 minute and then add the noodles
7.    Mix again, put the lid on the pan and cook on a high heat, for 1 minute
8.    Serve in a bowl if you would like the food to remain hot for longer, otherwise serve it in a plate

Serving suggestions

Toast some sesame seeds and as add a garnish before serving.
Toast some cashew nuts and as add a garnish before serving.