Mushroom Roll or Ann’s Pie all make popular main courses for Christmas, although I still think there’s a place for a really good Nut Roast. All of these need to be served with complementary sauces, and there are a number of tasty possibilities in the section starting here.
I especially enjoyed working on the Desserts and Cakes and Cookies chapters in this book. It was very satisfying to create really good vegan versions of favourites such as Raspberry Ice, Kulfi – that delectable, fragrant Indian ice – Chocolate Mousse, Chocolate Torte and Steamed Syrup Pudding, not to mention the superb Fruit Cake, amazingly light and tasty Sponge Cake, with several variations, and the very good Sticky Date Ginger Cake. In fact, the results were so good that I began to wonder why we generally use eggs in these recipes at all! I hope you will enjoy them, and all the other recipes in this book, too.
A note on ingredients and measures
Nearly all the ingredients you need for vegan cookery are easy to find. Read the labels; you will soon get to know which products are suitable and find your favourites.
SOYA MILKS, MARGARINES AND CREAM
There are numerous soya milks and vegan margarines and you really need to just try them all out to find which ones are your favourites. Of the margarines, I particularly like an unsalted one made with cold-pressed oils available from healthfood shops. Vegan cream, made from soya, is also available. Again, it is a case of trying the different brands to see which one you like best. There is an excellent one flavoured delicately with real vanilla.
OILS
My preference is for olive oil, except for deep or shallow frying, for which I think a chemically stable oil such as rape or soya is best. When frying onion, garlic or other such ingredient at the beginning of a recipe, I use a little olive oil. This can be a blended olive oil – the cheapest – saving the best you can afford for dressing and finishing a dish, where the flavour and colour really count.
How to meet daily nutritional requirements on a vegan diet
| Food group whole grains and potatoes | How often to eat 2–4 100g (4oz) servings daily | What it provides energy, protein, oils, vitamins, fibre | Some examples brown rice, corn, millet, barley, bulgur, buckwheat, oats, muesli, bread, pasta, flour |
| pulses (legumes) | 1–2 100g (4oz) servings daily | protein, oils | green peas, lentils, chickpeas (garbanzos), kidney beans, baked beans, soya products |
| green and yellow vegetables | 1–3 25g (1oz) servings daily | vitamins, minerals, protein | broccoli, Brussels sprouts, spinach, cabbage, carrots, marrow, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, parsnips |
| nuts and seeds | 1–3 25g (1oz) servings daily | energy, protein, oils, calcium, trace minerals | almonds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, nut butters, tahini, sunflower seeds |
| fruit | 3–6 pieces daily | energy, vitamins, minerals | all kinds |
| vitamin and mineral foods | 1 serving of (a) and (b) 3 times a week | trace minerals and vitamin B12 | (a) sea vegetables (b) B12-fortified foods, such as soya milk, TVP and breakfast cereals |
Based on a table by Dr Michael Klaper,
used with his kind permission
HERBS AND SPICES
Herbs and spices really give flavour to vegan dishes. My advice is to gradually build up a collection of your favourite spices. Some herbs dry well and are useful to keep on hand, such as bay leaves, oregano, thyme and rosemary. Others are far better fresh and it’s great that they are so easy to get now.
SALT
While writing this book, I’ve become more aware of the health risks relating to salt, or perhaps I should put it another way – the health benefits of reducing your intake of salt. Studies have shown that a reduction in salt intake has the positive effect of lowering raised blood pressure, which in turn means a lower risk of heart attacks and stroke. The campaign in Finland to reduce the population’s intake of salt over the last 12 years or so has resulted in a reduction in the incidence of high blood pressure and a remarkable decrease in cases of both stroke and coronary heart disease.
Having found this out, one of my previous “vices” – my liking for salt – is being disciplined and I’ve replaced my favourite sea salt with a low-sodium “salt” available from supermarkets. Of course, the ideal is to become familiar with the clear, fresh flavour of foods prepared with the minimum of salt or none at all, and this I am working on. The amount of salt you add to recipes and the type is, of course, up to you, but I do believe it’s something worth considering. Perhaps we can take comfort in also noting the increasing evidence that drinking wine, in moderation, has positive health benefits and enjoy our fresh-tasting vegan meals with a glass of our favourite wine. Cheers!
MEASURES
In the recipes, the measures are given in metric, imperial and American cups. For the best results, stick to one system of measurement throughout a recipe and measure carefully – especially the first time you make a recipe and where this is important, such as for pastry. After that, feel free to make the recipe your own and be creative by adding other ingredients, herbs and so on as you wish. Bon appétit!
These light and refreshing soups make perfect appetizers, and can be served either hot or chilled. The recipes are very easy to make – no complicated techniques are involved and no hours of stock-making – yet the results are still delicious. If you want a smooth soup, it helps to have a liquidizer or food processor, but many of the soups are equally good served unliquidized.
It’s possible to make a good vegan stock by simmering an onion, carrot, a few celery sticks, a bay leaf, sprig of thyme and some parsley stalks in plenty of water for a couple of hours, then strain it and discard the vegetables and herbs. However, I rarely do this. Occasionally I might buy a really good-quality vegetable bouillon powder, available from healthfood shops, but I prefer to use water which allows the pure and unadulterated flavours of the vegetables to stand out. Try these soups and see what I mean.
This soup is refreshing and quick to make, and is equally good served hot or chilled. If possible, use frozen petits pois or baby peas for their delicious sweet flavour.
serves 4
1 onion, chopped
1tbsp olive oil
225g/8oz/11/2
