Holistic Vegan

It's 1st January and along with many other New Years Resolutions that seem hard or even impossible to achieve, I'm aware that lots of people - probably more than ever before are taking on the Veganuary Challenge. Now you'd think that as a vegan I'd be all for this, and one the one hand I am. But I can also see how this challenge can bit a bit too...er challenging? When I went 100% vegan in September 2012, I'd already switched to a vegetarian diet in the January before that and quit dairy shortly afterwards. Going vegan for me took some time, and I didn't have the money or desire to throw out everything that would be considered "non-vegan" as that would have been more than I could cope with or afford. So is it wise to ask people to go a full 30 days completely vegan? Well I'd say if you've had time to prepare for it, then quite possibly, yes. All the better if your significant other is already vegan, or you have vegan friends and co...

Risotto has to be one of my favourite dinners these days - it's easy to make (especially the slow cooker method!) and can be made with leftovers in the cupboards too! This is a recipe that can be made oil free quite easily, especially if you're using a slow cooker. Serves 2-3   Ingredients: 4 tbsp olive oil 1 medium onion 2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or crushed 250g Chestnut Mushrooms 100g Asparagus tips 1 ¼ cups/220g Arborio rice 1 cup/250ml vegan white wine (plus more for drinking later) 3 ¼ cups/810ml hot vegetable stock (I use 2 stock cubes and boiling water) Method: Warm the olive oil on a medium heat in a large frying pan or non-stock wok and chop the onion, mushrooms & asparagus. Fry gently until tender and the onions are translucent and slightly yellow in colour, then add the garlic and gently fry for a couple more minutes. Reduce the heat and add the rice to the frying pan and stir until it’s completely covere...

When you go vegan, vegetarians really can be your best friends! Like many people, I went veggie before taking the plunge to go fully vegan. In fact I never planned to go vegan in the first place, that seemed "too extreme" to me. But once I switched to vegetarian, realised I had a milk allergy and ditched dairy quite early on, I only had eggs and honey left in my diet that weren't vegan. I did my research and a few months later decided to go full vegan. I think it was the videos of fuzzy chicks going into a grinder that did it for me...  But the point is I didn't go vegan from being a meat eater, I went vegan as a vegetarian .  We should remember that human psychology tells us that if you want to make changes, taking smaller steps over a period of time mean that the changes are more likely to stick. I get very frustrated when I see loud, angry vegans being mean to vegetarians about the fact they still consume eggs, dairy or wear leather. Firstly, you attr...

There is no need to fear the humble dried chickpea! Dried pulses make for cheap and easy vegan yum yums, you just need to know how to prep them properly. Dried chickpeas take some time to prepare so it's best to plan in advance if you are going to use them. I've heard many complaints from people about the farty smell they give off when cooking, which also puts people off doing this. Don't worry - I've fixed this problem with this method and made them extra tasty too! Ingredients 1 cup dried chickpeas Water 1 stock cube or 1 dessertspoon of all purpose seasoning Method Place the dried chickpeas into a large glass bowl or jar. Glass is best because it allows you to easily see how much they have expanded, and whether you need extra water (or a bigger bowl...) Add about 1 pint of cold water. The chick peas will soak a lot up and expand to almost double their size - hence why I always say to use a large bowl or jug. In the video, I use a 1 li...