Holistic Vegan

I really love the spicy, warming flavour of this moist cake. It was a childhood favourite, either on it's own or warmed and covered with hot custard for pudding. The good news is there is no need to miss out of the yummy goodness of this cake if you are vegan and wheat or gluten free! I've devised a recipe packed with flavour and so tasty your whole family will want more. Ingredients 115g light soft brown sugar (or alternatively whatever you have in the cupboard) 75g vegan margarine 75g golden syrup 75g treacle 110ml plant milk 1 flax egg  or vegan egg replacer 225g gram flour 4 tsp ginger powder 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1 large pinch of Himalayan pink salt 1.5 tsp baking powder Method Preheat oven to 160C and line a 2lb loaf tin with greaseproof paper. Put the sugar, margarine, golden syrup and treacle in a saucepan and warm over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until everything is well combined and you have a dark brown mixture. Remove t

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

When you first go vegan, it can feel like you're missing out on a lot of your favourite treats. Although we've come a long want in the past few years, it can still be difficult and expensive to find delicious chocolate (and wheat free) treats that are affordable and delicious. These can be made on quite a low budget, or as fancy as you want if you choose to splash out on posh ingredients. It doesn't matter, they will be lovely anyway! I made my latest batch with gluten free digestives from Asda. To give you an idea of proportions, I used 10 biscuits because they're rather small. You would need around 6 or 7 normal sized wheat digestives or HobNobs. Digestives and oaty biscuits like HobNobs are *usually* vegan friendly, but be sure to check the label! Ingredients 200g vegan friendly chocolate (dark or milk, I like to use half and half) 70ml plant milk 100g vegan friendly digestive biscuit crumbs (gluten & wheat free if required) 100g plant based m

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

One of the most annoying things about being vegan is coffee. No seriously, it is. As an adult, you take for granted the fact that you can make your own instant coffee. It's not hard is it? Well... I've lost count of the number of cups I've had to throw away because the soya milk curdled. Plant milks, and I mostly drink soya, have a nasty habit of curdling in hot coffee and you really can't drink it once that has happened - seriously, don't, it's gross. It looks bad, tastes sour and gives you indigestion. I made it my mission to find a method to make instant coffee at home without the curdling, and I'm going to share my secrets with you today. Take back your coffee power! #adulting How to make perfect instant coffee with plant milk Put your instant coffee, preferred sugar and plant milk into your mug. Note: It's important that you use a microwave proof mug for this.  No fancy gilt edged nonsense - metal is not allowed

I enjoy traditional potato rostis and hash browns, but I've always thought that the flavour could use jazzing up a bit. After discovering gram flour and learning how to make vegetable pakoras from my friend's Persian Mummy, I decided to make my own twist on the humble potato rosti and make it even more delicious. This special rosti is very tasty and makes an ideal to accompaniment to your dinner and is perfectly suited to a 'morning after the night before' fry-up. I don't have a photo at the moment because I keep eating them and forgetting to take a pic... (oops!)  They should end up looking something like this handy library image... The secret to making them in a neat circle shape is to use egg poaching rings or crumpet rings to form them into a coherent shape. You can even use a heart shaped one if you like! You only need one ring to make a batch, as you use it over and over again. So here we go...knives and forks at the ready! Makes 8 approx

I've been missing the lovely sundried tomato and herb bread that I usually make recently. Obviously the recipe I've always used includes wheat flour so I've bee racking my brains as to how to make a wheat free version that tastes nice. I came across some receipes online for a kind of no-yeast bread made with one of my favourite ingredients - gram flour . After some tweaking, I came up with this Italian style bread which is very tasty (unlike a lot of gluten free bread!) and also has a good crumb, good structural integrity and responds well to toasting or frying for a cooked breakfast. The gram flour gives it a slightly yellow colour, and a slightly nutty taste which works well with the savoury flavours. Makes 1 Loaf Ingredients 225g gram flour 335ml water 1 tbsp baking powder 1.5 tbsp sugar 1 tsp Himalayan pink salt 1 tbsp dried oregano or Italian herb mix 2 tbsp olive oil 3 sundried tomatoes, chopped into small pieces Method Grease and fully li

Well it may be May here, but the weather doesn't seem to realise this, so I'm posting one of my favourite winter warmers to keep your tootsies warm on these chilly spring nights! Double carrot and coriander soup is my twist on a classic recipe that I accidentally created (I meant  to add cumin - oops!) and instantly loved. It's very yummy and warming too, so I know you're going to love it. This was also one of the recipes that I first put up on my YouTube channel as part of my Veganuary series in 2017: This video also features Dylan the Cat who is sadly no longer with us, but thankfully even without his "assistance" you can still make a success of this simple recipe. I normally use my slow cooker for recipes like this one, but I've also included instructions for making it on the hob. You could even make it in a microwave at a push. Ingredients 1 tbsp oil (if used - omit to make recipe oil free) 1 medium onion (add two for extra fl

I'm often asked what products I use to wash my clothes, and most people are surprised by the answer. I use an egg!  No, obviously not an actual egg , but a wonderful innovation called an EcoEgg Laundry Egg. Not my actual hand, I borrowed all the pics from the EcoEgg website! These were introduced to me by a friend who swears by them, and I have to say they are now my favourite way to wash clothes.  Vegan, approved by Allergy UK, allergy and skin friendly, these miraculous little eggs are also eco friendly and work out very cost effective too. They use essential oils rather than nasty synthetic scents and I am in love with their fragrances! I have the pink one which is the Spring Blossom scent, and I also treated myself to the limited edition Lavender one last year, because why the heck not.  The "eggs" contain pellets made from two different minerals (one is tourmaline - so you're washing with crystals!) and they can be used alone or alongside any

This is an interesting recipe that I tried for the first time recently. Some people call this one a tortilla, but I personally found that the texture is more like a crepe than a true tortilla, and the slightly nutty flavour goes just as nicely with sweet fillings like vegan chocolate spread as it does savoury. It definitely rolls and folds nicely if you want to make a wrap, so that's a huge bonus. It's also tasty, high in protein and low in fat, gluten free and super cheap to make, so well worth a go in my opinion. The process to make them can seem rather lengthy, and it seems like a lot of effort for a few flatbreads, but this is a useful recipe to have to hand if you've run out of other ingredients and need an alternative to having to spend money at the end of the month! You will need quite a powerful blender for this one, so have your Vitamix at the ready! Ingredients 200g (1 cup) Red Lentils (split peas) 500ml (2 cups) Cold water 1tsp Salt Method R

Gram flour is one of my newest and favouritest (is that a word?) flours to cook with. I was first introduced to it a few years back by a friend whose Persian mother was kind enough to teach me some of her delicious, traditional middle eastern recipes.  What is it? Gram flour is usually described a chickpea flour, but if you take a look at the ingredients on the packet of any of the brands you can buy, most also contain a percentage of yellow lentil flour too. It's a highly versatile flour made from pulses that has many uses. Where can I buy Gram flour? It's easier to get hold of than you might think. Pop into your local Asian food store, or if you don't have one nearby, the bigger supermarkets here in the UK normally stock it in their Indian/Asian food aisle. Failing that, you can always order some online from specialist food retailers or on Amazon. What is it used for? Being made from pulses rather than grains, this flour is higher in protein than your reg

A newly made batch of Burmese Tofu, cooling in the tin. I've accumulated quite a lot of exotic recipes since going vegan, but this one has to be one of my favourites, and as it only needs 3 low cost ingredients, it's a brilliant vegan hack too! Much as I really like the normal soya tofu products, tofu can be expensive and it's not something my rather tight budget can stretch to very frequently as I'd like. I came across Burmese tofu for the first time in Autumn last year, and I absolutely love it. It's easy to make, cheap and has a really satisfying texture that reminds me of boiled eggs. And best of all, it's made using one of my favourite vegan and wheat free ingredients - gram flour. The texture is firmer than silken soya tofu, but softer than the firmer varieties. And a word of warning - don't try to put it in a tofu press to make it firmer, that won't work. (I've tried, it was messy!) This tofu can be cut into slices or cubes, an

There are lots of pasta bake sauces available for sale ready made in a jar, the problem is finding one that's vegan friendly. Add in wheat or gluten intolerance too and you're in for a difficult time! I personally think that it's much nicer to make your own pasta bake sauce, and the good news is that it's easy and cost effective too. Pasta bakes traditionally call for cheese which has been challenging for vegans in the past. Vegan cheese has come a long way in the past few years, but it still has a tendency to dry out and burn if you sprinkle it on top of a dish to go in the oven. You can get away with putting a little bit on top, but I don't recommend covering this one completely like you would do with dairy cheeses. This is a very easy but delicious pasta bake that is also very yummy and popular with kids, so the whole family will love it. For a gluten or wheat free option, just make sure you use a wheat or gluten free pasta, like corn or rice pasta,