EASY VEGAN!
SURVIVING VEGANISM EVEN IF YOU’RE BROKE, CAN’T COOK AND HAVE A SERIOUS SWEET TOOTH!
Welcome! Hope you enjoy this booklet. It’s only small and it’s nothing fancy but I hope it can help you in your quest to become a vegan. When I first tried, I really struggled cos I had all the things a wannabe vegan should never have; I loved cheese, chocolate, was broke, had no idea how to cook and one hell of a sweet tooth. So, if you have any of these holding you back from your vegan dreams, hopefully this booklet can help you. A lot of people are worried about their health as a vegan, so I’ve found some meals that incorporate all your necessary vitamins in one serving. This can leave you free to eat all the chocolate (vegan) as you like! For the frugal vegan, I’ve included tips on where to get tasty vegan food that won’t cost the earth and for the lover of all things gooey and full of dairy, I’ve put in some of my favourite vegan recipes. Enjoy!!!
Contents
Why Vegan?
4
Easy, Nutritious Vegan Meals
6
Getting Your Calcium
7
Vegan Food Pyramid
8
Cheap Vegan Food
9
Easy Vegan Tasty Recipes
10
Why Vegan? Meat To save farmers money, hundreds of animals are kept in cramped, unsanitary conditions, many never getting to see the outside world. Due to the bad conditions, many animals quickly catch diseases and are left to carry on living with healthy animals who inevitably later catch the diseases themselves. Farmed animals are also killed young as this makes for tender meat, if they haven’t already dies from the conditions in which they’re kept. With a rota of 500 animals to kill a day, abattoir workers have to work quickly, often resulting in animals not being stunned properly before their throats are slit and they’re therefore left to bleed to death, often for hours. Many animals are still forced to travel incredibly long distances to be slaughtered abroad. They can go 50 hours with no food or water and when they are unloaded they are kicked, punched and given electric shocks to get them moving. Cows really suffer from travel sickness as they are incapable of vomiting. A boat skipper describes this in a letter to Compassion In World Farming; ‘They are ruminants and digest their food by fermentation. When they are exposed to extreme motion, the fermentation increases and the gas production in their stomachs becomes excessive, resulting in the condition known as bloat. The whole abdomen becomes grossly extended, they suffer acute pain, falling down on the floor as they are flung around from side to side, grinding their teeth, moaning and groaning in agony, unable to breathe properly, until after hours or days of the most terrible suffering, their hearts eventually give out, and, mercifully, they die.’
Milk As with any other mammal, cows need to be impregnated in order to produce milk. As dairy and beef cattle are so different, male cows produced as a by-product of milk, are seen as surplus and are simply killed immediately or sent to be used as veal. The calf is immediately separated from their mother so that we can use the milk while they are fed a substitute. When mother cows have had their calves taken from them, they will call and bellow for days and have been known to escape and travel miles in search of their young.
Eggs Chicks are also disposed of by being gassed or shredded alive for the same reasons. Chicks that are kept to lay eggs, are debeaked to stop them pecking at themselves (a sign of severe stress). This is a very painful procedure carried out with no pain relief, that can result in chicks losing part of their tongue. Although free-range hens do have a slightly better life than most kept for meat or laying, they can be termed as free-range as long as they have access to the outside. This can basically mean up to 16,000 hens can be kept in a shed that has access to the outside. However, as there is so many of them in this shed, they would be lucky to get to the outside without breaking limbs or being crushed by other bodies in the process of trying to reach that destination.
Easy, Nutrititous Vegan Meals It can seem daunting to get all your essential vitamins as a vegan but we wanted to make it really easy. Most of these meals incorporate all your essential vitamins but if we couldn’t squeeze them all into one meal, we’ve added some extra snacks so you can still meet your daily requirement. To ensure you get all your vitamins, it’s important to eat cereal with fortified B12 (in either the soya milk or cereal) everyday and make sure you eat lots of leafy green vegetables. Avocado salad - avocado, tomato, lettuce, cucumber, roasted seeds and nuts, butter beans and mushrooms with a splash of vinegar. Handful of roasted nuts and seeds sprinkled with salt - as long as you have this and some dried apricots, fruit and green leafy vegetables at other points throughout the day, you will have had all of your essential vitamins and minerals! Sweet potato with veg and fake meat of your choice - baked sweet potato with butter, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and broad beans. Baked potato with beans and side salad - baked potato with margarine, beans and a salad of your choice - as long as it has lettuce and a good range of other fresh veg in it, you have met your daily vitamin requirements. Lentil soup - cook the lentils for as long as required before adding black pepper, beans and chopped tomatoes, then liquidising. Add parsley as a finishing touch and to meet all your vitamin requrements! Shepherd’s pie with lentils - cook the lentils before adding carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, chick peas, beans and chopped tomatoes. When it’s all cooked, pop it in a casserole dish and pop mashed potato on the top. A sprinkling of vegan parmesan cheese (available in most supermarkets in the free from section) makes a particularly tasty dish! Add with a side salad for good measure! Chilli - multi coloured peppers, vegan ‘mince’ (available from most health food shops including Holland and Barrett), chopped tomatoes. Boil the mince first, adding the others later and chilli powder, garlic and mixed herbs. Serve with side salad. Roast dinner - soya ‘meat’, brussel sprouts, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, roasted potatoes, peas and swede with vegetable gravy. Stew - sprouts, potato, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and broad beans boiled with a vegetable stock cube. Stir fry - pop onions, peppers, cabbage pieces, green beans, sweetcorn, mushrooms, beansprouts, peas and chopped carrot into the pan. Fry in a little oil and add soya sauce later before serving. Tortilla bean wrap – pop lettuce, tomato and cucumber into the bottom of a tortilla wrap. Add beans of your choice, chickpeas and egg free mayonnaise. Fruit salad - apples, mango, bannana, strawberries, kiwi fruit and oranges all provide you with some of your necessary vitamins. However, as they can’t provide them all, it’s also good to have a salad with roasted nuts and seeds at another point during the day.
Bruschetta with side salad - there’s nothing particularly healthy about bruschetta but it’s vegan and tastes scrumptious! So add a good side salad and it’s healthy enough! For a good bruschetta, you can use an ordinary french loaf or proper bruschetta bread. Butter it, and start preparing your topping. For the topping, chop up some baby tomatoes and put them in a bowl with basil, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Pour this mixture on top of the bread and cook in the oven on 200°C for about 10 mins.
Getting Your Calcium One big worry for newbie vegans is loosing out on calcium. While you can get a fair amount of this from dairy products, it is at the expense of your health in other areas. Milk is designed to make baby cows grow as big as possible as in the wild they would need to be big enough to escape predators quickly. This means for humans, it’s very fattening. It has also been linked to ecsema, dermatitus, asthma, depression and many other allergies because our systems aren’t really made to have the milk of another mammal inside us. But I don’t want to lecture you as you must know some of this to have taken an interest in the booklet in the first place! So here’s a list of foods that are packed with calcium so you know as long as you eat plenty of these, you’ll be as healthy as any vegetarian or meat eater! Of course getting all your nutrients is important so don’t forget the previous meal ideas!
Calcium Rich Foods; Fortified soya milk Almonds and almond milk Green leafy vegetables such as kale and spinach Swede Broccoli Tofu
Basic Vegan Replacements Although by cooking you can usually eat vegan food fairly cheaply, it’s tough if you’re not a natural cook! Unfortunately, vegan treats and ready to eat meals can be expensive as they’re not mass produced. However, there are some treats that you may be surprised to know are vegan and you can usually get them for pretty cheap! Chocolate - Lots of health food shops such as Holland and Barrett sell vegan ice cream (which isn’t much more than dairy ice cream and tastes great!), vegan chocolate and you can get many dairy free chocolate products from your local supermarket in their free-from range. Also, most dark chocolate has no dairy in it! If it’s too bitter for you, try melting it with some soya milk and sugar before pouring it on whatever you fancy or leaving it to cool and eating as a bar of chocolate later. It’s particularly nice on chopped banana! Vegan chocolate spread is reasonably priced and by spreading some on a digestive biscuit or anything else you choose, you can tend to your cocoa craving in no time! Cheese - there are many dairy free cheeses available from health food shops such as Holland and Barrett but they are expensive and usually don’t taste that great. If you do want to try some, it tastes best melted onto or into food. Nutritional yeast is a better vegan cheese replacement. It has a cheesey taste, is healthy, low fat and pretty cheap., It usually comes in powdered form so you can sprinkle it on your dinner although there is arecipe for making it like melty cheese later in this booklet. To really sort your cheese pangs, try vegan cream cheese with garlic and herbs (also available from health food shops). Milk – soy, rice, oat, almond and coconut milk are now sold for a reasonable price in most supermarkets. Eggs – egg replacement powder, egg free mayonnaise and tofu for scrambled egg.
Vegan Snacks Many sweet things contain dairy and eggs. So, if you don’t want to buy the more expensive vegan alternatves, you’ll be pleased to know many types of biscuit bourbon creams, oreos, digestives, ginger nuts etc), sweets (such as sherbert, Millions and strawberry laces) jam tarts, bakewell tarts, apple pies and apple strudles are vegan. There are also many dark chocolate vegan snacks such as most mint creams and Ruffles. Most crisps are vegan (although cheesey ones usually aren’t) including Ready Salted, Salt and Vinegar, Prawn Cocktail and Roast Chicken flavours! Due to popular demand, most Walkers crisps are vegan. Of course, for the healthier option, there’s always chopped fruit such as oranges, kiwi, apple, grapes, blueberries and bannana. By squeezing a bit of lemon juice onto the chopped fruit, it can remain fresh in a tupperware box. Dried fruit can also be a sweet, tasty vegan snack!
Sandwich/ Quick Lunch Ideas Avocado and Bacos Fake ‘meat’ slices with fake ‘mayo’ Salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, grated carrot and sprinkling of seeds) Peanut butter Cucumber and marmite ‘Cheese’ spread (available from health food shops) and cucumber Toasted tea cakes Pitta bread with beans/ chickpeas and salad Bean salad Vegetable salad Hummous and slices of cucumber, celery and carrot for dipping
Easy Vegan Tasty Recipes Although you can get some pretty tasty vegan foods, it can be hard to resist the taste of gooey chocolate cookies and brownies once you’ve had a taste for them! So, we’ve compiled a batch of delicious, easy recipes so you can feel free to give in to your temptation with no guilt!
Fried Bean Curd with a Sweet and Sour Sauce
Although there are quite a few vegan fake meats out there, fried bean curd has that chewy texture you may miss from most meats and melted cheese and it can really absorb flavours. This is one of my favourite bean curd recipes although there are many - a search on the internet can give you many different tasty ones to try! The sauce: 1.5 teaspoons cornstarch 3 tablespoons plus 3/4 cup vegetable stock 3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar 3 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup 2 tablespoons Chinese thin soy sauce 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 clove garlic peeled 1/4 inch slice of fresh ginger 1 carrot 1/2 small fresh sweet red pepper 1/2 medium sized green bell pepper 2 scallions 3/4 pound firm tofu cut into 1 inch cubes and fried in oil until lightly browned 2.5 teaspoons salt 2 tablespoons vegetable oil Mix the cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of the stock in a small cup. Combine the 3/4 cup stock, vinegar, sugar, ketchup, soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoons salt, cayenne pepper and black pepper in a bowl. Heat 1 tablespoons oil in a small pot over a medium flame. When hot, put in the garlic and ginger. Stir. As soon as the garlic browns, take the pot off the flame and pour the vinegar mixture from the bowl into it. Put the pot back on the fire and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and simmer very gently for 4 minutes. Give the cornstarch mixture a quick stir and add that to the pot. Remove the garlic and ginger. Peel the carrot and cut into 1/16 inch thick diagonal slices. Cut a few slices at a time into very thin strips. Cut the red and green peppers into very thin strips. Cut the scallions into 1.5 inch lengths. Cut each section lengthwise into very thin strips. Put the cubes of fried bean curd in a bowl. Add 2 teaspoons salt to 6 cups of water and bring to a boil. Pour boiling water over the bean curd, dunk the bean curd cubes a few times and then leave them in the water. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a wok over a medium high flame. Put in 1/2 teaspoons salt and the carrot, red and green pepper and scallions. Stir fry for 30 seconds, turn off heat. Heat the prepared sauce over a low flame. Take the bean curd out of the water. Squeeze gently to get rid of extra moisture and put cubes on a serving platter. Spread the vegetables over the bean curd. Pour the sauce over the vegetables. Serve with rice.
Melty Cheeze 1 cup of nutritional yeast flakes 1/3 cup white flour 3 tablespoons cornstarch 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 2 cups water 1/3 cup margarine Mix dry ingredients in a saucepan. Gradually add water, making a smooth paste and then thin with the remaining water. Place on heat and stir constantly until it thickens and bubbles. Let it bubble up for about 30 seconds and remove from heat. Whip in the margarine. Good on pizza, casseroles, open-faced tomato sandwiches, grilled cheese sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, and enchiladas.
Vegan Kebabs 2 red peppers, cut into 8 squares each and blanched 12 pickling onions, peeled and cooked in boiling water until tender 2 medium sized courgettes, cut into 3 cm slices and blanched 2 medium sized parsnips, cut into 4 cm chunks and boiled For the marinade: 5 tbsp soy sauce 6 tbsp sherry 2 tbsp sunflower oil 1 clove garlic chopped 2 tbsp brown sugar 2 cm piece of fresh ginger chopped half teaspoon dried mustard powder Thread the vegetables onto 4 skewers. Mix the marinade ingredients together. Brush the marinade over the kebabs and cook on the barbecue. Keep basting the kebabs generously with the marinade during cooking, until all the marinade has gone. Notes: Ideally marinade the kebabs for an hour or so before cooking.
Vegan Spagbol 1 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, diced 1 stick celery, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped Âź lb mushrooms, diced small 1 tin plum tomatoes soya sauce vegetarian worcester sauce 1 tbsp tomato purĂŠe 2 tsp mixed herbs 1 tsp oregano paprika Fry the onion in the oil until it starts to brown. Add the celery and garlic and stir well. Add the mushrooms and a dash of soya sauce and vegetarian worcester sauce (standard worcester sauce contains anchovies). Cook for a few minutes and then the tomatoes, around 150ml water, the herbs, a pinch of paprika and the tomato puree. Simmer away for 10 to 15 minutes. In the meantime cook some spaghetti, and when it is ready toss it in some soya marg, pile the vegan bolognaise sauce on top and add some freshly ground black pepper. Yum. Notes: Use this recipe with some cheezy white sauce for a tasty vegan lasagne. Serve with garlic bread (made with vegan margarine) and salad.
Vegan Aloo Gobi 1 large potato, cut into bite size cubes (you need to use a floury potato) half a cauliflower, broken into bite size pieces 1 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, chopped 3 cloves garlic, chopped 1 cm piece of fresh ginger, chopped 1 fresh chilli (to taste), de-seeded and finely chopped 1 heaped tbsp flaked almonds 1 tsp turmeric 1 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped 1 tbsp tomato purĂŠe 500ml water 1 tsp garam masala (to taste) Par-boil the potato and cauli for a couple of minutes, then drain. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a saucepan and fry the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli for 1 min, then add the almonds, turmeric and coriander and cook for another 2 mins. Now add the potatoes, cauli, tomato purĂŠe and water. Stir well, cover and simmer for 15 mins until the potatoes and cauli are tender. Sprinkle the garam masala over and serve. Delicious! Notes: This makes a feast served with mushroom curry, onion bhajis, rice (use the water from the potato and cauli to cook the rice and add a touch of turmeric), and tomatoes and cucumber chopped small, seasoned and tossed in splash of white wine vinegar. It is also delicious served cold.
Caramel Slices Sweetened Condensed Soy Milk: 1 cup powdered soymilk 3 Tbsp (45 ml) vegan margarine 2/3 cup sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract Pinch of salt 1 cup boiling water or 2 cups of sweetened condensed soy milk with 3 Tbsp vegan margarine and vanilla as above Caramel: 1/8 cup vegan margarine 2 tbsp golden syrup 2-3 Tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot powder Base: Vegan digestive biscuits Vegan margarine Topping: 250g (8 oz) vegan dark chocolate First make the sweetened condensed soy milk. This can be made the night before, if you like. In a medium saucepan melt 3 tbsp margarine on low heat. Add sugar, vanilla and salt and stir until sugar has dissolved. Add powdered soy milk and boiling water and whisk vigorously until no lumps remain. Chill in fridge until ready to use. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease a 20cm (8 inch) square brownie tin and line with baking paper. To make the base, put about half a packet of digestive biscuits into a clean bag, seal the open end and crush. Melt the margarine and once the biscuits have been crushed enough, mix them into a paste with the melted margarine. Place the paste into your baking tray. In a medium saucepan melt an 1/8 of a cup of margarine and the golden syrup. Add the condensed soy milk mixture and cook over low heat for approx 8 minutes. Place 2 tbsp cornstarch in a small bowl, add a few spoon-fulls of the caramel mixture and mix until cornstarch is dissolved. Add this back into the saucepan of caramel and heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens (be careful to scrap the bottom of the saucepan cos the mixture tends to stick there). The mixture should be very thick. If it hasn’t thickened enough repeat the procedure with another tbsp of cornstarch. Once the caramel is done pour over the base and bake for another 10-12 minutes, until the rim of the caramel is slightly browned. Let the slice cool to room temperature. Once slice has fully cooled, melt the chocolate in your preferred method, taking care not to burn. Pour evenly over the slice and place in the fridge to set for at least an hour. Check the slice every 10 minutes or so and when the chocolate is still soft but cool enough to keep it’s shape, run a knife just threw the chocolate layer in the sizes that you would like your slices to be (I suggest small squares as it’s very rich). This will stop the chocolate layer from cracking when you try to slice it later. After an hour you can cut the slice to your desired size, and store in a tightly sealed container in the fridge.
Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies 50g margarine (vegan) 50g self raising flour 50g sugar 50g cocoa Handful of vegan chocolate chips/ pieces Mix it all together in a bowl. If it has trouble sticking, adding a little soya milk will help. Break the mixture into balls, flatten slightly and cook for about 10 minutes!
Cherry Chip Brownies 1⁄2 cup packed pitted dates 1⁄2 cup packed pitted dried plums 1 cup barley flour 1 cup brown rice flour 1⁄3 cup carob powder (or cocoa powder) 11⁄2 teaspoons baking powder 1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt 2⁄3 cup maple syrup 1⁄4 cup canola oil 1 teaspoon vanilla 3⁄4 cup chopped walnuts 1⁄4 cup vegan carob (or vegan chocolate chips) 1⁄2 cup dried pitted cherries Place the dates and dried plums into a small saucepan and cover with 11⁄2 cups water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 minute, then remove from heat, cover, and let the dried fruit soak while you assemble the rest of the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray a 9 x 9-inch baking pan with nonstick spray and set aside. Sift or whisk together the barley flour, brown rice flour, carob powder, baking powder, and salt. Place the maple syrup, canola oil, vanilla, and the date, dried plum, and water mixture into a blender. Process until completely smooth. Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and stir together until well combined. Fold in the walnuts, carob chips, and dried cherries. Spread the mixture out in the baking pan. Smooth the top using a spatula. Bake for 30 minutes, until the surface springs back to the touch.
Vegan Fudge 4 cups powdered sugar 1⁄2 cup cocoa powder 1⁄2 cup vegan chocolate chips 1⁄2 cup nondairy milk 2 tablespoons nonhydrogenated margarine 11⁄2 teaspoons vanilla 1 cup cut up vegan marshmallows or 1⁄2 cup vegan marshmallow fluff, like Ricemellow Crème (marshmallows and fluff are optional, but sooo good) 1⁄2 cup chopped nuts Spray a 9 x 9-inch baking pan well with nonstick spray and set aside. (For holiday gift giving, I pour the fudge into seven wellsprayed foil baking cups that I buy in the shape of stars, hearts, and so on.) Sift the powdered sugar and cocoa powder together into a large mixing bowl, add the chocolate chips, and set aside. In a small saucepan, heat the nondairy milk and margarine to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly to avoid burning. When the milk is at a steady, strong boil, pour it over the powdered sugar mixture and stir well with a wooden spoon until everything is well combined and the heat has melted the chocolate chips. Stir in the vanilla, then fold in the marshmallows and the nuts. Spread the fudge out into the prepared pan(s) and refrigerate for a day or more to solidify.
Tiffin (Fridge Cake) Ingredients 8 oz biscuits, crushed 4 oz vegan marg 1 tbsp golden syrup 1 dessertspoon cocoa 2 dessertspoons drinking chocolate 1 dessertspoon sugar 100g bar of plain vegan chocolate Melt everything except the biscuits and chocolate gently in a large pan. Take off the heat, add the biscuits and mix well. Pile the mixture onto a small, greased baking tray and press down firmly with your hands. (If you haven’t got a small baking tray, use a standard one but only press the mixture into half of it.) Melt the chocolate and pour over the top of the cake. Put in a fridge or cool place for one hour to set. Cut into slices to serve. Yum!
Triple Chocolate Cupcakes 3 cups all-purpose flour 1⁄2 cup cocoa powder 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 cup sugar 1 cup packed golden brown sugar 2 cups water 1 cup canola oil 1 tablespoon vanilla 3⁄4–1 cup vegan chocolate chips (optional) Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray twenty-four muffin cups with nonstick spray or line with paper cupcake liners and spray the liners with nonstick spray. Set aside. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar, water, canola oil, and vanilla. Mix with a handheld beater or stand mixer until well combined and smooth. Divide the batter evenly into the twenty-four muffin cups (about 1⁄4 cup batter in each cup—the cupcakes will rise to fill the muffin cups). Sprinkle the top of each cupcake with some chocolate chips. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely. VARIATION: To make a cake instead of cupcakes, divide the batter between two 9-inch round cake pans that have been sprayed with nonstick spray. Sprinkle each layer with half the chocolate chips. Bake at 350ºF for 40 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let the cake cool for about 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.