COOKERY FOR UNDER A QUID

Deliciousness on a shoestring frugalfeasts full of flavour for under £1

You may well be tightening your purse strings and searching for money-saving ideas to cut your non-essential spending at the moment. Luckily we ’ ve got the ultimate frugal feasts which will help you on your way – and as a bonus, they also happen to be truly delicious! They all cost under £1 per person and are very straightforward to make.

Add a continental flavour to your day with our delightful breakfast crêpes – get creative with fillings for a sweet or savoury fix! Follow up with banana pulled ‘ pork’ , courtesy of our fabulous friends at The Word Forest Organisation, or choose a creamy sweet potato dhal as a delicious main. Our Victoria sponge comes in at just 47p per slice and our managing director Laura claims it is the best cake she ’ s ever eaten – win, win!

WORDS AND PICTURES BY MARYANNE HALL, FOOD AND COOKERY MANAGER

Up to 95p per person

Up to 52p per crêpe

4 Ingredient Crêpes (sweet or savoury)

COST 8P PER CRêPE OR 52P PER CRêPE WITH VEGAN ‘NUTELLA’ AND BERRY FILLING TIME 10 MINUTES SERVES 6

This crêpe batter is plain and simple so can be used to make sweet or savoury pancakes! We ’ ve got lots of filling ideas for you too, so choose your favourites and enjoy!

l 150g plain flour l 350ml unsweetened plant milk (soya or almond work best) l ¼ tsp salt l 1 tbsp neutral oil (eg rapeseed) plus extra for frying

1 In a large bowl, mix flour and salt together then stir in plant milk and oil. 2 Heat a little oil in a crêpe pan or frying pan on a medium-high heat. 3 When the oil is hot, pour in a small ladle of batter, swirling it around so it thinly coats the pan. 4 Fry on both sides until lightly golden.

For lots of sweet and savoury filling ideas see: veganrecipeclub.org.uk/crepes

Who Knew? Banana Pulled Pork

Guest chef recipe courtesy of our friends at the amazing Word Forest Organisation wordforest.org

COST 58P PER PERSON OR 95P PER PERSON IF SERVED WITH 30G COLESLAW AND TWO WHOLEMEAL ROLLS EACH TIME 20 MINUTES SERVES 2

l 4 fully ripe organic bananas l 2 tbsp soy sauce l 1 tbsp liquid smoke l 1 tbsp maple syrup l 1 tsp vegan bouillon (or ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper) l 1 tsp garlic powder l 1 tsp smoked paprika l Splash of olive oil for frying l Splash of water (possibly)

1 Wash and dry bananas then peel. Either eat the bananas or slice them and freeze for a future ice cream or banana bread recipe –but hold on to those banana skins! 2 Cut the hard top and bottom bits off the banana skins, then trim them into strips. 3 Lay a strip of skin on a plate, inside up, and remove most of the pith by scraping with a teaspoon – discard the pith. If they start to oxidise, no worries! This will add to the final colour of the ‘ pork’ . It might even make them look a little more a-peeling… (couldn ’t resist). 4 Run the prongs of a fork quite firmly down the length of each strip to shred it, then cut into approximately 5cm lengths. 5 Place all the skin strands in a bowl and add marinade of soy sauce, bouillon, smoked paprika, garlic powder, maple syrup and liquid smoke. Leave for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 6 Fry marinated strands in a smidgen of olive oil for 5 to 10 minutes on gentle to medium heat, adding a splash of water if it starts to stick. Cooking time depends upon how ripe your banana skins were – if brown and soft, much less time will be needed. 7 Lay a big spoonful of this sticky mix in a folded, crunchy lettuce leaf and serve with whatever salad you fancy, or serve in a wholemeal roll with coleslaw. Or you could even make our wickedly delicious Tricolour Posh Plait bread to serve with it!

veganrecipeclub.org.uk/poshplaitbread

For more budget recipe inspiration: veganrecipeclub.org.uk/budget Buy our budget recipe guide here: vivashop.org.uk/budget-guide 94p per person

Sweet Potato & Coconut Dhal

COST 94P PER PERSON TIME 35 MINUTES SERVES 4

Spice blend (use this whole spice blend for the best flavour but you can use pre-ground spices as an alternative)

l 1 tsp coriander seeds l 1 tsp cumin seeds l 1 tsp fennel seeds l ½ tsp fenugreek seeds l Cardamom seeds from 1 pod or pinch ground cardamom l 2 whole cloves l ½ tsp cayenne pepper

Dhal l 2 onions, finely diced l 2cm root ginger, peeled and grated l 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped l 2 tbsp spice blend l 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 2cm chunks/cubes l 200g red lentils l 1 tbsp tomato purée l 600ml vegan stock l 400ml coconut milk l 1 lime, juiced l 200g baby spinach (fresh or frozen) l Bunch fresh coriander

Serve with any of the following: brown rice, vegan yoghurt, crispy onions, fresh coriander, chapati or vegan naan, roasted cashews, coconut flakes

Spice blend 1 In a small frying pan, dry fry coriander, cumin, fennel, fenugreek, cardamom seeds and cloves until they release their fragrance. 2 Add all the spices, including cayenne pepper, to a spice grinder or pestle and mortar and grind to a fine blend. Set aside.

Dhal 1 In a large pan or wok, fry the onions until golden. 2 Add ginger and fry for a further couple of minutes. 3 Add garlic and fry for a further minute. 4 Add spice blend and stir through before adding tomato purée, lentils, stock and coconut milk. 5 Bring to the boil and simmer for around 20 minutes or until the sweet potato is soft (but not too soft). 6 Stir through the lime juice and spinach until wilted.

Classic Victoria Sponge Cake

COST 47P PER PERSON TIME 40 MINUTES SERVES 10

47p per person

Cake Dry ingredients l 400g self-raising flour l 275g golden caster sugar l 2 tsp baking powder l ½ tsp salt

Wet ingredients l 400ml soya milk l 150ml neutral oil (eg rapeseed) l 1 tbsp vanilla extract l 1 tbsp cider vinegar

Butter icing l 75g vegan margarine l 75g vegetable shortening (eg Trex) l 1 tbsp vanilla extract l 2 tbsp plant milk l 500g icing sugar, sieved

Other l Layer of jam – use as much as you like l Optional strawberries for decoration Cake 1 Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan)/350°F/Gas Mark 4. 2 Grease and line 2 round cake tins (approx. 8” diameter). 3 In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly combine all of the dry ingredients. 4 In a large jug, stir together all the wet ingredients and then leave for a few minutes. 5 Pour wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir until combined (but don ’t over-stir). 6 Evenly distribute the cake mixture between the two tins. Tap the tins on the side of the worksurface (this stops the raising agents from working too quickly). 7 Place them in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden and a knife/skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool completely.

Butter icing 1 Mix all ingredients together until smooth.

Assembly (once cooled) 1 Remove one of the sandwiches from the tin and spread half the butter icing over the top. 2 Add a layer of jam on top of the butter icing then place the other half of the cake on top. 3 Spread the other half of the butter icing over the top of the cake and decorate with a dusting of icing sugar and strawberries (optional).

Latest foodie news

Find out all the latest vegan foodie news with our resident chef, Maryanne!

Things I’ ve tried recently that get a big thumbs up

VEGAN BABYBEL There is actually an incredible likeness to the dairy version and they ’ ve really nailed the texture and taste. It’ s got a strong flavour but not too overwhelming and luckily it doesn ’t taste of coconut. Someone on social media had coated each individual disc in breadcrumbs and deep fried them – I’ m definitely going to be trying that one!

BOURSIN The texture is much smoother than the dairy version and the flavour not as strong. It’ s still a very nice spread but not dissimilar to other vegan cream cheeses on the market, which is a tiny bit disappointing given that the original Boursin has such a distinctive flavour, fluffiness and texture.

FUTURE FARM CHICK’N We love this company and their chicken pieces were good enough to rival those from THIS – a big endorsement!

FUTURE FARM TVNA After some of the disappointing attempts to create vegan tuna, here is a game changer! I enjoyed this with sweetcorn, avocado, mayo and a jacket potato.

KRISPY KREME DOUGHNUTS

The taste and texture of the doughnuts was incredible, as you ’d expect, but they could be a bit more generous with the filling.

CADBURY PLANT BAR This chocolate bar did live up to the hype (particularly the almond salted caramel) but personally, I still prefer Galaxy.

What I’ ve been cooking at home

My new go-to recipe is the Vegan Recipe Club Speedy One Pot Kale, Bean & Lemon stew – it takes only 20 minutes to make and it’ s healthy ingredients are full of flavour. I’ ve been popping it in a thermos and taking it to work for my office lunch.

The Vegan Recipe Club Easy Rocky Road is one of my new favourite desserts to make – mainly because they take just 10 minutes to prepare and everybody LOVES them! I made some for gift bags at Christmas and they went down a treat.

I haven ’t tried making it yet but I can ’t wait to try Krimsey Lilleth’s Deep South Pasta Casserole! It’ s packed full of vegetables, spice and covered in cheese. Oh, and you just put everything in a baking tray, pop it in the oven and it’ s done – I think there ’ s a theme here…

THINGS I’M STILL WAITING TO TRY (BUT CAN’T SEEM TO FIND ANYWHERE!)

The Asda vegan cookies from the fresh bakery section – they ’ re always sold out!

Tips

If you ’ re cooking on a budget, we ’ ve got a whole section on Vegan Recipe Club dedicated to frugal feasts. It’ s not about missing out, it’ s about creating delicious, healthy dishes which don ’t break the bank – dispelling the myth that vegan = expensive! veganrecipeclub.org.uk/budget

Our paella recipe is one of the most popular summer dishes on Vegan Recipe Club! Try following the basic recipe then add your favourite veg and mock meats –it’ s sure to go down well at garden gatherings and dinner parties.

It’ s Moo Free May so, we have decided to dedicate Mega merchandise for Moo-free May this page favourite best cow to one of our animals: cows! We and dairy-themed have items picked we hav out the e on the Black and White Cow 3D Ears Blue Tote Bag shop. Treat gentle bein yourself or a friend who gs! vivashop.org.uk/col loves lectio these ns/cows This tote i shopping essentials s the perfect size for a trip for your vegan and treats! The design features a beautiful black and white

BY EMILY COSTER, RETAIL MANAGER cow licking their nose and also has flappable 3D ears – very cute! This Vegan For The Animals bag is handmade in the EU and Unisex Sweatshirt print handy ed po with cket eco in inside ks and has for your a

This is one of our favourite prints as it features a cow phones or keys! £20 relaxing (as they should be) and is one of our main reasons for going vegan! This sweatshirt is soft and is a relaxed fit, made from organic combed cotton –perfect to throw on in the evenings when it gets a bit cooler. Also available i (£16.99). Cow – Melange n a Gr light blue ey £29.99 unisex tee Living Nature Plush Highland Cow Straight from the Scottish Islands, this adorable little fellow with soft, fuzzy hair and adorable air-brushed pointed horns. Highland cows originate from the chilly Scottish Highlands –no wonder they ’ re covered in fur. Our cows come in yellow, black and even white, but ginger is our favourite. The perfect gift for kids big or small as each comes with a tag featuring educational animal facts! £15.99

Milk-free treats

LoveRaw White Choc Peanut Butter Cups

Loveraw have succeeded in making their cups extra tasty – creamy and smooth and filled with silky peanut butter. The perfect white chocolate treat with a cuppa or on-the-go!

These peanut butter cups are covered in organic Fairtrade chocolate and filled with delicious nut butters and no palm oil. A must try! There is also a tasty M:lk Chocolate version. 34g £1.99 The Big Vegan Cheese Making Kit

Perfect for people who love creating in the kitchen! Sufficient to make 20 batches and six different varieties of nut-based cheeses – Mozzarella, Ricotta, Mascarpone, Halloumi, Feta and Parmesan. Delicious, fresh and very, very tasty.

You can store the ingredients in your cupboard for over a year. All you need is a blender and a pan – couldn ’t be easier. Soya free, gluten free and vegan, of course! 610g £27.50