Month: April 2022

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Vegan Breakfast Scramble

I can think of no finer example of British cuisine than the traditional British breakfast. It’s not something that I’d want to start every day with, but on a Sunday morning, once in a while we’ll treat ourselves to the works. There’s no reason that vegans have to miss out on the delights of a full British, and here’s our take on it if the thought has your mouth watering too!

I know I’m like a broken record with tofu, but it’s so important that you press and marinade the tofu at least a day before cooking. If you don’t, the tofu will be damp and flavourless – it absorbs flavour like a dream the longer you marinade it, so it really is worth it.

This serves two.

Ingredients

200g (half a can) of cannellini beans

10 new potatoes, boiled and sliced thinly

1 ripe avocado

100g kale

1 block firm tofu

2 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp turmeric

1 tsp kala namak salt

1 tbsp rapeseed oil plus 1/2 tsp for the kale plus 1/2 tsp for the beans

8 cherry or plum tomatoes, halved

1 tbsp thyme

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/4 tsp chilli flakes

2 x quarter limes, to season.

Method

At least one day in advance, press the tofu using a tofu press or by wrapping it in a clean tea towel and placing it in a sieve over a large bowl, with heavy books on top.

After pressing the tofu (give it at least an hour), place it in a clean bowl and using a fork or potato masher, mash it up with the sesame oil, soy sauce and turmeric. Cover the bowl and place in the fridge.

When you’re ready to make breakfast, preheat the oven to 180 C then heat up a wok with the tbsp rapeseed oil.

Add the kale to a baking tray and season with salt and pepper and a drizzle of rapeseed oil. Bake for 10 minutes until crispy. If you have an air fryer, you can make crispy kale by placing it in the air fryer for two minutes, then tossing it in oil, salt and pepper.

Add the tofu mixture, sliced potatoes, tomatoes, and thyme to the wok and  sauté for ten minutes, stirring frequently.

In a separate pot, add the drained cannellini beans plus a tsp rapeseed oil, the paprika, and the chilli flakes. Stir to warm through and to allow the beans to absorb the spices.

Halve the avocado and cut into thin slices, seasoning with a little pepper.

Serve the avocado with the tofu scramble, potatoes, tomatoes, kale and beans.

If you want to follow up breakfast with something a bit healthier, try this for lunch!

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Lemon Parsley Beans with Tomato Thyme Cashew Spread

Parsley and lemon are made to go together, and combined as a gremolata dressing for these lemon parsley beans they make a zingy combination. The sweetness of the tomato thyme cashew spread complements the lemon parsley perfectly to make a delicious and nutritious plant based lunch.

Juice of 2 large lemons

2 cloves garlic, peeled

Pinch salt

50g parsley

Tbsp olive oil

1 x 400g can of butterbeans

200g frozen peas

200g frozen green beans

Cucumber to garnish

Chopped red onion to garnish

Parsley to garnish

8 plum tomatoes

100g cashews

1/2 tsp salt

Tsp thyme

2 cloves garlic, minced

Sliced sourdough bread or crackers

Method

Make the cashew spread by soaking the cashews in water for a few hours/overnight – just enough to cover them. Then, without draining the cashews, combine the plum tomatoes, cashews, salt, garlic and thyme in a food processor until smooth and creamy.

Make the gremolata by combining the parsley, lemon juice, salt, olive oil and garlic in a food processor until blended.

Cook the peas and green beans. While they are cooking, drain and rinse the butter beans and warm them with a tbsp of the gremolata in a small pan over a medium heat, stirring regularly.

Add the peas and green beans and the rest of the gremolata to the butter beans and serve with toasted sourdough or crackers spread with the cashew cheese, and garnished with a little chopped cucumber, red onion and parsley.

If you like this, try our truffle oil, lemon and walnut spaghetti.

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Saving money and the planet

With the horrendous price rises that hit us on April 1, the cost of living crisis has meant that, understandably, concern for the planet has to take more of a back seat when we’re all trying to figure out where to find the money to pay the bills. Often, it can seem that household and lifestyle sustainability solutions, though laudable, end up costing us more money as there’s a huge upfront cost (ie washable nappies) or an increase in monthly spend (loo roll in fancy packaging that costs twice what you’d normally spend on loo roll).

We’ve put together some planet-saving ways to save money so that you don’t have to make the choice between saving pennies and saving the planet.

Draught proof your house. This is such an old, and obvious, one but it really works. Our hall and bedroom were freezing and almost unbearable in the winter without a blast of heating, until we added draught excluders to our external doors. If you don’t have the money to buy a draught excluder then roll up an old blanket and wedge it against doors and windows that are draughty.

Cover up letterboxes and keyholes in doors as they can be serious offenders when it comes to letting draughts through – a small outlay on a keyhole cover, for example, can make a real difference to temperatures in halls for example, and save you having to put the heating on.

And even if it’s cold outside, open curtains during the day. Any small amount of sunlight will get in and help heat the room.

Use food waste apps. Olio and ToGoodToGo are two of our favourites. About a third of all of the food in the world is thought to go to waste, a major driver of climate change as the unused food often ends up in landfill where it rots and produces methane. ToGoodToGo advertises very low cost ‘magic bags’ of shopping, baking, sandwiches and fruit and veg based on what local partners have to offer. We got a huge bag of baking from Starbucks for £3.50 this week via ToGoodToGo with pastries and sandwiches, most of which we froze. Olio advertises free food either from people in the local community or local food shops such as Pret.

A pile of discarded courgettes (image: Olio)

Skip the weekly shop once a week. We do this on the last week of every month and instead make a point of eating everything in the freezer and cupboards we can, only buying things day to day that we absolutely need. This saves us money and cuts down on waste. You’ll be amazed at how much you have that can be used when you make the decision to shop only for what you need – we always spend far less on shopping in our week when we don’t do a big shop.

Lift share instead of driving. There are millions of cars doing the daily commute every day in the UK, and many of them only have one passenger – the driver. Check out Liftshare, where you can arrange to commute with another person, or share a long journey with someone else, either by giving them a lift in your car or vice versa. Always be mindful of safety and check out a user’s reviews before sharing a car with them, though. And if it’s possible, consider cycling instead of driving – often this can be quicker than driving as you nip through traffic, and it’s good for your health, too.

Have at least one meat-free day a week. Plant based eating is good for the planet and good for your purse. A healthy vegan meal such as our lentil dhal is easy to make and really inexpensive if you already have the store cupboard ingredients, or this plant based vegetable soup.

Freeze EVERYTHING you can. I look back at myself in years gone by and cannot believe how much food I used to throw away, leaving unfinished food out or in the fridge then tossing it when I could have frozen it. Our freezer is full of boxes of varying sizes of leftovers from shepherd’s pie to curry – though Colin isn’t the best of labelling things so sometimes what’s inside the Tupperware is a little surprise! Get it out of the freezer in the morning so it’s ready to put in the oven for your evening meal.

For more ideas, read our ten easy eco changes to make your life greener.

I also recommend the Martin Lewis Money Saving Expert forums for some brilliant money saving ideas, many of which don’t put sustainability on the back burner.