Being Vegan

You may have picked up this book because you’re a veteran vegan, a recent convert or just curious about changing your diet and lifestyle. Veganism is now more popular than ever, but what does it mean to ‘be vegan’? And what’s behind this seismic shift in our attitudes? VEGAN GOES MAINSTREAM 2019 is the year of the vegan, according to The Economist. Over the last decade, there has been an explosion in interest in veganism: on the scale from 0 to 100 that online search engine Google uses to measure interest in a search term, ‘veganism’ skyrocketed from 17 in 2008 to 88 in 2018. In the UK, the total number of dietary vegans quadrupled from 2014 to 2018, according to the Vegan Society. Though as a share of the…

1 “YOU’LL MISS OUT” One of the biggest things that stop people going vegan is a fear of missing out. You’ll miss cheese-covered pizza or nachos and your favourite chocolate bar. However, you are actually more likely to crave these junk foods when you eat them frequently, so eventually, once you have eliminated them, you’ll stop craving them. Soon you’ll be whipping up delicious vegan treats, and the tasty non-vegan junk food will be a distant memory. 2 “YOU WON’T BE AS HEALTHY” Many people believe that the absence of meat is a problem because you’ll end up lacking nutrients that you’ll only get from meat. Vegans are actually far more likely to eat the recommended daily allowance of fruit and vegetables, plus have lower rates of obesity. 3 “VEGANS DON’T EAT OYSTERS…

1 Add savoury depth There are a few must-have ingredients for adding depth to your sauces and soups. Add some tomatoes to your vegetable soup to create an almost buttery taste, or a decent splash of white wine can add a lovely savoury depth to your sauces. Keep a bottle of vegan Worcestershire sauce on hand for adding a meaty taste to your cooking – it’s amazing in a bolognese sauce. Mild miso sauce is also a must-have ingredient. 2 Stock up on spices Following the vegan diet may mean avoiding a whole host of ingredients, but it doesn’t mean you have to lose out on flavour. Make sure you stock up your spice rack so you can cook flavourful dishes. Spices like smoked paprika, turmeric, garlic powder, ginger and nutmeg are…

Vegan cooking has never been easier, with so many alternative ingredients that you can swap out of non-vegan recipes. From ingenious egg replacement hacks to different fats that can be swapped in for butter, you’ll never struggle to find something that will work for you. There are many meat alternatives on offer, too, meaning you can still get plenty of important protein and nutrients, and you won’t be lacking in iron or key B vitamins – as is commonly (yet wrongly) assumed. Just about every coffee shop now offers great dairy-free milk options to suit your tastes, and you won’t have to miss out on comfort foods, such as pizza and mac and cheese, with the various vegan cheese alternatives out there. Red meat (beef, lamb) Red meat is a…

Although non-dairy vegan products are becoming more accessible in supermarkets, they can be more expensive than the dairy equivalents. Making your own is often far cheaper, plus it is actually easier than you’d think. The great thing about making cheese and milk yourself means that you’ll know exactly what is in them and they’ll taste fresher too. Vegan ‘Mozzarella’ Balls SERVINGS PREP TIME REST TIME INGREDIENTS • 500 ml | 17½ fl oz | 2⅛ cups unsweetened soya yogurt• 1 tsp salt• 200 ml | 7 fl oz | ⅞ cups extra virgin olive oil RECIPE 1 Place a cheese/muslin cloth in a sieve over a large mixing bowl, then add the salt to the yogurt before tipping it into the muslin. 2 Wrap the cloth tightly around the yogurt…

Thanks to modern agriculture, new processing methods and quick transport, we’re used to being able to go to the shops and find our favourite fruits, vegetables, fungi and exotic foods in stock year-round. It’s normal now to see strawberries on the shelves in December, and there’s nothing unusual about finding oranges from South Africa and bananas from Colombia. This is a very recent convenience; for most of human history, people survived by working with the seasons and eating the food that grew well in their region. As nice as it is to have whatever you want, whenever you want it, there are arguments for returning to this more natural way of eating. You’ve probably noticed that the price of fresh produce fluctuates, with some costing twice as much in winter.…