Vegan Food & Living

welcome

As we write this, none of us are quite sure what Christmas is going to look like this year. In truth, we've probably never wanted to be sat around a big table surrounded by our family and loved ones quite as much as we do right now. But whatever happens, the one thing you do have control of is getting to fill the festive season with lots of delicious vegan food. After all, we definitely deserve a little indulgence. A good place to start is the fun and fabulous gingerbread trifle that adorns our cover (recipe on page 32), but if that doesn't quite tick the box for you, we've got some unusual takes on Christmas puddings from page 84, and everything from stollen to speculaas Yule log from page…

what’s november cooking

NEW SWEET TREATS COME RUSHING IN! Never has there been a better time to be vegan, particularly if you’ve got a sweet tooth. Galaxy Vegan fans will be excited to hear that Galaxy launched two new flavours in Asda at the end of September – Smooth Mint and Vegan Crumbled Cookie, which sees rich cocoa and cookie pieces blended with creamy hazelnut paste. You can buy them for £3 each. Next up comes the news that after 140 years, Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles has reformulated to be vegan-friendly for the first time! The new recipe will be used across the full range of Fruit Pastilles sweets, starting with sharing bags from October. The brand joins Nestlé’s expanding range of vegan products, which includes Jelly Tots and Vegan Carnation condensed milk. Meg Miller, Brand…

behind the scenes with vivi supervegan

I can be difficult for vegan children to find vegan characters that they can relate to. Lisa spoke with Tina Newman, creator of Vivi the Supervegan, about how she gave vegan children the superhero they had been waiting for. What led you to create a children’s story book featuring a vegan central character? I have two young children and know the books they enjoy. When we went vegan I realised most of our books weren’t veganfriendly, and new vegan books I found were mostly educational. There was a need for a children’s story book with a vegan message that has a sense of magic, fun and mischief throughout. I wanted to empower vegan children by giving them positive, relatable role models and help them understand they can bring about positive changes in…

christmas the main event

MUSTARD AND MAPLE GLAZED PARSNIPS These glazed parsnips are super easy to make and are perfect for the Christmas festivities as a side to a main course or you can even have them as a starter to dip. By James Wythe from Healthy Living James (healthylivingjames.co.uk) Serves 6 | Prep 5 mins | Cook 40 mins Calories 166 (per serving) 1kg (7½ cups) parsnips, cut lengthwaysinto quarters2 tbsp Dijon mustard2 tbsp maple syrupolive oilsalt 1 Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6. 2 Slice the parsnips into quarters lengthways, add them to a large mixing bowl, drizzle with olive oil and then toss until all covered. 3 Place onto a baking tray (make sure they are spaced) and roast in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. 4 Meanwhile, in the same mixing bowl, add 2 tbsp Dijon mustard,…

christmas sweet treats

MERINGUE DROPS This beautiful aquafaba recipe has sweet stiff peaks, baked to a light and airy bite. By JL Fields Makes 20-30 | Prep 10 mins Cook 1 hr | Calories 51 (per 5 drops) 2½ tbsp granulated sugar2½ tbsp sifted icing (confectioner’s/powdered) sugar120ml (½ cup) aQuafaba¼ tsp cream of tartar1 tsp vanilla extract unsweetened cocoa powder, sprinkles, or turbinado sugar, to decorate (optional) 1 Preheat the oven to 95°C/Gas Mark ¼. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. 2 In a small bowl, whisk together the granulated and sifted icing sugars. 3 Pour the aquafaba into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Add the cream of tartar, then whip the aquafaba on medium speed for 3 minutes. With the mixer still running on medium speed, add…

fowl-play at christmas

For many British families, Christmas is probably the one time of year they come together to eat turkey. It’s an odd tradition, but a staggering number of people believe Christmas is simply not Christmas without a dry turkey roast taking centre stage on the dinner table. But why? THE ORIGIN OF THE TURKEY. Turkeys are not native to the UK. They instead originate from the Americas and were brought over to Europe in the 1500s by Spanish traders. There are six different recognised sub-species of wild turkey – one of which is the meleagris gallopavo, who our domestic turkeys descend from. It’s claimed that King Henry VIII was the first person to eat a turkey on Christmas Day in around 1523, yet it didn’t become widely popular until the 1950s. Up until then,…