Adventures of a Veggie Lady - a Vegetarian in Edinburgh

Vegan chocolate birthday cake

2011-04-25T17:19:00.002+01:00

Made this for my vegan man's birthday on Thursday. Vegan cupcake recipe from 'Vegan cupcakes take over the world' (but with chocolate soy milk instead of soy milk for extra depth), topped with vegan chocolate ganache.

Yummy!

Appetite for reduction

2011-03-08T21:33:00.004Z

I just got a copy of Appetite for Reduction: 100 Fast and Filling Low-Fat Vegan Recipes by Isa Chandra Moskowitz - her new low fat, vegan friendly cookbook.

The recipes look great, I can't wait to start cooking them! Off to Real Foods on a supply hunt tomorrow.

Vegan 'victory' cakes

2011-02-13T13:10:00.000Z

Homemade vegan, gluten free, 'Victory' cakes for a Wartime tea party.

Served with vegan cucumber sandwiches and lashings of earl grey tea.

Vegan carrot cake cupcakes

2010-02-06T19:14:00.001Z

Made from a recipe in "Vegan cupcakes take over the world" - worked really well.

Edinburgh Festivals, 2009

2009-08-03T10:16:00.003+01:00

My fair city will once again play host to a variety of festivals in the coming weeks, so I thought I would dedicate a few blog posts to places of interest, particularly for vegetarians and vegans.

To kick things off, here's a list of the festivals which will be running - if I've missed any out, let me know. *

July 31 – Aug 9, 2009 Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival
I've never been to the jazz festival, shame on me. Some good stuff on this year, I should try to go to something.

Aug 7-31, 2009 Edinburgh Fringe Festival
The all-singing, all-dancing city wide bit of madness. I love the Fringe - you can often pick up free tickets to events if you just wander around the Royal Mile or Old Town, and venues range from eclectic and tiny to the massive Conference Centre.

Aug 5 – Sept 5, 2009 Edinburgh Art Festival
Art galleries around Edinburgh play host to this festival, which aims to showcase visual arts. A mix of old and new, painting, sketches, sculptures and the like. Some nice little venues here - 50 in total.

Aug 7–9, 2009 Edinburgh Mela
The Mela aims to promote Scotland as a culturally diverse nation, and it's a lovely mix of acts from around the globe, world cooking, fashions, shops, and crafts. I went last year and had to resist the urge to buy masses of fabric and bindis (I could have spent a fortune).

Aug 7–29, 2009 Edinburgh Military Tattoo
Marching bands, bagpipes, and all that jazz. I went when I was a child and enjoyed this, although it holds little appeal now. However, the queues for this are always amazingly long, and people seem to love it still.

Aug 13-16, 2009 Edinburgh West Port Book Festival
A fairly new, alternative book festival - see my other blog for details.

Aug 13-14, 2009 Edinburgh Interactive Festival
The main events are for delegates, but this incorporates the Dare Protoplay event which is free and great fun - you get to play demo games made over the summer by students.

Aug 14 – Sept 6, 2009 Edinburgh International Festival
Theatre, Opera, Arts etc - the high brow big sister of the Festivals.

Aug 15–31, 2009 Edinburgh International Book Festival
My favourite! Events on books, authors, illustrators, current affairs, etc, with lovely bookshops and a fantastic atmosphere.

Aug 28-30, 2009 Edinburgh International Television Festival
Another one mainly for delegates, and pricey at that. Great if you're in the business though.

To be continued...

*I've deliberately left out festivals running at different times of the year, for obvious reasons.

Strawberry millefeuille

2009-05-23T13:37:00.001+01:00

Well, sort of. I had puff pastry and strawberries so looked up recipes which might use them. This recipe for a strawberry millefeuille took my fancy, and after adapting it to be vegan and adding a few pistachios to the mix we had a lovely dessert.

Too much red meat?

2009-03-24T18:42:00.004Z

Saw this article on the BBC news website today and thought it might be of interest.

"Scientists have produced new evidence suggesting eating lots of red and processed meat damages health."

"The researchers, from The US National Cancer Institute, found those whose diet contained the highest proportion of red or processed meat had a higher overall risk of death, and specifically a higher risk of cancer and heart disease than those who ate the least. People eating the most meat were eating about 160g of red or processed meat per day - approximately a 6oz steak."

Read the full article here: the drastically titled "Death link to too much red meat."

Circus Elephants

2009-02-27T12:11:00.002Z

I saw this on the BBC News site and thought would post it here:

"A circus is being criticised by the RSPCA for using elephants in its show.

The animal charity said the debut of three elephants at a circus in Nottinghamshire on Friday was a "body blow for animal welfare". "

What a shame - I can't see how this could ever be a good life for the elephants. Edinburgh Zoo doesn't even have elephants, as they don't think they would be happy there.

I remember when I was young (about 13) going to a circus, for the last time. We thought it would just be people performing, but there were animals there too, and it was really sad. If memory serves we left early. The circus is not my thing at the best of times, but wild animals being carted around the coutnry and forced to entertain seems very wrong.

The poor elephants.

Vegan Food Photos

2009-02-05T10:39:00.001Z

Here's a slideshow of some of the vegan food I've made over the last couple of years...

New advert from the Scottish SPCA

2009-02-03T09:28:00.008Z

There was an article on the BBC Website today about a new, very specific campaign on the part of the Scottish SPCA. They have released a fairly shocking new advert in newspapers intended to warn people that the RSPCA does not run in Scotland - so if you donate to them, you do not actually donate to animals in Scotland. This is a common misconception in Scotland - the RSPCA have nothing to do with Scotland's animal welfare, never have.

The RSPCA advertise throughout the whole of the UK and not just locally on TV, and SSPCA allege that they also advertised in Scottish supermarkets and radio. Shame on them if that is true!

I used to work for the Scottish SPCA and I remember this being a problem for them back then. While it's nice to see them trying to tackle the problem it does seem almost cruel in its execution, but I suppose that by making it quite as "hard hitting" they are grabbing headlines.

You can read the full press release from the SSPCA here.

In the meantime, here is a nicer poster from them:

Vegan Lemon Cupcakes

2009-02-02T11:06:00.003Z

I had a bit of a sweet tooth yesterday (I don't normally!) and decided to do a bit of baking.

I used a recipe for Lemon Cupcakes from Vegan with a Vengeance as a basis (a great book, recommended buying!). I can't see a link to this online, so here is my (only slightly modified) version:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and put muffin cases on a muffin baking tray.

Dry Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Sieve together in a small bowl.

Wet Ingredients:

1/4 cup sunflower oil (they use canola oil, can't get that here)
2/3 cup sugar (they add 2 tablespoons more too)
1 cup soy milk (they use rice milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest

Mix these together in a large bowl.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until the flour is completely mixed in, making a smooth, kind of fluffy batter.

Fill each muffin tin 2/3 full and bake for 17-20 minutes.
(I'm a fan of poking a wooden skewer into cakes etc to see if they are done - if they come out with any cake mix on them, bake for a bit longer.)

When the cakes were ready, I left to cool on a wire rack and made some icing.

Icing was simple:

1/2 cup icing sugar, sieved *
1 tablespoon lemon juice (or thereabouts, depends how you like it!)
dash of red food colouring (vegan stuff too)

Combine these and spread on the cupcakes when they are completely cool, then decorate with a few sprinkles of lemon rind.

Yummy.

* You need to watch with icing sugar (confectioners sugar) - sometimes it's made with egg here in the UK to refine it. I used unrefined stuff, which is off white so generally looks a bit nicer on things like this when dye is added.

Henderson's Bistro, Edinburgh

2008-11-30T11:43:00.002Z

94 Hanover Street (just around the corner, on Thistle Street)
Edinburgh
EH2 1DR
tel: 0131 225 2605

Henderson's Bistro has become my new favourite haunt for good vegetarian and vegan food in town.

It's been around for thirty years, and has a very different feel from the busy canteen-styled restaurant below. Little tables, fairy lights, roses, tealight candles and happy, relaxed service are the order of the day here.

It's a good, if unchanging, menu. All vegan options are clearly marked, and most veggie options can be made vegan too. I think I've had most of the food on the menu now, having been to the restaurant so much. I LOVE the bean-burger, the enchillada and the lasagne. The haggis also comes highly recommended, but I had the curry last time I was there and it was far too watery. All the starters and deserts are good: I'd particularly encourage you to try the vegan cherry pie - delicious.

All the wine is vegan friendly and there are a few biodynamic options available too.

Prices are competitive for City Centre eating - £20 should get you two tasty, filling courses and a drink.

Great food, great service, great atmosphere. What more could you want?

Buy Nothing Day

2008-11-25T10:39:00.004Z

Saturday 29th November is Buy Nothing Day, and I'll be participating this year.

'The rules are simple, for 24 hours you will detox from consumerism and live without shopping. Anyone can take part provided they spend a day without spending!'

I'll be honest - I'm not a spendaholic or anything anyway, so this isn't a huge deal for me. However, it's sometimes nice to take part in things like this, and I could do with spending nothing for a day!

There are a few events on round the UK - in Edinburgh Friends of the Earth are hosting a 'Swap your stuff' stall at Register's house.

Other things to do for free in town during the day:

Go to a museum - the enchanting Museum of Childhood, windy Museum of Edinburgh, or impressive National Museum of Scotland, perhaps.
Go to an art gallery - like the lovely National Gallery of Scotland
Take a walk to the Botanic Gardens
Watch lots of TV
Take photos, paint a picture, write a story!

I'm doing NaNoWriMo this year, so I'll probably spend Saturday doing a combination of finishing my novel and going for a stroll to take photographs. If you're taking part, hope you have a fun filled day!

Green & Black's - no longer vegan

2008-10-10T14:05:00.007+01:00

I missed this report a few months back, and it's only since a friend spotted the new packaging that I discovered a change was going on. Green & Black's, whose have long had chocolate bars and powders marked vegan, have redesigned their packaging to reflect the fact that Green & Black's chocolate is not vegan friendly (and not for milk allergen sufferers either).

There's no change in the technique used to make the chocolate - apparently it's always been made on the same production line as milk chocolate, therefore there's always been a risk of contamination - of levels which could be harmful to those allergic to milk.

They say "By definition vegan products contain no ingredients derived from animals within the recipe and this still remains true for Green & Black’s dark chocolate. However as our dark chocolate is made on the same production line as our milk chocolate there is some risk of cross contact. As a result, the desire for clearer allergen labelling now conflicts with the vegan statement and we have reluctantly decided to remove it from our labelling."

Bummer. On the plus side, there are still plenty of actual vegan chocolates out there (like delicious Plamil) - they just aren't as easy to find as Green & Black's were.

Vegan Star cookie

2008-10-02T09:26:00.003+01:00

I made pink vegan star cookies for a Sex and the City party! They were better than the film was.

Recipe was 'Jean's Cookies' from Rose Elliots' Vegan Feasts. I've made them a couple of times now, but have never been able to roll them as she suggests - far too sticky. They taste good, though.

Vegan chocolate muffins

2008-09-14T12:38:00.005+01:00

A weekend treat...

Vegan Chocolate Muffin Recipe
(I based this on a Vegan with a Vengeance mocha chip muffi n recipe - I don't like coffee in sweets!)
Makes 12.

Dry

1 & 1/2 cups white flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder (I used Green & Black's - it's vegan)
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

Wet

1 cup soy milk (I used Alpro chocolate soy milk [also reduced the sugar because of this - normally 3/4 cup])
1/2 cup vegan margarine, softened
3 tbsp soy yogurt (I used Alpro Forest Fruits)
1 tsp vanilla extract

7 strawberries, cut into 1cm cubes
1/2 bar of dark chocolate (I used Green & Black's dark vegan), broken into little bits

Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
In a smaller bowl, mix together the wet ingredients.
Add the wet to the dry, and mix well - resulting in an almost mousse-like consistency.
Stir the strawberry pieces and chocolate into the mix.
Pour mix into muffin cases/tray (so they cases aren't quite full) and bake for about 20 minutes at 200c
Garnish with another couple of strawberries if you're feeling fruity.

These were really tasty - not too chocolatey, not too fruity. They're very moist, and still taste nice a couple of days on.

Vegan Cookies

2008-08-03T09:30:00.001+01:00

We've been making them for a while now, and they're always very tasty when you fancy a treat. Very easy to make, too.

Here's a video with the original recipe!

Vegan Blueberry Muffins

2008-08-01T09:00:00.000+01:00

I made these muffins recently, following a standard veggie muffin recipe but substituting vegan marg for butter, half a mashed banana for the egg, and soy milk for milk. Worked fine - they tasted good!

Avocado and Pomegranate Salad

2008-07-18T08:50:00.000+01:00

This was really simple to make and tasted great - very summery!

We mixed torn Romaine lettuce leaves with pomegranate seeds, grapefruit, chopped avocado, pine nuts and walnuts, then squeezed a little lemon juice over the lot.

Summer Fruits

2008-07-16T08:20:00.000+01:00

Dragonfruit! Good name, amazing exterior - just not so sure about the taste...

Maybe there's a good way to eat these, rather than just slicing them open and scooping out the flesh?

I'll try it again though. Maybe. One day.

Battery Hens - as pets?

2008-06-30T09:30:00.002+01:00

"More than 600 battery hens which could have faced a trip to the slaughterhouse have been rehomed."

Good news.

I rarely buy eggs, and if I do I only buy organic eggs - the best welfare standards in the UK by far. I hate thinking about the life poor battery hens have, so it's good to know that at least a few of them - though not nearly enough - are having a happy retirement, where they don't have a happy life otherwise.

Of course, this is in the wake of the news that Tesco shareholders have voted against improving standards for their chickens. Boo.

Edinburgh Treefest!

2008-06-17T18:30:00.000+01:00

Treefest was on at Inverleith Park this weekend. I missed the parade on saturday, but went along for a potter on Sunday and it was great fun!

There was a lovely tent called the Chocolate Tree there, which had delicious things hiding within. I bought some vegan hazelnut cake - it tasted as good as it looks!

My friend ran a stall for kids (and adults) to paint a tile or a mug - I decorated one, which turned into a bit of a leafy affair!

It was a great event, and I'll definitely go back next year for the parade as well.

Vegan macaroni cheese

2008-06-16T08:14:00.000+01:00

I made veganised macaroni cheese again. This time, though, I added mustard to the sauce and stirred through some tofu to pep it up a bit!

It was really good. Sometimes I worry that soy products are a bit sweet when making sauces, but the mustard helped keep this a nice savoury dish. Would definitely make it again!

Homemade apron!

2008-06-13T11:28:00.001+01:00

Me in my homemade apron!, originally uploaded by Laura A.

Made using donated denim, a pillowcase I bought from a charity shop for 50p, and a second hand button. The most expensive part was the thread!

I'm really getting into sewing at the moment - my parents gave me their old sewing machine and after many frustrating hours I finally have it working properly.

Next thing to make - a summer dress!

Vegan "quiche"

2008-05-30T13:37:00.001+01:00

Vegan "quiche", originally uploaded by Laura A.

I never eat quiche now - since my boyfriend obviously can't eat it and I rarely eat eggs anyway! It was always a food I quite enjoyed eating in warm weather at a picnic, so I thought I'd make up a vegan version for us to enjoy.

To start, I made up a simple vegan savoury pastry - 225g flour, 1tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt mixed together, then added 90ml oil and 70ml water to the dry mix to form a silky dough. I wrapped the dough in clingfilm and put it in the fridge for half an hour. I rolled it out nice and thin, then lined a greased cake tin with it. I poked a fork through the base a few times, then baked for 20 minutes until the shape was set, and then allowed it to cool for a while.

While the base was cooking I gently fried a chopped white onion and a couple of cloves of garlic in some olive oil, until the onion was soft.

While that was cooling, I blended together a packet of fresh silken tofu, 4 sundried tomatoes, 2 choped tomatoes, a roasted red pepper and the cooked onion. I put this mix in the pie crust and baked until the tofu had set.

It was nice, and i'd make it again. I'd maybe be tempted to use a blend of silken and firm tofu next time - or even just firm tofu - but the silken probably had more like the normal quiche consistency so maybe not!

Making Vegan Sushi

2008-05-27T10:14:00.002+01:00

I made up a video to illustrate my sushi making techniques!

Tips:
Once you've cooked the rice, cover it with a sheet of wet paper towel. This stops it from drying out while it's cooling.

I like to mix rice vinegar (about 1tbsp), rice mirin (2tbsp) and sugar (1/2 tsp) to my rice. In the video above, I add a touch of shoyu to this too - you can leave this out if you want, though!

Put a dash of rice vinegar in a bowl of cold water, and use this to wet your hands before you handle the rice. You can also use this to seal up the sushi if it's not quite sealed itself.

My magic ingredient of the moment is hummus! It's lovely when used in sushi with some raw vegetables.

Use a nice, sharp knife to cut your sushi.

New Balance Trainers

2008-05-08T08:53:00.003+01:00

A while back, my boyfriend bought me these New Balance trainers. They're great - totally vegan, made in the UK (no sweatshop!), and we got them in a nice running shop in town that spent quite a while fitting them. The New Balance website has details of which products are vegan and where they are made - very handy.

At the start of June, I'm doing the Race For Life around Arthur's Seat with a group of friends, so I've started wearing my trainers in earnest!

I'm following a simple training programme for the Race for Life, which will be my first 5K. Running a few times each week, increasing the distance and time I run at each session. Although I'm in town, we're near a park and pretty waterway, so it's been quite nice - especially in this sunny weather!

Just hope I can keep it up...

Stuffed pitta

2008-04-27T17:11:00.001+01:00

Stuffed pitta, originally uploaded by Laura A.

PItta stuffed with hummus, homemade vegan tzatziki, simple herbed rice and mixed roasted vegetables. I will make this again, was very nice and easy as well.

Vegan Lasagna

2008-04-24T23:11:00.001+01:00

Vegan Lasagne, originally uploaded by Laura A.

I made vegan lasagna last night.

Mincey bit was made with TVP, mixed with a tin of tomatoes, some chopped sundried tomatoes, garlic, tomato puree, basil and smoked paprika. Lots of flavour, yes?

White sauce was made with margarine, flour, soy milk, cheesly and a dash of nutmeg.

The pasta was vegan friendly lasagna sheets from the co-op.

Tasted good!

Vegan Pizza

2008-04-05T18:21:00.003+01:00

Mmm, vegan pizza. I made an extra thick base, and topped half with garlic oyster mushrooms and the other half with juicy tomatoes, olives and homemade vegan pesto.

I'm not vegan (yet, anyway) but when I make pizza at home I no longer put cheese on it. Doesn't need it, and it means my boyfriend and I can eat exactly the same!

Tofu in nori

2008-04-05T17:47:00.002+01:00

Ooh so tasty...

150g firm, plain tofu
5 sundried tomatoes
1 spring onion (scallion)
Couple of cloves of garlic
touch of olive oil
a few olives

Blended together and refrigerated for an hour, then wrapped up (a bit messily!) in a sheet of Nori.

I would definitely recommend. I used the Engine Shed plain, firm tofu for this, and the consistency was perfect.

I made a platter of raw veggies, pitta bread, homemade hummus, olive tapanade and baba ghanouj, and serves the tofu in nori with it.

Vegan macaroni cheese!

2008-04-05T17:46:00.001+01:00

vegan macaroni cheese!, originally uploaded by Laura A.

Mac and cheese, veganized!

Made the white sauce with margarine, flour, nutmeg and soy milk, and then mixed in cheesly.

Polenta and roasted vegetables

2008-04-05T17:45:00.001+01:00

Polenta, originally uploaded by Laura A.

This worked nicely - homemade polenta topped with slow roasted mediterranean vegetables and rosemary.

Tofu Sushi

2008-04-05T17:41:00.001+01:00

Tofu Sushi, originally uploaded by Laura A.

Something different i've been trying lately - tofu sushi.

Above photo was some thinly sliced and fried Engine Shed smoked Tofu on top of sushi rice, topped with carrot and red pepper, and wrapped with nori. it works quite well - although i do prefer the vegetables on their own!

Vegan Pesto recipe

2008-02-03T20:45:00.000Z

It's getting easier to buy vegetarian friendly pesto in the shops (i.e. pesto made with veggie friendly hard cheese rather than parmesan), but you generally need to visit a speciality shop to get vegan pesto - and it's not always great.

Fresh pesto is SO much nicer than the jarred stuff, so I've adapted a vegetarian pesto recipe to make easy, vegan pesto.

Ingredients:
50g basil leaves
2tbsp pine nuts
2tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
4-5 sundried tomatoes, sliced

In a blender, mix the basil leaves with the pine nuts until they are nicely chopped.

Add the oil and garlic, then blend again.

Add the sundried tomatoes and blend one last time (I cut them up before blending so they don't annoy the blender!).

Season to taste - I tend not to bother as the tomatoes add enough seasoning.

Lovely on lots of things - pizza, polenta, sandwiches, pasta, gnocci, whatever!

Pesto and Polenta

2008-02-03T20:33:00.002Z

Pesto and Polenta, originally uploaded by Laura A.

Polenta topped with vegan pesto. Very nice - better than with the tomato sauce I made before.

Risotto

2008-02-03T20:20:00.003Z

Risotto, originally uploaded by Laura A.

Vegan risotto - arborio rice, mixed mushrooms, sweetcorn and mange tout with a sweet chilli sauce stirred through at the end.

Hummus

2008-02-03T20:20:00.001Z

Hummus, originally uploaded by Laura A.

What would life be like without hummus? Lovely in a seeded bread sandwich with rocket and big, juicy tomatoes.

Pizza

2008-02-03T20:19:00.001Z

Pizza, originally uploaded by Laura A.

Vegan pizza - homemade base topped with fresh, chopped tomatoes, olives, sundried tomatoes and olive oil. Basil added after cooked. Lovely, actually, would make again

Bagel

2008-02-03T20:18:00.005Z

Bagel, originally uploaded by Laura A.

with mashed avocado, sundried tomato and pine nuts. A tasty lunch.

Haggis pie

2008-02-03T20:18:00.003Z

Haggis pie, originally uploaded by Laura A.

Vegan haggis topped with carrots, parsnips, mashed potatoes and puff pastry. I made a vegan gravy. Very nice - you can't really see the haggis here but it tasted good.

Mushrooms in Whisky

2008-02-03T20:18:00.001Z

Mushrooms in Whisky, originally uploaded by Laura A.

Shitake mushrooms cooked with shallots, ginger and garlic, then Scotch whisky and stock added to make them saucey. Very nice.

Recipe at:
www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/

When making this again I would use more mushrooms than suggested and approximately 1/2 the shallots recommended.

I served with garlic bread rather than the cream cheese things, to make it vegan!

Tofu Stir Fry

2008-02-03T20:17:00.001Z

Tofu Stir Fry, originally uploaded by Laura A.

Cookie

2008-02-03T20:11:00.001Z

Cookie, originally uploaded by Laura A.

Homemade vegan chocolate chip and raisin cookie.

Polenta

2008-01-15T12:13:00.001Z

Polenta, originally uploaded by Laura A.

Polenta - I slow cooked cornmeal and vegetable stock, and when cooked I stirred in sundried tomatoes, olives and a tiny bit of vegan marg. Left to set for an hour or so. Grilled then served with a simple tomato sauce and rocket.

Looks oily but it wasn't, just the way it looked after grilling :-)

Easy to make and tasty, will definitely cook this again - maybe with pesto sauce or mushrooms on top, mmmm.

Peppers and Risotto

2008-01-15T12:12:00.004Z

Peppers and Risotto, originally uploaded by Laura A.

Baked peppers stuffed with sundried tomato and vegan pesto risotto.

Rosemary and tomato bread

2008-01-15T12:12:00.001Z

Rosemary and tomato bread, originally uploaded by Laura A.

An easy bread baked with fresh rosemary and baby tomatoes on top, which I served with the peppers and risotto.

Vegan Pizza # 2

2008-01-13T12:27:00.003Z

Vegan Pizza # 2, originally uploaded by Laura A.

Also tasty - normal pizza base, baked on its own for a few minutes and then smothered in my vegan sundried tomato pesto and topped with cherry tomatoes and black olives.

Vegan Pizza #1

2008-01-13T12:27:00.001Z

Vegan Pizza #1, originally uploaded by Laura A.

Ok, so possibly the tastiest pizza I've made... A normal pizza base, brushed with olive oil and topped with garlic, oyster and skitake mushrooms and fresh rosemary. SO tasty, cheese would have spoiled it.

Tofu sandwich

2008-01-13T12:26:00.005Z

Tofu sandwich, originally uploaded by Laura A.

Bought from Boots - £2.99 for this, a smoothie and some fruit. Nae too bad!

Pasta

2008-01-13T12:26:00.003Z

Pasta, originally uploaded by Laura A.

Pasta with homemade tomato sauce

Risotto

2008-01-13T12:26:00.001Z

Risotto, originally uploaded by Laura A.

Shitake and Oyster Mushroom risotto with spinach and rocket stirred through.

Mushroom Pate

2008-01-13T12:25:00.003Z

Mushroom Pate, originally uploaded by Laura A.

Vegan white wine, mushrooms, garlic and olive oil, cooked until the wine had reduced and then blended.

Vegan Cherry Pie

2008-01-13T12:25:00.001Z

Vegan Cherry Pie, originally uploaded by Laura A.

From Hendersons food shop on Hanover Street, Edinburgh

Fajitas

2008-01-13T12:24:00.005Z

Fajitas, originally uploaded by Laura A.

Vegan Fajitas. Mixed, spiced veggies with hummus, guacamole and spinach salad

Sushi

2008-01-13T12:24:00.003Z

Sushi, originally uploaded by Laura A.

Vegan chilli

2008-01-13T12:24:00.001Z

Vegan chilli, originally uploaded by Laura A.

Vegan pate

2008-01-02T16:50:00.001Z

Made with cannellini beans, tomato puree, garlic, sundried tomatoes, black olives, a pinch of oregano and seasoning.

Tasty on toast!

Vegan for January

2008-01-01T17:19:00.000Z

New Years Resolution number 1: be vegan for the month of January (at least).

After some tasty but ill advised over indulging in December, I've decided to go vegan for January to detox a bit. About half my meals are vegan so this shouldn't be too hard, but I shall miss cheese!

Root Vegetable pie

2007-11-22T20:33:00.000Z

I baked a lovely, seasonal root vegetable pie for tea tonight. Very easy.

I sliced and diced 2 carrots, 2 parsnips and 2 root vegetables, then boiled them until softened. In a seperate pot I boiled 4 potatoes for mashing - when these were ready I mixed with vegan margarine and a bit of soy milk to fluffen up.

In a frying pan I sauteed an onion, and mixed this with the cooked and drained root vegetables in an oven dish. I mixed a teaspoon of flour in to the remaining oil of the frying pan, and mixed thoroughly. I stirred in warm water until I had a gravy consistency, and then added some shoyu for seasoning. I strained this gravy and mixed with the root vegetables, then spread my mashed potatoes over the lot.

Baked for about 25 minutes, and then serves with salad and cranberry sauce. Yummy...

Want...

2007-10-30T12:25:00.000Z

Oh, Mooshoes, you are wonderful.

I need new winter boots. I will have to wait until after Christmas to buy any, but aren't these lovely?

Foccacia

2007-07-25T15:08:00.001+01:00

I made Foccacia with soup last night. It was surprisingly easy, and tasted great.

Serves 4, probably!

Ingredients:
450g flour,
7g sachet easy blend yeast,
100ml olive oil,
300ml water,
sea salt

I mixed the flour and yeast together, then slowly added the olive oil and water to make a dough. Kneaded for about 10 mins, then flattened onto an oiled baking tray. Rubbed a little oil into the dough, then sprinkled with sea salt and left to rise under a towel for about 40 minutes. Baked for 20 mins until golden.

This was delicious, and I will definitely make it again, maybe adding some baby tomatoes, garlic and basil to the topping, or olives and sundried tomatoes etc to the mix.

Edinburgh Vegetarian Restaurants

2007-06-16T18:50:00.000+01:00

I'll keep this list updated: click links for my reviews.

Ann Purna
Baked Potato Shop
Black Bo's
David Banns
Engine Shed Cafe
Hendersons
Kalpna
Susie's Diner
The Forest

Henderson's Vegetarian Restaurant

2007-06-16T18:23:00.000+01:00

Henderson's
94 Hanover Street
Edinburgh
EH2 1DR

tel: 0131 225 2131

I go to Henderson's loads, I've no idea why I haven't blogged it before. It's really central, and comprises a salad bar, shop, bistro and wine bar, all on Hanover Street (over the hill, across George Street).

I meet a friend for lunch quite a lot in the salad bar. It has something of a canteen atmosphere - you get yourself a tray, cutlery, water etc and order in a queue - but the food is so much better than anything you'd normally get from a canteen! The shop was set up in the 60's by vegetarian and wholefood fan Janet Henderson, with the salad bar following in the 70's. Some of my family remember going to it when it was quite a different place inside than it is now!

It's quite expansive down in the salad bar, with plenty of tables and a great variety of food. It's not particularly cheap, but as with Susie's Diner the food is always of such a good quality that I don't mind paying more than I normally would for lunch. I love the ciabatta pizza they do, or the massive potato croquettes.

They have lots of vegan options too, and if you don't want anything heavy there's plenty of attractive salads to choose from. Some of the desserts are just amazing - I had the chocolate mousse one day and it was unbelievably good.

The shop upstairs has lots of nice fresh produce, as well as tasty little pies and things to take away. I haven't been to the Bistro part yet: will update when I make it!

Highly recommended if you're in town.

More at http://www.hendersonsofedinburgh.co.uk

Homemade pizza

2007-06-14T18:46:00.001+01:00

We normally make our own pizza toppings to put on some nice organic pizza bases that we get from Real Foods, but on Friday I decided to make some nice, thin Italian style bases for us.

I got the dough recipe from our Easy Vegetarian cookbook, and I was very pleased with the results!

Two tomato sauces: simple tomato and orgegano for me, a chilli and basil sauce for Ewan.

Some nice pizza vegetables: red onion, mushrooms (yum), black olives, yellow pepper.

My vegetarian pizza, topped with veggie mozarella, olives, mushrooms, red onion and torn basil.

Ewan's vegan pizza: topped with yellow pepper, red onion, olives, spinach, basil and nutritious yeast.

Vegetarian Sushi!

2007-06-08T16:07:00.001+01:00

I love sushi. If I could only ever eat one food again, it would be vegetarian sushi.

I did a post on sushi on my lifescape blog a while back, explaining that sushi is not about fish, it's about rice. Lovely, sticky, flavoursome rice. Therefore it's very easy to make a nice vegetarian or vegan sushi meal!

I like to make maki rolls more than anything else, and took a few photographs while I was making some sushi recently. It's so easy to make once you get the hang of it. Takes time, but it's always worth it.

The basics: cooked and flavoured sushi rice, strips of raw vegetables (carrot, cucumber and red pepper here), shitake mushrooms, avocade (I made a guacamole because I didn't want it to brown and I cut it too early), wasabi, shoyu, bamboo mat, nori and a bowl of water with some rice vinegar in it.

Marinaded shitake mushrooms

Clearspring (vegan) Japanese nori sheets

The result: lovely little maki rolls!

The PPK have a good video of how to make sushi - I'd recommend watching it if you're a beginner!

Hula - Juice and smoothies

2007-05-26T15:27:00.000+01:00

A friend who used to work with me has opened up a lovely Juice and Smoothie place in town called Hula.

It's very central, on Victoria Street, just beside the Grassmarket.

It's really nice inside, with fun decor, colourful furniture, cushions in the windows and an art gallery to the rear.

I tried a red berry smoothie with some Goji berries in it, and it was sooo tasty. Very rich and flavoursome. They had some interesting shots and things on the menu too - you can buy a shot of chilli, for instance!

They have veggie options on the menu (unmarked unfortunately, but they do have them) and the food looked as good as the smoothies.

Highly recommended!

Check out Hula on myspace.

Lemon and Piri-Piri Kebabs

2007-05-20T17:27:00.000+01:00

I made these colourful and tasty vegan kebabs a couple of nights ago for dinner.

I'd seen a vegan sauce in Sainsburys which sounded good - a Lemon and Piri-Piri marinade for barbeques.

I skewered courgette, red onion, red and yellow pepper and mushrooms to make the kebabs, topped with a little of the marinade and grilled until they were warm through.

The sauce smelled gorgeous and although it was admittedly a bit spicy for me it did taste good too! It will be nice if we ever have a barbeque during the summer too.

I served it with a little tomato salad - all in all a nice, simple and healthy dinner!

Moaning works!

2007-05-20T11:06:00.000+01:00

Mars have had so many complaints that they are going to change the recipe back to being vegetarian and re-source veggie whey.

No news about which bars will be unsuitable, as they've been producing them differently for a couple of weeks now.

Anyway, full story on BBC News.

Asparagus and Red Pepper soup

2007-05-18T20:18:00.000+01:00

In keeping with asparagus season, I made us an interesting sounding soup the other night.

Asparagus and Red Pepper Soup - serves 2

Ingredients:
100g asparagus, finely chopped
100g red pepper, finely chopped
2 tsp tomato puree
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp garlic puree
200 ml vegan stock

Gently simmer all the ingredients together for about 15 minutes, then blend together.

I served with a little pinch of chilli flakes on top, and some warm ciabatta.

This was really easy to make and tasted fantastic. The garlic and chilli gave it a bit of zing, and the soup had a really nice texture to it. I'll definitely make this again!

Based on a recipe on the BBC Food website by AWT.

It's This Season's Must Have, Darling!

2007-05-14T20:19:00.000+01:00

Asparagus!

As it is May, the short but sweet Asparagus season is upon us in the UK, and we should embrace it with open arms.

This is one of the "super foods", naturally rich in Folic Acid, Vitamins A&C, potassium and dietary fibre, so it's a great thing to be able to buy when it's fresh and grown locally. The season only really spans May and June, so get cooking!

I found a nice little site today all about it: www.BritishAsparagus.co.uk

Bye-bye Mars bars!

2007-05-14T11:33:00.000+01:00

Not that I ever had a big thing for them, but most Masterfoods products (inc. Mars, Twix, Maltesers) are no longer suitable for vegetarians.

The company has stupidly switched suppliers and will now be using non-vegetarian whey which contains calf rennet.

This move has prompted the Vegetarian Society to write a bit on their site and go to various news sites, urging people to complain to Masterfoods.

How annoying. I found the comment by Masterfoods that many "vegetarians" could still enjoy their product to be counter-effective, as they obviously didn't bother looking up a definition. Go to the vegetarian society (or any other reputable animal/vegetarian society site) and the definition of vegetarian clearly includes avoiding gelatine and rennet. I realise not every vegetarian sticks to that, but it's not just "strict" vegetarians who do and it's just bad form on their part to try and suggest that their products are still vegetarian friendly.

Juice Almighty

2007-05-12T15:20:00.000+01:00

A new Juice bar called Juice Almighty has opened up on Castle Street in Edinburgh.

I've been a couple of times now: I think it's lovely and just wanted to blog about it!

Prices are quite good - it's a bit cheaper than similar places in Edinburgh and has a lovely selection of juices to order.

My boyfriend tried a carrot, orange and ginger juice the other day which was just lovely. Pictured above is the "Berrylicious" smoothie, which I've had a couple of times now because it's DELICIOUS!

Website at: www.juicealmighty.co.uk

I can't believe how central Juice Almighty is: it's going to do good business during the festival! I'll have to fight the queues on my lunch breaks - I work quite near here so it's going to quickly become my takeaway of choice on sunny days!

Before this infernal rain started I did sit in Princes Street Gardens with a smoothie and packed lunch - a lovely salad sandwich made by my boyfriend.

The Green plastic thing underneath the sandwich in this photo is a Wrap-N-Mat, which we bought online from the states several weeks ago and have started using for lunch. It is a washable, reusable (and therefore quite environmentally friendly) sandwich wrapper which can also act as a sort of placemat. We weren't too sure about them at first, but they have proven to be very reliable, secure and easy to clean between uses. The only problem with them is the actual design - I opted for a plain green wrap as many of the patterns aren't so hot. We first heard about them from the Vegan Lunchbox blog, and are glad we did!

Chai Edinburgh

2007-05-10T16:21:00.001+01:00

We went to a lovely place called Chai:Adventures in tea the other day.

It's at 3A Merchant Street, near Candlemaker Row, just behind Greyfriars Bobby.

Nice atmosphere inside - it's quite cosy and small, with an ecclectic mix of furnishings - it serves food all day and they seemed to have a fair number of veggie options.

I love tea - herbal teas, that is - and, as the ame would suggest, Chai had loads on offer. they came served in lovely ceramic pots with nice bowl cups to drink from, and apparently they do free refills too. I selected a tea caled Orange Blossom Oolang which was just SO nice, honestly the loveliest tea I've had.

They serve drinks as well - my brother tells me the cocktails are really nice and they had a couple of organic wines on offer - so it seems like it will be a good place to go of an evening!

Engine Shed Tofu

2007-05-09T22:00:00.001+01:00

I bought Tofu from Real Foods today and it was so gorgeous I have to blog about it.

It's freshly made at the Engine Shed cafe in Edinburgh. This was the first time we'd tried this tofu, and it was just lovely. It was a clear pound cheaper than the stuff I normally buy, and had an amazing texture to it. It was firm but not hard, didn't crumble when you cooked it and had a lovely juiciness to it when cooked.

Definitely recommended. I believe they sell this across Scotland, so if it's sold in a shop near you please let me know here!

NOW I just need to get there for my lunch one day.

Store Wars!

2007-04-25T12:32:00.001+01:00

I saw this great little Star Wars parody on: http://www.storewars.org

Tt aims to help promote Organic Food - and is very funny :)

Win chocolate!

2007-03-28T21:12:00.000+01:00

Through the blogosphere I found out about a great competition to win some lovely chocolate from Hotel Chocolate.

Best of all, the prize of a chocolate easter hamper is vegetarian!

To enter, go to writer Julia Buckley's blog, as Hotel Chocolate have organised the competition through her lovely site.

I've entered! Mmmm... chocolate....

Susie's Wholefoods Diner

2007-02-25T21:28:00.001Z

Susie's Diner
51-53 West Nicolson Street
Southside
0131 667 8729

I love Susie's diner. We've been here several times, and always had some of the most amazing, tasty and filling vegetarian food out there.

The diner is tucked away in a side street, near the Festival Theatre and Edinburgh University Union. The food portions are big, the service pleasant and the menu really good, especially for such a small place.

All food is vegetarian and much is vegan, and there's normally a great choice of dishes on the menu. Last time we went I had a really tasty quiche with Greek salad, and my boyfriend had a sweet and sour tofu dish which looked (and, I'm assured, tasted) delicious. There are plenty of lovely looking desserts on the menu if you just fancy a cup of tea and a bit of cake, but it's worth trying the main courses!

Many of the staff are adults with learning difficulties, and the atmosphere inside is relaxed and friendly. The furnishings are rustic, so don't come expecting the spangly, modern innards of David Bann's, but it's clean and has lots of room.

The only problem with the place is that it's incredibly hard to read the massive chalk menu board - you're better going up to the counter and asking what's on. There's a little board with the day's specials on it next to the counter, but it can be hard to get into as well.

Very busy at certain times of the day, but always worth a visit. Even my highly carnivorous brother loved it here. 7 our of 10.

Susie's Wholefoods Diner
51-53 West Nicolson Street, Edinburgh
tel: 0131 667 8729

New blog

2007-01-15T14:40:00.000Z

Howdy folks.

Just thought I'd give you all a little update... I've not been posting much on here lately, because I've been asked to write a veggie blog for Lifescape Magazine, and have been concetrating my efforts there somewhat.

My new blog is at:

http://lifescapemagazine.typepad.com/veggielady/

I'll probably be giving that blog more attention than this one for a little while, so please check it out for new posts!

However, I will still be maintaining this as my Edinburgh Veggie Blog - the Lifescape one will be more about being veggie in general. I've a plethora of assignments due in for University at the moment, which is another reason for my lack of posting here, but shall be a bit more free in February.

If there's anything you want me to post about there, please let me know!

Be back soon...

Laura

New Year - New Soup!

2007-01-03T16:02:00.000Z

For the first post of the New Year, I thought I'd put another soup recipe online. I'll be the first to admit that it's rather like my other soup recipe, but it's nice and easy, I promise.

Carrot and Orange Soup
This is a lovely, sweet soup, with a nice colour and texture. Adapted slightly from a recipe my Granny's friend gave me years ago.

Ingredients:

500g carrots, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 litre vegetarian or vegan stock (I use a nice organic Bouillon)
Rind of 1 orange (and a little of the juice)
1 teaspoon sugar (I use demerara)
1 Bouquet Garnet (find with spices in supermarket)
Tbsp Olive oil or equivalent
Salt and Pepper, for seasoning
Cream if desired

Add the Olive Oil to a large pan, followed by the chopped onion and carrots. Let them sweat for 5 - 10 minutes, don't let them brown or burn. Add the stock, sugar, bouquet garnet and orange rind (and a squeeze of the orange juice if you want - just a small squeeze though!) and then leave to simmer for about 20-25 minutes, until the carrots are nice and soft.

Remove from the heat, remove orange rind and bouquet garnet. Blend until smooth and thick. Return to the heat and check if the soup needs seasoning (depends on your stock, I always think!).

Serve with fresh crusty bread or rolls, and swirl a little cream on the top if desired (I have to say I've not tried this with vegan cream - just veggie stuff in the past!).

See? Nice and easy...

(pics not publishing just now, shall post one later.)

A few Christmas recipe ideas!

2006-12-19T09:31:00.000Z

I thought I'd put together a little collection of vegetarian Christmas recipe sites that I've found online. If anyone knows of any different sites then please let me know - I really want a good vegan nut roast recipe...

Sainsburys vegetarian christmas meal planner
Includes vegan recipes too. I like the look of the vegan croquettes, think I might make them for Boxing Day.

Vegetarian Society Christmas meals
With a big back catalogue of recipes. Vegetarian and vegan options.

BBC Christmas recipes
Some nice options on here, with a couple of vegan options. I'm going to try and make the port and stilton pate - got some nice vegetarian port from marks and spencers for the festive season which will be put to good use!

Vegan Society
A few festive recipes to choose from.

Vegweb winter recipes
A fair number of recipes, includes Christmas cake.

Rose Elliot's Vegetarian Christmas
This is a link to the cookbook of the same name. I have this, it's got some lovely recipes inside and recipe ideas for three course meals. I'd recommend the mulled wine and mulled apple juice!

Vegetarian Sainsburys...

2006-12-18T21:23:00.000Z

We were at Sainsburys today and noticed that - finally - some of their wine has been marked as vegetarian and vegan!

This is good stuff. For the last few months we've noticed that Sainsburys have been slowly redesigning their packaging to include a "vegetarian and vegan" sign on certain products. Vegetarian only food is represented by a leaf, and veggie/vegan by a big V. It's quite an immediate distinction between the two labels and still clearly branded as vegetarian, so is a welcome improvement for a vegan like my boyfriend (and for the person who buys half the food!) who wants to be able to go into a store and shop with ease.

Anyway, while it's been nice seeing this slow conversion to vegan food labelling, it's been annoying us that Sainsburys hadn't marked their wines properly... until now. So far the "taste the difference" range seems to be the main one which is marked as vegan or vegetarian, with a few of each colour being suitable for vegans. We bought ourselves a bottle of bubbly for Hogmanay, which I'm sure will be appreciated on the night.

Hope this labelling is due to filter through all the wine ranges - it's a good step forward.

Raw food diet

2006-12-11T21:45:00.000Z

I'm thinking of starting a raw food diet in the new year. Has anyone tried this, or does anyone know of any good information/diet planning sites for raw vegan diets?

It sounds really appealing. I have been eating lots of rubbish lately (back on the dairy, ugh), and I know I'll eat even more nonsense over Christmas - and drink it too. I like the idea of only eating completely healthy, raw vegan food for a while - I'm just worried that I'll not know how to feed myself!

Any suggestions/pointers will be greatly appreciated!

PS the pic is finally one of some delicious rice pancakes, stuffed with spring onion, avocado, red pepper and beansprouts. Would definitely make again, possibly substituting cucumber for the spring onions. Also, found bigger Blue Dragon rice pancakes, which are much easier to use, cheaper, and 12 a pack rather than 8! What's with that??

Botanic Garden trip

2006-11-30T17:56:00.001Z

White berries #1
Originally uploaded by Laura A.

We went to the Royal Botanic Gardens on Sunday for a walk.

I love it there, its like a little oasis of calm nature - despite the children running around trying to catch squirrels. We took some monkey nuts down to give to the little tykes - it's interesting watching them hide them in the muddy patches under bushes. I never saw a single squirrel go up a tree with his nut to eat.

I'm looking forward to going back when it's a little colder and getting warmed up in the hothouses. There are some pretty looking light installations in there just now, and i really want to see them up close - and not just through the window.

Beyond Skin

2006-11-27T10:02:00.000Z

Yesterday my boyfriend told me about a UK vegan/vegetarian shoe manufacturer called Beyond Skin.

Apparently Natalie Portman wore their shoes to the Oscars - I can see why. They are absolutely beautiful, feminine and fashionable. Apparently they are handmade to order, which is quite nice.

I really like them - the only downside for me is the price tag! Not exactly within my normal budget. However, if I'm ever off to the Oscars then I know who I'm going to buy my shoes from!

www.beyondskin.co.uk

Soup, soup, a tasty soup, soup

2006-11-26T19:56:00.000Z

Tonight I made Carrot, Orange and Ginger soup for dinner. It was lovely...

Got the basic recipe from Rose Elliot's Vegan Feasts but then adapted to suit my own purposes. A pack of carrots, an onion, a couple of potatoes and some ginger are all that's really needed. I used vegan stock (a swiss boullion base) instead of water to soften the vegetables, added the rind of half an orange to the mix when cooking, then put a dash of paprika on the soup when serving, to give a little extra oomph..

I'd make this again. It was a lovely, warming seasonal soup.

I love making soup through the winter. I'll maybe try and make soups regularly, then post reviews of them online! We finally have internet access at home, so hopefully I will get a bit better at blogging regularly.

PS: for those of you who didn't get the title reference, it's take from a song sung by The Mighty Boosh.

Juiced Up

2006-11-26T09:20:00.000Z

My boyfriend and I got some lovely smoothies recently from a little shop in Bruntsfield.

Called Juiced Up, it's at 100 Bruntsfield Place, just past Bruntsfield Links in Edinburgh.

It has a lovely selection of freshly made juices and smoothies, and boasts that super food, the Acai Berry, in one of it's smoothies.

I'd recommend it for an energy or health boost, or just a lovely drink!

Life Expectancy

2006-11-21T12:29:00.000Z

I just put myself through the BBC Life Expectancy quiz - not that I'm worrying about death or anything, just curious to see if I'm currently above the new national life expectancy average for my area.

Anyway, I managed to produce a life expectancy of 97.6 years! How exciting. I doubt that will come true, but there we go. Being a healthy vegetarian is obviously a good thing :)

Vegan Lunch Box

2006-11-16T12:27:00.000Z

Yesterday my boyfriend received his very own copy of the new book, The Vegan Lunch Box.

We are both fans of the Vegan Lunch Box Blog, so thought the book would be a good investment!

It seems good at first read, lots of recipes, some pictures, tips throughout. I love the food that Jennifer creates for her son, but by heck, she works hard on her meals. For instance, I make sushi every couple of weeks for our dinner, and don't add half the ingredients to the rice, nor do I fan it whilst preparing! Perhaps it's the difference between making great sushi and making awesome sushi :)

I think she's been innundated with orders for this, so if you like healthy, fun lunches - for a kid or an adult - then you should join the queue to buy!

http://www.veganlunchbox.com/

Rice Pancakes

2006-10-17T09:46:00.000+01:00

I've become slightly obsessed with rice pancakes recently. I like the Blue Dragon ones (I'll put up a better pic when I transfer one from camera to PC).

They are a great thing to have in the cupboard. You just soften them in some hot water, and they are ready to eat. You can eat them soft or fill them and deep fry them to make springrolls - I haven't tried that yet!

I like to fill them with as many veggies as possible - thinly sliced carrots, peppers, spring onions, chopped spinach and thin rice noodles are good. Serve with a little chilli sauce, plum sauce or the like, and you have a very easy vegan meal.

New Blog - Midnight Puncture

2006-09-26T09:31:00.000+01:00

My boyfriend has started his own blog:
http://midnightpuncture.blogspot.com

I don't know what he is going to be blog about, but I expect it to include health, vegan issues and the occasional bit of cycling info :)

Veggie Wine - an update

2006-09-12T10:45:00.000+01:00

Thought I'd do a little post as an update to my earlier one on Vegetarian Wine and Beer

We have started buying wine from the Co-Op recently, as it's exceptionally well marked.

All wines there now actually list their ingredients! That's right, people, they tell you that the wine includes gelatine, albumen etc. They also clearly mark all their wine as vegetarian or vegan, when appropriate.

The Co-Op produces fairtrade and organic wines as well as the normal range of new and old world wines, so it's got a good selection to choose from. So far I've enjoyed the wine I've been buying from there - the only disappointing one so far has been a bottle of fairtrade Chardonnay, but even that was drinkable!!

I really hope that other supermarkets follow the example the Co-Op is setting here, as this is fantastic as far as I'm concerned. It not only let's vegetarians and vegans see what wines they can actually drink, but it highlights the fact that wine contains more than most people think it does.

Well done Co-Op.
(I may write about them in some more detail later, as they are great for loads of things.)

The New Leaf

2006-08-24T17:40:00.000+01:00

I have started shopping in a wee place called "The New Leaf", a vegetarian and organic shop. It's like a tiny version of Real Foods and I like it.

I actually bought myself an eco-yoga mat from them yesterday - you can see them all lined up in the window.

Staff all seem friendly, and although they don't have many veggies, or the like, everything that they do have seems nice.

Apparently the staff are all buddhist friends and volunteers, which I have only just found out when trying to find the address online! Interesting.

Here's their website:
http://www.edinburghbuddhistcentre.org.uk/newleaf.html

The New Leaf is on 20 Argyl Place, Edinburgh, Tel 0131 228 8840.

Veggie web sites

2006-07-05T13:09:00.000+01:00

This is going to be a pretty general post, but over time I have found a few really interesting recipe websites/blogs that I thought I would suggest to everyone.

The Vegan Lunchbox is the journal of a vegan who makes the most amazing lunches for her son every day, and posts photos, reviews, information and sometimes recipes for them. I love this blog and check it almost daily. Unfortunately, as it's the summer holidays the blog isn't updated as much so there are not tasty looking treats on there every day but hey, she's allowed time off blogging too :)

The Post Punk Kitchen is a great website. I haven't seen the cable show this is coming from (obviously, not living in America) but I did give my boyfriend the great recipe book. The site has some lovely recipes on it, with a bit of attitude!

The Vegetarian Society. Okay, so you've probably looked at this site yourself, but it's a good one to mention nonetheless. There is information on labelling, diet, cookery classes, vitamins, as well as recipes.

VegWeb is a great site, with thousands of vegetarian and vegan recipes. Additionally, the recipes are often commented on, with suggestions as to how to "improve" or adapt the main recipe, and are rated by the site visitors out of five stars.

Healthy Chef Alex is the partner of "Super Size Me" star Morgan Spurlock. She features in the film a little, and was also in an episode of "30 Days" with him. She seems like a very nice person, and we have her book "The Great American Detox Diet", which is rather good. Her site has a few recipes which are worth a look at, as well as general reading lists and information on her services as a private chef (think you have to be rich and a New Yorker for them, though!).

The BBC Food website has a fair amount of recipes with a decent search function on them. You can mark yourself as vegetarian and therefore avoid the meaty recipes. Unfortunately the tone of the site seems aimed more at meat-eaters who would 'maybe want to cook some vegetarian food at some point, perhaps', but don't let that deter you from finding some great recipes.

Lacto no-no

2006-07-04T15:31:00.000+01:00

I think I am allergic to dairy produce.

I've spent the last couple of weeks living a near vegan lifestyle (still wearing the same clothes so possibly wool) by avoiding dairy products in my daily life. This is a drastic thing for a cheese freak such as myself, for it was the main component in my lunches, snacks and sometimes dinner.

However, since I cut the lactose out I've been feeling great, so I think it's for the best. I've found a few products that have helped me along... (click on product name for link)

Toscana Organic Soya Spread
A beautiful soya, tomato, basil and olive spread. I have this on oatcakes for lunch and love it. There is another flavour of this spread available which I haven't tried.

Nairns Organic Oatcakes
Some guid Scottish oatcakes - vegetarian, vegan, organic and delicious.

Suma Organic Peanut Butter
Organic, vegan, unsalted, yummy. Unfortunately couldn't find great information about the product itself, but I buy a lot of Suma products and am including a link to their homepage instead.

Alpro Soya Yoghurts
I can't believe that these taste almost identical to dairy yoghurts. They are lovely - I like the rasberry and vanilla one the most.

Tempeh
I finally cooked tempeh, and it was a nice surprise. It had a much nicer texture than tofu (which freaks me out a little and which I find really hard to cook) and was very tasty. I lightly fried it in a soy sauce marinade and then grilled on vegetable skewers for tea a few nights ago. Very nice.

I also tried a Soya Chai Tea Latte at lunchtime today which was gorgeous, if terribly sweet. I would recommend it if you have a sweet tooth!

Anyone got any suggestions for dairy replacements (apart from hummus, which I already love)? I'm not a big fan of soy cheese (yet) but would be interested if there is a brand people suggest over others!

The great sandal dilemma

2006-06-19T11:34:00.000+01:00

With the arrival of summer, I am yet again faced with the dilemma of finding nice, vegetarian friendly sandals. Last summer I stuck to the high street and came up with nothing - this year I will be trying a more web friendly approach to finding my dream shoes.

I know there are high street stores which sell leather-free shoes - I am a big fan of the canvas shoe, personally - but decent, nice looking, walking friendly sandals are something I went mad trying (and failing) to find last year.

The only non-leather sandals I found were either too snazzy (for nights out) or were of the sort I would only really want to wear when backpacking around Australia, or the like. I didn't discover the joys of online shoe shops until winter, which was, alas, too late for my poor toastie toes.

So here are my favourite vegetarian shoe-shopping sites:

Moo Shoes
A great, New York based vegetarian shoe store, also sells bags, belts etc. They have very pretty shoes in, and I bought a great pair of boots from them earlier in the year. I did have a problem with my boots (not their fault, however) and they were very friendly and quick to resolve my complaint.

The website is rather good and easy to use, with shoes split into different collections. They have loads of shoes there, too. Postage is about $25, which isn't too bad and (for me, at least) arrived within their specified time limit. I asked a couple of questions about US sizing before I bought my shoes - and what the fit of the boot was like - which they replied to very quickly.

I am eyeing up a couple of pairs of sandals from their collection, at the moment! Like the Segal shoes, if only the name didn't remind me of bad action films...

http://www.mooshoes.com/

Vegetarian Shoes
A UK based supplier of shoes and some clothing, all vegetarian or vegan.

I have bought a pair of boots from these guys too, and found their service prompt and friendly. Postage is fairly cheap and is based on the number of goods you buy from them - about £4.95 for a pair of shoes.

They have a good stock of shoes, but I find many of them to be a wee bit sensible looking... Not masculine, but without any femininity, paricularly. However, the boots I bought from them last year for winter were warm and comfy, so I would recommend them if you see something you fancy.

http://www.vegetarian-shoes.co.uk

I should mention that the shoes are not cheap on either site! While it's a small price to pay to avoid wearing cow on your feet, some shoes are quite expensive.

Now then, these are the only two sites I have bought shoes from, although I know there are many more. If anyone has any recommendations it would be great to hear them!

Real Foods, Edinburgh

2006-05-22T14:23:00.000+01:00

As I threatened it so long ago, I thought I would write a post about Real Foods in Edinburgh.

Real foods is a tiny chain of two shops, one of which is on Brougham Street, the other Broughton Street. I live and work closer to the Brougham Street store so I know it best, but memory tells me that they are both pretty much the same.

They stock so much: organic tinned food, fruit and veg; dried fruit; pasta & sauces; organic wine, dairy and juice; and plenty of specialist food - ie gluten free, vegetarian and vegan!

The small freezers are packed with vegetarian and vegan burgers, sausages, tempeh etc, and it's mostly organic too. I actually bought some tempeh from the there other day after seeing recipes that use it repeatedly in Vegan With A Vengeance - but so far I've not used it!

I could spend a small fortune in Real Foods - and feel like I do on a regular basis - and it is just filled floor to ceiling with lovely things. I like buying big jars of vegan pesto and organic pasta for my boyfriend and I to share, buying some of the interesting Japanese and chinese food (sea vegetables and things), or buying ready made organic pizza bases (and scheeze for my boyfriend - I stick to veggie mozarella!) for a Saturday night treat.

They have big sacks filled with cereal which are really quite cheap, although you pay more for the organic stuff than the "normal" goods - obviously! They sell so many different grains and pulses, herbs and spices and nuts etc that you could have a field day in there with a big larder or something!

They have just started doing an organic vegetable box scheme too, which starts at £10. If I didn't live in a flat I would definitely go for this! At the moment I'm afraid someone will nick the box if it's left on my doorstep.

In addition to their foodstuffs, Real Foods stock vitamins and minerals, herbal remedies, detergents and washing up liquids, cosmetics, shmpoo, deoderant, shower gel etc. Most of these are organic and/or animal friendly too - but they come with a bit of a price tag attached!

The staff are always really friendly in the Brougham Street shop, and there is quite a "community" feel to the store itself - perhaps it's the donations of used carrier bags for people to use, or the notices pinned up for local classes etc.

Anyway, if you live anywhere near either of the shops I'd really recommend them, and if you're a vegetarian in Edinburgh it's a good place to visit! As the goods are specialist and/or organic it can be more expensive to shop here than, say, Tesco, but it's worth it!

Real Foods website

Picky, picky

2006-05-17T14:23:00.000+01:00

I'd intended this blog to be informative and more like a practical website than a rambling look into my scrambled brain. However, I find that I want to ramble on about general things, so I thought I'd do so now...

I have just ordered in lunch for a training course my work is doing next week, and though a few other people have asked for vegetarian options, I'm the only "full-on" vegetarian. So when I made up a list of what people will and won't eat, most folk are "gluten free," "allergic to seafood," etc. But I've put this massive comment next to my own name: that my lunch shouldn't be in the same tray as anything non-vegetarian; that I don't eat egg, and that the food should be marked vegetarian, not just a dodgy cheese sandwich.

I've sent the list off and it struck me that I'm only being such a picky so and so because I know so many non-vegetarians have no idea what the idea really involves. Some people don't see the harm in sticking a mixed batch of sandwiches on one tray (from past experience - go Edinburgh Council catering) without having a seperate veggie option, most people don't think about some cheese not being veggie, and egg makes me sick these days so I'm determined that I don't want to be lumbered with the standard egg-mayo copout sandwich.

I feel like some sort of society freak sometimes. Is that normal? Well, normal for other vegetarians? Or am I just an overly picky weirdo?

Live exports

2006-05-10T09:29:00.000+01:00

The first "batch" of wee calves to go get slaughtered outside of Britain left last week, to boos from me and hearty cheers from evil people.

The veal trade is horrible, I'm so dismayed that after a ten year ban the export of live cattle from the UK the trade is back up and running. I know it was stopped because of disease and not anti-veal protests, but I have been glad that the UK wasn't involved in the trade for so long I forgot why we stopped. To quote the BBC "The lifting of the ban means live cattle born on or after 1 August 1996 can be exported, along with beef from cattle slaughtered on or after 15 June, 2005".

I also find it horrific that the cows were shipped out on the very first day that they could be! I've got this image in my head of a grubby, middle class git (in tweed and leather) rubbing his bloody hands together in joy. With Tony Blair.

I was glad to see that Joanna Lumley was among the more vocal protesters of the ban! Good on her. There have been a few protests about the place - but as we already know the current government doesn't give a hoot what the "people" demonstrate about. I'd still rather people protested than not, and if I lived down at Dover or somewhere I'd be there too

Calves are not meant to be seperated from their mothers or their herds, are clearly not meant to be kept in horrible little enclosures, and find it extremely stressful to get put in a lorry, then on a boat, then back on a lorry, before being killed. Whats more, although veal crates are banned in the UK they are not yet banned in the EU (though they shall be from Jan 07) and so there is a good chance the calves will be kept in even worse shipping conditions abroad.

Dang you all, veal supporters. Dang you.

Adventures of a Veggie Lady - a Vegetarian in Edinburgh

Vegan chocolate birthday cake

Appetite for reduction

Vegan 'victory' cakes

Vegan carrot cake cupcakes

Edinburgh Festivals, 2009

Strawberry millefeuille

Too much red meat?

Circus Elephants

Vegan Food Photos

New advert from the Scottish SPCA

Vegan Lemon Cupcakes

Henderson's Bistro, Edinburgh

Buy Nothing Day

Green & Black's - no longer vegan

Vegan Star cookie

Vegan chocolate muffins

Vegan Cookies

Vegan Blueberry Muffins

Avocado and Pomegranate Salad

Summer Fruits

Battery Hens - as pets?

Edinburgh Treefest!

Vegan macaroni cheese

Homemade apron!

Vegan "quiche"

Making Vegan Sushi

New Balance Trainers

Stuffed pitta

Vegan Lasagna

Vegan Pizza

Tofu in nori

Vegan macaroni cheese!

Polenta and roasted vegetables

Tofu Sushi

Vegan Pesto recipe

Pesto and Polenta

Risotto

Hummus

Pizza

Bagel

Haggis pie

Mushrooms in Whisky

Tofu Stir Fry

Cookie

Polenta

Peppers and Risotto

Rosemary and tomato bread

Vegan Pizza # 2

Vegan Pizza #1

Tofu sandwich

Pasta

Risotto

Mushroom Pate

Vegan Cherry Pie

Fajitas

Sushi

Vegan chilli

Vegan pate

Vegan for January

Root Vegetable pie

Want...

Foccacia

Edinburgh Vegetarian Restaurants

Henderson's Vegetarian Restaurant

Homemade pizza

Vegetarian Sushi!

Hula - Juice and smoothies

Lemon and Piri-Piri Kebabs

Moaning works!

Asparagus and Red Pepper soup

It's This Season's Must Have, Darling!

Bye-bye Mars bars!

Juice Almighty

Chai Edinburgh

Engine Shed Tofu

Store Wars!

Win chocolate!

Recent posts...

Susie's Wholefoods Diner