My First Vegan Day #meatlessmay

'Dunch' with Zoe

On May 1st, I decided to become a strict Vegan (for at least one month) as part of the #meatlessmay challenge. As the day arrived, I'd already had three days of being vegetarian and preparing my body for such a change.

I spent a fair amount of time researching what type of Vegan did I want to be and decided two things,  I want to prepare as much as my food as possible from scratch, this means purchasing an array of different herbs and spices to add to my protein sources. But in contrast, I want to try as much of the Vegan pre-made food available in Supermarkets/Stores etc in order to give my readers a good balanced review of Vegan living.

Stocking up on supplies is very important, so my amazing friend Zoe (the girl I interviewed in Being Vegan) brought a surprise bundle of goods including coconut milk, dried lentils and beans, blueberries and lemons. She had explained to me two things, prepare to spend more money than usual on things and get into random debates with people who question why your Vegan.

My gift to her was to cook a satisfying and tasty Vegan meal.

I started my day with a sweet porridge made with half a mug of oats, rice milk and raisins. It was very filling and kept me satisfied until around 3pm when Zoe arrived for 'Dunch' (late lunch that carries you into the evening). Now was the time to cook my first fully Vegan meal from scratch.

I chose to make Jack Monroe's Carrot, Cumin and Kidney Burger which I found when I was researching about living on the minimum. It has an amazing flavour and the colour of the finished product resembles meat. I served this on a sesame bread bun with lettuce and tomato. I also made twice cooked potatoes with spinach (boiled potatoes, pan fried with frozen spinach and a pinch of vegetable seasoning).

For dessert, I bought Vegan gelato from Naturasi, in Amarena (plain, not vanilla with cherry). The gelato was on offer but usually cost a whopping €7 for 400ml , I was lucky to get this for half price. The gelato itself looks, feels and tastes more like frozen yogurt but no complaints there, just the lack of cherry in it. Almost none existent.

I served it with homemade "chocolate fudge" from another Vegan recipe I adapted. I used a whole American cup measurement of the darkest chocolate chips I could find, two tablespoons of canned coconut milk and 1 tablespoon of liquid coconut oil. I sprinkled desiccated coconut on top. Melt all the ingredients into a pan and put the mixture into a well oiled container. Freeze for 1 hour and refrigerate. The result is amazing 😍

The meal was washed down with red wine and later followed up with a pear.

Surprisingly full and majorly satisfied.

For more cheap and easy Vegan recipes by Jack Monroe take a look at Cooking on a Bootstrap.




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