This is definitely one of my favourite recipes to make recently. Who would have thought that simple French onion soup could be so good? After all, it’s basically just onions… but somehow it magically transforms through cooking into something delicious and mouth-watering.
Vine Recipe: Chicken and Mushroom Skillet
This recipe is so rich, you won’t want to stop eating it. We decided to try out a chicken and mushroom skillet because it’s the kind of recipe that normally you can really only do with real meat. How would it work with a meat substitute? We decided to give it a try, treating the Quorn chicken as if it was real chicken.
Vine Recipe: Mushroom Nut Loaf
Recently we decided it was time to do the proper Sunday lunch thing. Let’s have a traditional veggie nut loaf, we thought – something to enjoy with roast veggies and mash! I tracked down this amazing recipe, which was so easy to make and so, so rewarding. Give it a try if you are after that classic Sunday dinner that is going to last you days and days!
Vine Post: Chili Bean Cakes
This week we’ve got one of our favourite things to share with you: a new veggie burger recipe! This one is adapted from a cookbook simply titled “Vegetarian” which I’ve had since my student days but never really delved too much into. Before you get too excited, I’ll be bringing you the recipe and review on Wednesday – for now we’re just going to take a look at the tasty, tasty Vine!
Mildred’s Classic Burger
Recently, it was time for another visit to Mildred’s, our favourite veggie spot in London. This time, I decided to try the classic burger: smoked tofu, lentil, piquillo pepper in a focaccia bun with relish, rocket, red onion and tomato with vegan cheese. Vegan cheese! Tofu! Focaccia! I can’t explain the excitement. I also went for a side of sweet potato fries because, well, why wouldn’t you?
Planet Hollywood – Veggie Burger
As part of our recent trip to France – which you are all no doubt getting sick of hearing about! – one of the last places we visited was Planet Hollywood, over at Downtown Disney. We had spent the day shopping at a nearby outlet centre and popped down to Disney for the end of the day, a bit of souvenir shopping, and a quick meal. It was my birthday, so I spent the day doing things I love – shopping for expensive clothes and eating veggie burgers!
Berny Riviere – Berny Burger
Here’s another burger from our French adventures! This time, it’s from the Berny Burger, a little fast food place serving burgers and pizza. You will find it in the small town of Berny Riviere, and more specifically, on the campsite of La Croix de Vieux Pont. This is an area where you can camp or rent a lodge, so it’s fairly popular for all kinds of holidaymakers. It’s quite open, so it seems that you could walk or drive down here even if you were not staying on site.
Vine Post: Hello Fresh Vegetable Mac ‘n Cheese
First things first, a lesson. If you try out a subscription service one time and put it on hold so you can see whether you liked it or not before you carry on, remember to cancel it before it comes off hold. Otherwise you end up paying for the next box by accident and getting a load of stuff you didn’t really want.
Vine Recipe: Tortilla Pizzas
This month we’re kicking off our first monthly Vine theme, with alternative pizzas. Tortillas were our first choice of base: they are healthier and easier to eat than normal pizza dough bases, and also take less time to cook. That makes them a win-win for any work night dinner for us!
Recipe: Beetroot and Feta Veggie Burgers
I recently picked up a copy of Good Food’s vegetarian magazine, and as soon as I spotted these beetroot and feta burgers, I could not resist giving them a go. I changed a couple of things in the recipe to suit our tastes, and we absolutely loved them. This is probably the best recipe I’ve tried so far, so I’m so excited to tell you about it! First of all, the recipe calls for spring onions; I hate them, so I substituted for red onion as it tastes better to me. Secondly, you’re supposed to make 18 mini patties. I prefer a nice big burger, so this was enough to make five. That’s a bit of an awkward number, but we solved it by having an extra half burger each on the plate, and serving with some tasty parsnip croquettes. It has to be said that when you get it all mixed together, it looks like meat. No, it really does! I was quite impressed by this, even if you might assume otherwise. I’ve always resented the fact that just by being vegetarian, I’m denied access to some of the best looking burgers – it’s not like there is a veggie version of a Big Mac or a Whopper. If I was in the food industry, I would be campaigning to get exact veggie replicas of any and all meat based meals. Anyway, back to the point: the mixture binds really well, which long term readers will know is something I’ve been working on in my recipes. It is also quite tasty when raw, and even better when warm. There is a gooeyness to the feta which just sits really nicely with the sweetness of the beetroot, and also goes really well with the pittas we used (wholegrain with seeds). The burgers are moreish and filling – I had two and a half on my plate, and I still ended up looking at J’s sideways and wondering if I could swipe another! If I could offer any improvement, it would be that the onion maybe needs cooking longer before adding. Of course, if you follow the original recipe, then that won’t be a problem! I would also add that frying them requires a delicate balance. I don’t like to use much oil, especially in my non stick pan, and so I often find that things cook too quickly. In this case we ended up with blackened edges, although to be honest they didn’t taste burned. We have since made the burgers again, this time as an adaptation of a recipe which called for meat burgers, and I think it’s safe to say they will be our go-to option in the future. I managed to balance them a bit better, getting them on a lower heat to cook, and although they took an average of five-six minutes to cook this way, they did cook through better. That meant less of a blackened surface, and better cooked onions too. I’ve included the recipe, with my amendments, below.
By the way, if you want to see what it looks like to cook them we made a vine!
On the VegBurge scale, I give this…
Taste – 9/10
Price – 8/10
Rest of experience – 9/10