Veggie recipes, reviews, and more…
Quite often, I’m asked questions like “what do you eat?”. Non-vegetarians don’t seem to have any concept of what can be eaten without including meat, but actually it is a lot more simple to follow a vegetarian diet than you may think. Those who crave meat replacements can enjoy Quorn, tofu, and alternative recipes, and if you don’t mind, there are a million things you can eat without any form of meat or meat substitute.
This week we’ve finished off Alternative Pizza Month over on Vine, with a quinoa pizza base. I first came across this idea in Deliciously Ella’s book, and although I’ve never been a fan of quinoa, I’ve slowly started coming around. We decided to give it a try and see how it would turn out.
When you read the name ‘Southern Fried Bean Burgers’, you expect something a bit obvious. A bit boring, even. Or at least I do. Just a simple burger is what I infer from that name – nothing very exciting at all. That’s why the team behind this product have really made a big mistake: because there is something really quite interesting about these burgers, that you would never guess at all from the name.
For the second of our alternative pizza month Vines, we made a base out of cauliflower. I’m sure you’ve seen this idea elsewhere – it’s been quite widely used as an alternative way to create a pizza base, making it gluten free. I’m not a big fan of cauliflower, so I had been approaching this one with a little trepidation – was it going to taste like an actual cauliflower, or would there be subtler tastes at work?
I always like to try the new veggie burgers I see cropping up in the supermarket, and as this one has an Indian style flavour, I snapped it up immediately. J loves spicy food while I’m not as much of a fan, so we’re always trying to find something that has a nice balance. These burgers look interesting at least, with lots of seeds and different vegetables visible in the mix. I decided they would be perfect for an Indian-style wholemeal burger wrap, so that’s how I served them.
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!
So this week I’ll be reviewing something a little closer to home… I’ve volunteered at Brands Hatch since around 2006, and worked there since 2014. Somehow, however, I’ve never tried their veggie burgers. How is that possible?
Well, first of all, you can only get them at a couple of places. There’s the Grand Prix Terrace in the paddock area, which is only accessible to those with passes on big race weekends. For the rest of the time, you can get there simply by walking through the tunnel or from the lower paddock. The other fast food-style serving areas are not always open, particularly during the week, so the GPT is generally your best option.
Starting this week, J and I decided to put together a more structured schedule for our Vine posts. Every week from now on you’ll see one Vine plus the recipe for it here. We will also be sticking to themes each month, though this first post is just clearing out the last video we had left before we can get on to July’s theme.
This post marks the first in a new series: recipe adaptations! As well as bringing you recipes for delicious veggie burgers, I’ll also be bringing you adaptations of meat-based recipes going forwards. If you have a recipe to submit for this series that you would like to see adapted, please send it my way using the contact page! I hope these posts will also give meat eaters a view on how to adapt their favourite meals into healthy and veggie-friendly alternatives.
