Why your restaurant needs vegan options

I'm not a vegan, I'm not even a vegetarian but I think all restaurants, cafes, clubs, bars, and anywhere that serves food should ensure there are vegan options on the menu.

I don't think that because  it's not nice to eat animals (it may not be, but I still love steak and bacon), I don't think it because it's good for the planet (debatable if you look at what plants can grow where and why sheep may sometimes be the best protein creators..but also farts...) I think it because it's good business sense.

Many people are vegan these days, whether as a hipster lifestyle choice, a deep rooted love for living things or just not really liking meat, the reasons don't matter to a business, what matters is getting customers through the door.

Some cafes seem to think that one veggie option is enough. "Oh we have jacket potatoes with beans if you like, we can leave out the butter if you are vegan". The idea of 'leaving out' the meat or dairy or egg bits seems a common theme. "hmm vegan? well I think the veggie burger might be vegan, I'll leave out the brioche bun and the cheese"  Well let me tell you straight, leaving things out is not a menu option, it's lazy and it looks lazy. It also looks mean, "we'll make you a special meal by leaving stuff out and not replacing it with anything" doesn't look like you are happy to help, it looks like a begrudging afterthought.

Some eateries think it doesn't matter, after all less than 1% of the UK population is vegan and only 2% of the population is vegetarian. But if you miss those choices from your menu you don't only exclude the vegans, you exclude groups of friends where one of the group is vegan. "Shall we have Jake's party at *Umbertelli's? oh no, they have no real vegan options and Jessica won't want to come, let's go to *Palmita's instead" And the number of vegans is increasing, and they tend to be younger, more likely to eat out with friends.

It's not only vegans that benefit either, with increasing awareness of allergies a person with a dairy or egg allergy is going to opt for places with good vegan options too. Religious food restrictions can also affect people, in a multicultural society many religious people struggle to find a place to eat out that caters for them, but vegan is halal and kosher, problem solved. When I'm looking for a location for a works party or a meal out with friends I might include vegans, Muslims, vegetarians and Jews...and some allergy sufferers, it's not being 'precious' to want to be catered for at a restaurant and it's not a lot to ask for the menu to be clear about it either.

Vegan options are not difficult! Add a vegan section to your menu (and mark them as such, use a different symbol for Vegan than for Vegetarian). Examples of vegan meals include falafel wraps with salad, salads with tofu, stir fries with noodles (egg free) , vegetable soups, hummus salad sandwiches with either no spread or a dairy free spread, olives, fancy breads made with oil, pasta dishes (vegan pesto, tomato sauces etc), risottos with either no cheese or vegan cheese, vegetable burgers, stuffed peppers, garlic mushrooms (use oil or dairy-free spread),  Jus-Rol puff pastry is dairy and egg free! so you can even make some puff pastry treats with fruit or roasted vegetables. Pieminister have a vegan pie option. Vegan pizzas, lentil curries. Don't forget to add some vegan desserts too, lots of sorbets are lovely and there are plenty of vegan ice 'cream' varieties to choose from, and exotic fruits in syrup can be a lovely end to a meal.

Anyone can eat vegan, so including some vegan options on a menu doesn't restrict the menu, it expands it. Now I have a vegan daughter I can really see what a pain it is to eat out when 99% of the menu is off limits, so come on caterers, make it easier, step up and add some vegan goodies to your menus.

Are you vegan?  Where is good to eat out and which vegan things do you like to see on a menu?  I recently ate at Zizzis and they have a brilliant menu, clearly set out with vegan options. Are there other good examples out there?

The best Vegan and Vegetarian Sunday lunches in London.

Vegan and Veggie Roasts in Brighton

*not real restaurants

Vegan Chocolate and Chilli Cupcakes

I often make cupcakes, they are quick and simple.

When I was a Rainbow leader I used to make them with a team of 5 year olds, if you were wondering how easy they are are to make.

But now my teen is a vegan...yeah I know....so what to do?

Help is at hand! In the form of egg replacement. I was sceptical so I tested the Orgran brand (other brands are available), and the recipe, so that you can make them with confidence.

For a deadly twist I went for chilli chocolate flavour, but dried fruit, just chocolate, or other flavours are simple to substitute into the basic recipe.

I tend to make double this recipe and make 12 cupcakes, it's a bit odd as I realise the maths doesn't add up, but they seem to not rise as much as cakes with real eggs, feel free to experiment based on your pan/cake case size.

One of the things you will notice is that the consistency of the baked cakes is changed due to the lack of egg, the cakes don't seem to hold together as well, so always let them cool a bit before removing them from the pan, even if they are in paper cases they will still crumble if you move them when they are hot.

Using chilli oil rather than fresh chillis or crushed chillis means that the heat spreads evenly through the cakes. I decorated the cakes with vegan butter cream icing (using the non dairy margarine) and vegan chocolate drops.

Warning: depending on your chilli oil - this recipe may be extremely hot.

Ingredients

• 3oz Vegan (dairy free) margarine
• 2oz Sugar
• 1 egg replacement portion
• 3oz self raising flour
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons chilli oil

Method

Cream the margarine and sugar together.
Mix the egg replacement powder with water and add to the mix.
Add the flour and 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder.
Add 2 teaspoons chilli oil.
Divide into 8 paper cake cases.
Bake for 15 minutes at 180c/250f/gas 4.

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Sweet potato and lentil (vegan) soup

Here is a nice warming soup for the whole family to enjoy. It's vegan but feel free to add bacon bits or cheese if you fancy.

It's cheap and cheerful, healthy, colourful and tasty.

All you need are some sweet potatoes, an onion, vegetable stock (a stock cube is fine), green lentils and some oil.

First chop the onion, I add some garlic too, then fry that until soft in the oil (I used coconut oil)
then pop half a cup of green lentils into another pan to boil in about 2 cups of water.

Peel and dice the sweet potato, add it to the softened onion, add a pint and a half of vegetable stock and let it simmer in a lidded pan.

Once the potato is soft, blend it until it's smooth (a cheap stick blender is perfect for this)  then add the lentils.

I like to serve mine with cheese, because while my daughter is a vegan, I'm not - I think crispy bacon would be good with this too. Otherwise, sprinkle with chilli flakes and serve. Yum.

*Post contains affiliate links

A Carnivore's Guide to Living with a Vegan

Remember how cool I was when my daughter came out as gay? Well, after all, what changes? Nothing much, different choices in Valentine's day card purchases, but that's about it.  But when Raffy came out as vegan..well that's a whole new ball game!

When I, a confirmed omnivore favouring bacon and steak above almost any other food except cheese, was told by my daughter that her moving toward vegetarianism, and her lifelong loathing of cheese had taken the dark turn into the land of the vegan, I was stunned.

Raffy is 18 but she still lives with us, I'm still her mum, and I still have to ensure she eats well and we buy foods she likes (did I mention teens are as fussy as toddlers?)

So I set her the task of finding foods that

• are cheap
• are easy to make
• are easy to find in shops
• she liked

This was no mean task as it turned out. But here we are a few weeks in and she remains alive. I am still relatively sane and we all seem to be eating a bit more healthily (I'm still eating bacon and cheese sandwiches, fear not)

Our larder now carries a few extra 'staples' along with bread and baked beans. We are no longer restocking up on tuna, tinned chilli and most biscuits, even some crisps have had to be refused larder entry. But on the plus side we now have lentils (red and green) tins of chick peas, tins of mixed beans, tins of butter beans and lots of rice. We also have vegan gnocchi, pasta and peanut butter.

I found several websites listing 'accidentally vegan' foods, one even specialising in vegan snacks, perfect for a teen that constantly raids the larder bewteen meals. So far a favourite savoury snack is Yushoi pea snacks, and on the sweet menu Aldi Paleo bars and several other fruit bars in their Wholefoods range

Maybe if you are a stickler you would eschew foods that say "may contain ..." but we haven't gone quite that far, if it's not in the ingredients, it's good to go.

So we are still enjoying Jus-Roll croissants, Party Ring biscuits and Biscoff Lotus biscuits and spread. Food is being cooked in vegetable oil or coconut oil and many a chili falafel wrap is being consumed. I'm hoping to add a few vegan family recipes to the blog soon, because many are really nice, I mean, not bacon nice, but nice...and I guess you could always add cheese or bacon. I often add grated cheese to my vegan pasta after serving. (did you know you can get vegan pesto? I was far too excited about that)

The main pain in the butt is that we have to buy separate milk (Raffy favours the Koko coconut milk, original) and an egg substitute for recipes. Luckily Raffy has never been a huge fan of yoghurts and custards although there are soya versions. And she already preferred vegan ice cream to the real deal (weirdo). Veganism is definitely a developing trend among the young. Is it a trendy fad or will farm animals become a thing of the past by the time Raffy has kids? Or is eating animals and the products of animals still the best use of some land types? (I'm thinking of waterlogged meadows and steep hills...) I guess only time will tell. 

Look out on the blog for 'vegan recipes for the carnivore' in the near future. I will get Raffy to bake some more vegan cakes so I can blog that - they are very tasty. And if you have any vegan comments (good and bad) or vegan recipes, pop them in the comments below. Thanks.