It’s easy to find gravy mixes that are vegan (even the beef-flavoured ones don’t often have any meat in them!). However, they do have a lot of unnecessary additives and often contain palm oil. Make your own instead.
Ingredients
150ml red wine
2 tsps vegan stock powder
500ml water
1 tsp each of garlic and onion powder
2 tsps mixed herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme)
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp Natex or Marmite
2 tbsps arrowroot or other thickener (cornflour, tapioca starch etc)
1 tsp brown (muscovado) sugar
Pepper to taste
Optional flavourings: balsamic vinegar, mustard, horseradish, redcurrant jelly or any dark fruit jam
Method
Boil the red wine till it loses some of its rawness.
Turn down to a simmer.
Add stock powder and water.
Add the herbs, soy sauce, sugar, Natex and garlic/onion powder.
Slake two tablespoons of arrowroot with a little water and stir into the gravy. Stir till it thickens. If it’s too runny, mix a little more thickener.
Now taste and decide what you need. Jelly or jam for more sweetness and a glossy finish, balsamic for a touch of acidity. If you need it saltier, don’t add pure salt – go for more stock powder, soy sauce or Natex instead to give depth.
The other night I did my first ever cookery demo, and I loved it. Probably mainly because I managed to crowbar in some cheese jokes.
When I became vegan, I accepted the ‘truth’ that I would never enjoy mac n cheese again, never again make cheese jokes… How wrong I was. This is my favourite comfort food which also doubles as a carb-loading meal the night before a race, but isn’t as stodgy as a non-vegan version, plus you get one of your five-a-day!
This recipe is completely flexible; you can use pumpkin or potatoes and carrots instead of the squash, or miss out literally any of the ingredients (although not all!) and it’ll still work – you can even substitute the mylk for water. So don’t worry if you’re missing an item or two from the list…
Vegan butter recipe as asked for by a few people at the World Vegan Month party.
Vegan “Butter”
Emma’s vegan butter on toast, and (INSET) the original recipe from VeganBaking.net
A delicious light buttery taste and importantly it melts like butter on pasta or vegetables. I couldn’t imagine asparagus without butter and sometimes olive oil is too plain or strong. A bit of a faff for some people I should think.
1/2cup+2tbsp+1tsp (130g) refined coconut oil (melted and then cooled to room temperature)
1tbsp canola or rice bran oil or light olive oil
1tsp liquid soya lecithin,
or 2 1/4 tsp soya lecithin granules
1/4tsp xanthum gum
or 1/2+1/8tsp psyllium husk powder
a) Whisk together the soya milk, vinegars and salt and leave to stand until it has curdled.
b) Measure melted coconut oil and the other oil into a food processor. Add the soya milk mixture, soya lecithin and xanthan gum. Process for five minutes scraping down the sides half way through.
It needs to solidify as soon as possible after mixing for a smooth butter.
c) Pour the mixture into a mould, eg marg tub or large ice cube tray, and freeze for one hour until solidified. Store for use in the fridge.
Emma
Supporting and inspiring a lifestyle free of animal-derived products
3 Valley Vegans 