November 1st, 2009
Wonderful Vegetarian Food
When I first became a vegetarian in 1983 (gasp) there really wasn’t an alternative to meat products on the market. I vaguely remember that you could buy nut roasts if you looked hard enough but going without meat literally did mean that in the 1980’s. Chicken and chips became chips, meat and two veg became two veg, a hotdog became ketchup in a bun. As I explained below, I didn’t give up meat because I didn’t like the taste of it, so I was delighted when non-meat products began to be slowly introduced onto the UK market. Nowadays you cannot move for veggie alternatives which I think is a wonderful thing – and it at least gives people more of a choice than I had when I made that huge decision to give up meat almost 24 years ago. Most of it’s processed of course so probably little better in terms of salt & fat content than the ‘normal’ varities but used sparingly it makes a fantastic addition to a meal. Here are my current absolute favorites:
1. Cauldron Foods Lincolnshire Vegetarian Sausages – chunky, hold their taste and shape superbly in stews & casseroles. Equally tasty with scrambled egg for breakfast or a baked potato for dinner.
2. Quorn Swedish Style Balls - fantastically versatile but I love them best with a homemade tomato and creme fraiche pasta sauce and linguine.
3. Quorn Lamb Style Grills - amazing with new potatoes, green beans and a dollop of mint sauce.
4. Cauldron Foods Organic Falafel – a mid week favourite stuffed inside pitta bread and served with hummus and a green salad.
5. Tesco Meat Free Beef Style Strips – these are totally BRILLIANT in stir fries, pies & stews.
6. Realeat Vege Mince – we use this all the time for chillies and ragu sauces.
If you haven’t tried any of the above I urge you to have a go – they are all available in Holland & Barratt and the bigger UK supermarkets.