Sing Kee’s take on Veganuary!

Leading a vegan lifestyle has sparked great interest within recent years. An interest in Veganism has increased 7-fold between 2014 and 2019 and this isn’t without reason. The vegan market has seen a great surge, the main reason for people embracing Veganism is because of the immense benefits to one’s health and the environment around us. With Veganuary in full swing, we’re sharing with you a few benefits of partaking in Veganuary and we may just tempt you enough to fully embrace the lifestyle yourself!

Benefits of veganism:

Vegan diets are rich in nutrients:

A vegan diet inevitably relies on plants, which can contribute to a higher intake of beneficial nutrients. A vegan often ingests more fibre, antioxidants, potassium, magnesium and a great variety of vitamins all of which are greatly beneficial for our health.

Vegan diets can lower blood sugar levels

Vegans often have lower blood sugar levels and have 50-78% lower chance of developing diabetes type 2.

A vegan diet is linked to a lower risk of heart disease:

Vegans may have up to 75% less chance of developing high blood pressure and also 42% lower risk of dying from heart disease. This is because a greater intake of vegetables, fruit and fibre is linked to a lower risk of heart disease.

It’s better for the environment, animal welfare and the welfare of humans:

The theory is, if the whole world decided to go vegan it could reduce gas emissions by two thirds, improve the quality of human lives and avoid damage caused by climate change. It would also lead to the lives of many animals and natural habitats being saved, especially vast areas of the rainforest. Our demand meat requires large plots of land, the cattle required for this process produce the majority of the greenhouse gases that are emitted today. Going meat free would get rid of this demand and need for meat, and consequently benefit the environment and the people affected by it on a large scale.

A vegan menu:

Struggling for vegan recipes? We know it can be hard. That’s why to help you get through Veganuary or simply give you stepping stone to venture into the delicious possibilities of the vegan world, we’ve put together a flavoursome vegan menu with vegan recipes for you, ranging from starters all the way to dessert. 

Starter – Chickpea and sun-dried tomato bruschetta

Ingredients:

• 250g chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1 tbsp parsley leaves, chopped
• 6-10 sun dried tomatoes drained and chopped 
• 1 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice or lime juice or you can mix the two 
• 2 cloves of peeled garlic 
• A pinch of salt
• Paprika to taste
• Black pepper to taste
• 1 baguette

Method:

1. Smash or roughly blend the chickpeas.
2. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, parsley, olive oil, lemon juice, pepper, paprika and salt and mix until combined. 
3. Cut a baguette in half. Brush a pan lightly with some olive oil and heat on a low heat the halves until golden and slightly crispy. To make things a little more interesting, you can mix some vegan butter and garlic together, and spread the mixture over the baguettes before baking the bread until golden and crispy. 
4. Rub the baguette halves in garlic and spread a layer of the the chickpea mixture over it evenly, sprinkle with extra parsley and drizzle olive oil. Serve immediately.
5. Alternatively, instead of rubbing garlic over the baguette, you can mix some vegan butter and garlic together, and spread the mixture over the baguettes before baking the bread until golden and crispy.

Main – One pot paella

Ingredients:

• 1.2 L hot vegetable stock
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed 
• Large pinch of saffron
• 1 white onion, chopped up
• 2 tbsp virgin olive oil
• 3 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/3 tsp dried chilli flakes 
• 100g peas
• 2 bell peppers, diced
• 2 carrots, chopped
• Handful of olives (optional)
• 100g green beans trimmed and cut in half
• 4 tomatoes chopped or 1/3 a can chopped tomatoes
• 300g paella rice or risotto rice
• Salt and pepper to taste
• ½ lemon  
• 2 tbsp parsley, chopped

Method:

1. Add the saffron strands to the vegetable stock in a bowl and stir well. Set this aside.
2. Add the olive oil into a pan and add the chopped onions. Cover the pan with a lid and cook over low heat for around 3 minutes ensuring you stir occasionally.
3. Add the garlic, paprika and chilli into the pan and cook for another 2 minutes. 
4. Add the tomatoes, green beans, carrots, bell peppers, peas, vegetable stock and saffron mixture, olives, paella rice, salt and pepper to taste. Increase the heat slightly and bring the mixture to a boil and then turn the heat down to low and allow the mixture to simmer for 15-without the lid on.
5. Add the peas and cook for a further 5 minutes or until all the stock has been absorbed.
6. Add the juice from the lemon and add the parsley. Mix and then serve up.

Dessert – Orange chocolate cake:

Ingredients:

• 400g plain or all purpose flour
• 80g cocoa powder
• 340ml cold water
• 400g white sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 150ml vegetable oil
• 160ml orange juice
• Zest of 2 oranges
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• 250g vegan chocolate
• 225g canned full fat coconut milk

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius 
2. Mix together the flour, cocoa powder, white sugar and bicarbonate of soda. Mix until well combined.
3. In another bowl, mix together the water, orange juice, vegetable oil, vinegar and orange zest.
4. Add the two wet and dry mixtures together and mix together well until you have a decent liquid mixture. You may use a standing mixer or handheld mixer to do this.
5. Grease two round 8 inch cake tins and line then with baking/parchment paper. Divide the batter between the two cake tins.
6. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Cool the cakes completely in their tins before removing the cakes from the tins.
8. Make the ganache. Finely chop the chocolate up. Heat the coconut milk until it starts bubbling and then pour the coconut milk over the chocolate and stir continuously until you get a smooth chocolate ganache. If you note your chocolate has not melted fully and is not forming a smooth ganache, place a heat proof bowl over a pan with water in it ensuring the water is not touching the bowl. Heat the ganache until it turns into a smooth mixture. Be careful not to burn it.
9. Assemble the cakes by layering a layer of ganache on the bottom cake. You may add an orange spread at this point if you wish. Place the second cake layer on top and then spread the ganache over the top of the cake. You may make more ganache and cover the whole cake if you wish. Decorate with some orange slices.

We hope you enjoy this Veganuary just as much as we do!