My first Vegan dish!

(Posted on over50sforum too!)

Ok, first off I haven't yet decided on becoming a vegan! If I can do it without it causing problems for my health (as I already have quite a restricted diet) I most probably will but anyway here's my first vegan dish although I cheated! I used half a sml jar of M&S Tagine paste, which is usually used for a Moroccan lamb steaks dish.



I couldn't get any wholemeal cous cous so only had a little (as I love the taste!) but had some wholemeal rice to fill up the plate.

It's meant to be made with lamb steaks, but I substituted the lamb with diced turnips :-p

How to

Fry some diced turnips in coconut oil, then when almost done add some onions, then a little crushed garlic. Then while frying that de-skin 4 large tomatoes but before adding them put two spoons of M&S tagine paste into the frying pan - fry for a little while to let the spices get to work then added the toms. Add some water then another spoon of tagine paste. Bring to boil and then lower heat to simmer for an hour - stirring every 15 minutes. It should be a nice thick consistency and the turnips should be fully cooked. Oh I forgot I added some chopped butternutt squash at the onion stage.

Serve with cous cous (or rice) but use wholemeal as it's much better for you. I added some chopped radish too - but not necessary.

It tasted nice, and as I only used half the tagine paste it wasn't too hot... just right for me

That looks nice, we use turnips in a pasta dish we do Plus i could eat cous cous until the cows come home. Lovely with apricots and harrisa paste

Yum!

Looks and sounds lovely Azz...I hope you enjoyed it.

I glanced at your other thread and then realised that I couldn't bear to read through or look at the vid...I've been a vegetarian for over 40 years, since I was in infant school and my parents gave up trying to force meat into me...I know you are thinking of going Vegan so there are probably a lot of things that I do eat that you wouldn't but I find the Quorn pieces and mince make some scrummy meals

can I ask in what way your diet is already limited?

maybe going vegan to quickly will not be good for your health? I think your being really tough on yourself, I would break myself in gently with veg, then if that went ok after a few months going vegan?

You took the words right out of my mouth

that looks delicious!! cous cous is a favourite of mine too and i quite often substitute rice or pasta for it!

Mmmmm, couscous! There's a really delicious barley couscous fairly widely available (I think it's made by Belazu) - definitely worth a try. As an alternative, quinoa is a great source of vegan protein, and full of fibre and minerals.

I think whether you jump straight to veganism or phase it in is really down to your personality: some of us are just all-or-nothing kinda people. Either way, you will have to do a lot of thinking about what you're eating (I think you're pretty food aware anyway, Azz, so that'll help). And you have to be prepared to make mistakes, and forgive yourself for it. I've been veggie for 17 years, and I still occasionally find I've eaten non-veggie cheese or something (thankfully less often these days).

Most of all, make sure you have a widely varied diet. If you limit yourself you will end up with deficiencies, and you'll get unbearably bored!, and that's never a good start!

Thanks for the comments all!

I'm not yet 100% decided on going vegan, but will if I can learn how to cook reasonably tasty foods without animal products.

Why? For two reasons really - I'm totally against all the crap they put in our food/meat and I don't like how animals are treated/farmed. Maybe one day if I had a farm I could rear animals with a bit more respect I may think otherwise but until then I am doing my best to be vegan best-I-can but without letting it affect my health (although don't see why that should be a problem - you can get all your proteins from legumes).

Like I said I'm not decided yet - I watched that delia prog on iplayer and she made a chicken dish that just made my mouth water

(Shona asked why I'm on a restricted diet anyway... I'm back on me detox but tbh, it's actually not that far of being a vegan - as any meat or animal product should be organic anyway.)

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Anyway here's my second vegan dish



Wholemeal cous cous (trying to stick to wholegrains), sliced courgette, black olives, with olive oil and lemon juice sprinkled with paprika and cumin (although I don't think I put enough in) and chopped fresh coriander and parsley. I was supposed to add flaked almonds too but forgot to get them!

It was nice - but I don't think I put enough of the paprika & cumin in.

Azz - have you tried Quinoa at all? It's a great alternative to cous cous/rice etc. and contains all the 8 essential amino acids, so is considered a complete protein.