World Vegan Day. Recipes to savour!

The 2nd of November marked World Vegan Day. Veganism is gaining popularity with an ever-growing number of people interested in their health.

In the gym, we noticed a surge in questions about the vegan way of life since the release of the Game Changers documentary last year on Netflix.

We've attended The Southend Vegan fair twice in recent years to find out more and to discuss fitness with members of the local community.

This week our blog is co-written by Runway member and private chef Margherita Cairoli.

Find out more about her on her website

www.margheritacairoli.com

We asked her contribute four Vegan recipes for you all to try, so why not give them a go during lockdown.

Walnut creamy pasta

300gr of walnuts

1tsp of paprika hot or mild

4 springs of thyme

250ml of oat cream.

Blend the walnuts and thyme with a pinch of salt into a fine paste. In a saucepan on a low heat slow cook the blended walnuts and thyme paste with a tablespoon of olive oil. It burns very easily so make sure you constantly stir it. When the mixture is a gold colour add the paprika and then the oat cream. Cook for a minute and it is ready to be mixed with a pasta of your choosing.

Vegan chocolate cake with banana and peanut butter ice cream

85gr dark chocolate

90gr coconut butter

130gr plain flour 1/2tsp of bicarbonate of soda

1 can of chickpea water

20gr of coconut sugar

For the ice cream: 2 ripe frozen bananas 2tbsp of peanut butter 1tsp of vanilla extract 2tbsp of vegan milk

Preheat the oven at 180 degrees C. Whip chickpea water until firm. Melt chocolate and coconut butter then combine all the ingredient together. Pour the mixer into a cake tin, cover with parchment paper and bake for 12 mins. For the ice cream just blend all the ingredients together. Serve warm with the ice cream on the side.

Tofu fritters with sriracha mayo

400gr of tofu

1tbsp of dried hijiki or arame seaweed

3 spring onions thinly sliced

1 small carrot cut into matchsticks

4tbsp of potato starch

2tbsp of soy sauce

2cm of ginger grated

Sunflower oil For the sauce

4tbsp of vegan mayo

1tbsp of sriracha

Roughly mash the tofu and keep it on the side in a large bowl. Meanwhile, soak the seaweed in a bowl with water for 5mins. Mix the tofu with the seaweed, onions, carrots, ginger, potato starch, soy sauce and a pinch of salt. Use 2 large spoons to shape about 8 fritters. Heat up on a medium heat a thin layer of sunflower oil in a frying pan. Cook for about 6-7mins each side

Broccoli and chickpea pancake with mango chutney

300gr of tender stem broccoli thinly chopped

2 cloves of garlic grated

1tsp of Cumin

1tsp of coriander

1tsp of mustard seeds

100gr of chickpea flour

1tsp of salt

1tsp of bicarbonate

Water

Sunflower oil

To serve: Mango chutney and fresh coriander

Mix all the first 8 ingredients together in a large bowl and slowly add a bit of water at the time until you reach a pancake texture. Heat up a frying pan with a few drops of sunflower oil and cook the mixture as you would a normal pancake. Serve with mango chutney and fresh coriander.

We think these recipes sound delicious, if you give them a try send us a photo of them on our social media pages

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