I am continuing the theme, how to start being vegan by introducing some new ingredients and ways of cooking. Be bold, try new recipes, introduce new foods! We have tried all of these ingredients. The first time can be a bit daunting but they all work and are fantastic plant based alternatives to create amazing recipes!

Aquafaba

The word aquafaba is the common name for the cooking liquid of beans like chickpeas. You may know it as the typically discarded liquid found in cans and boxes of beans.
Aquafaba can be used to replace egg whites in many sweet and savoury recipes. Its unique mix of starches, proteins, and other soluble plant solids which have migrated from the seeds to the water during the cooking process gives aquafaba a wide spectrum of emulsifying, foaming, binding, gelatinizing and thickening properties.
A growing international community has developed around aquafaba to explore its full potential, resulting in many exciting recipes such as meringues, mayo, butter, cheeses, pavlova’s, macaroons, baked goods, and much, much more!

Drain a tin of chickpeas and keep the liquid in the bottom of the tin. Mix this liquid using a whisk or food mixer until it forms soft peaks.

Use this white fluffy ingredient to make light and airy cakes, meringues and mousses adding sugar, melted chocolate and your usual ingredients. It sounds crazy but it actually works!

Don’t forget to use the chickpeas to make a lovely hummus or use the chickpeas in a tasty curry.

Jackfruit

A relative of figs and breadfruit, jackfruit grows in tropical areas of Southeast Asia, Brazil and Africa. While it is technically a fruit, its consistency is similar to that of chicken or pork. It has a fairly neutral taste when young, so it takes on the flavour of whatever sauce or seasoning you pair it with. It has a stringy consistency that works especially well with tangy barbecue sauce to make a vegan BBQ pulled ‘pork’ sandwich.

You can buy Jackfruit in tins or in cardboard packaging and you can find it in your local supermarket.

We have made an incredible pulled BBQ ‘Jackfruit’ bun served with dairy free coleslaw and salad. It can also be used as a topping for pizza and used in pies. The key is to add sufficient water and spices to make the flavour shine through. Meat eaters haven’t noticed that this is meat free as it tastes so delicious. Again this seems a new ingredient but there are lots of recipes you can find and it tastes delicious.

Non dairy cakes

This is an easy one. Replace your traditional dairy butter with a plant based equivalent, add flour, baking powder, vinegar and your ingredients such as blueberries, vanilla, lemon, bananas, peanut butter and mix without eggs. You don’t need eggs to make your cakes light, fluffy and super tasty. Your cakes will rise as usual and taste so delicious you will wonder why you need eggs in a cake.

Quick and easy treats

My lovely client, Carrie recommended this super easy sweet treat. My children love them and they take minutes to make.

Make a slit in a large date, remove the stone, add a scoop of peanut butter and close the slit. Put the dates in your freezer for an hour or two.

Remove and enjoy! They melt in your mouth and taste divine!