Blogs

Yesterday evening, I had the pleasure of running a table of food tastings at one of Viva!'s popular talks, Why You Don't Need Dairy, delivered by founder & director Juliet Gellatley, in Cardiff. 

A delicous lunch or light supper using curry leftovers! I made a batch of Viva!'s simple pancake recipe and steamed some shredded spring greens. Once the pancakes were cooked I filled them with reheated curry and served them with the greens and a dollop of plain vegan yoghurt on the side. Very good...

For me, a large part of learning to cook vegan, was mastering how to use tofu in its various forms as a repla

Lots of vegan brands are getting into supermarkets (mainly Waitrose so far) including Taifun Tofu and Organica's vegan chocolate range. Things are looking up.

We love Kino and not just because it's a vegan cafe and our local. Helen and I went there the other day for an early supper before helping with a Viva! event in Kino's basement. Any excuse for a slap-up feed!  The cook on that day made the most yummy red dahl - the colour came from added beetroot, which might sound weird but worked really well in both appearance and taste.

Over the last year or so, Viva! & VVF founder & director, Juliet Gellatley and I, have got together to present talks and cookery demonstrations across the country, to help people improve their mood through what they eat.

The Viva! team spent a fantastic weekend at Brighton's VegFest. Huge thanks to Tim and the team, who as ever, made it a really successful event.  Campaign stalls and talks provided focus and inspiration while merchandise and foodie heaven fed the senses! There seemed to be even more vegan food companies and stalls - we feasted our way through cupcakes, vegan kebabs, cheeze, ice cream, kale chips, organic juices and plenty more.

We've been adding a few more recipes to our special catering section - Tofu Burgers, amongst other things. Some are new recipes, others are larger batches of old favourites, like this one!

Jane and I were delighted to go for lunch at a local Italian pizza restaurant and takeaway in Bristol this week, to celebrate the fact they had introduced vegan pizza and vegan panino to their menu.

The Co-op Chocolate Cake mix in a packet is vegan, hooray for  them - and us.

But instead of de-veganising it by adding an egg as they suggest, try  this. Follow the instructions on the back of the packet then add to the dry mixture:

1 med-large banana, well-mashed
1/2 tsp baking powder
90-100ml soya or other dairy-free milk.