Veganuary discoveries

I recently stumbled across the concept of Veganuary – a month-long promotion of vegan eating for the month of January, rather like the Dry January marketing campaign it seeks to tap into people’s New Year motivation. Well, I did have a few days off alcohol after Christmas, but as I posted a few weeks ago, we’re still struggling to establish a completely vegetarian regime here in France. We do lean towards vegan as neither of us eat large quantities of cheese, but this is for health reasons rather than an ethical choice. It is another strange aspect of our life in France where there is said to be a different cheese for every day of the week. It also provides an extra challenge as I  tend to seek out vegetarian recipes that are not too heavy on the cheese, although we’re OK with goat’s cheese and a bit of parmesan. I’ve given up fresh milk, which makes shopping in the summer easier. The French don’t drink much fresh milk, preferring UHT, so the holidaying Brits buy up whatever stock is available.

 

A browse on the Veganuary website had me drooling over some of the products available in the UK, both new to the market and the old favourites we have left behind. I’m still looking for inspiration when it comes to recipes based on beans and pulses. I’ve got three ‘slots’ to fill in my 33 recipe meal planner for the campervan. I recently decided to exclude Mujaddarh, which is based on quinoa and lentils. It’s a great ‘at home’ recipe but is a bit too fiddly for the campervan, plus I didn’t want to add any more items to the basic store cupboard list.

It was whilst looking for some new ideas that I came across another campaign, this time from The Vegetarian Society. Unstuffed is a five-week menu planner, complete with shopping lists and printable recipes. Whilst I still haven’t found the elusive bean dishes I am searching for I have printed out a raft of new recipes to try. Gnocchi with spinach and red pepper is set to become another household favourite. It can be made using just store cupboard ingredients, and although I am loathe to add yet another pasta dish to the ‘33’ list, I think it would work equally well with as a pasta sauce. Fresh gnocchi is available here in the supermarkets. It looks just the same as gnocchi I have bought in the UK, but the cooking instructions are to fry it – I did try that method the first time, but in future I think I’ll stick to the ‘normal’ poaching method. Meanwhile, the hunt for the bean solution goes on!