Category Archives: Vegetarian food and drink

Hummus supplies to dip as weather and Ukraine war cause chickpea shortage

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Drop in chickpea crop could have serious impact on countries such as India, Bangladesh and Pakistan

Growers are warning of a global chickpea shortage, endangering supplies of hummus just as barbecue season gets into gear, in a development which could have serious consequences for countries that rely on the pulses as an essential source of protein.

Supplies of chickpeas could drop as much as 20% this year, according to the Global Pulse Confederation, as difficult weather conditions and the war in Ukraine hit production.

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Man’s severe migraines ‘completely eliminated’ on plant-based diet

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Migraines disappeared after man started diet that included lots of dark-green leafy vegetables, study shows

Health experts are calling for more research into diet and migraines after doctors revealed a patient who had suffered severe and debilitating headaches for more than a decade completely eliminated them after adopting a plant-based diet.

He had tried prescribed medication, yoga and meditation, and cut out potential trigger foods in an effort to reduce the severity and frequency of his severe headaches – but nothing worked. The migraines made it almost impossible to perform his job, he said.

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Superfood surprise! Ten delicious, unexpected ways with kale – from sausage stew to apple cake

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The leafy green vegetable isn’t just healthy, it is wildly versatile, whether you’re dusting it on popcorn, using it to make crisps, or layering it in an ingenious lasagne

Kale is an exhausting food – not because of how it tastes, but for its role in the never-ending culture war. It’s a symbol of wishy-washy, out-of-touch wellness culture, and is therefore considered with suspicion by a certain segment of society. Which is silly, not least because kale is actually excellent. Stop being a baby, buy some kale and then make these recipes.

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How to make the perfect vegan coconut ice-cream – recipe | Felicity Cloake’s How to make the perfect…

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The secret to an authentic taste and mouth-feel is fat, so what’s the best substitute for dairy? Our resident perfectionist tries them all …

Plant-based ice-cream, like so much else in the vegan world, has come on leaps and bounds in both range and quality in recent years as the market for it has grown, but many commercial varieties still replace dairy and eggs with a long list of perfectly harmless, yet still less than enticing ingredients such as fully refined soybean oil. Without stabilisers, the homemade kind may not last quite as well in the freezer but, frankly, it doesn’t need to: it’s unlikely to be in there long.

This recipe makes a virtue of coconut’s flavour, as well as of its natural creaminess, though you could also use it as a base for other ingredients, folding in fruit puree or chocolate chips after churning, say, or adding the likes of cocoa powder or peppermint extract to the base itself. Richer than a sorbet, lighter and cleaner than standard ice-cream, it’s really not just for vegans.

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Ban the burger! Ways to raise your barbecue game | Kitchen aide

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Sweep aside those boring burgers and bangers, and instead let smoky veg, grilled stone fruits and knockout marinades steal the barbecue show

• Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com

I always find barbecues underwhelming. Any easy upgrade ideas?
Megan, Bristol

“Vegetables and fruits are the real stars of the barbecue – this is the wisdom of the Middle East,” says chef Itamar Srulovich, whose latest cookbook, written with partner Sarit Packer, is called Chasing Smoke. “Everything that hits the grills get smoky and sweeter, even cabbage.” For something “really special”, Srulovich dresses charred wedges of the humble veg with chopped shallots, chilli and garlic, all fried in butter with a big handful of dill stirred through at the end. Steve Horrell, executive chef of Roth Bar & Grill in Somerset, meanwhile, tops charred hispi cabbage with caesar dressing or aïoli, pangrattato and parmesan, then lets it “all melt together”.

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Spread the love! 10 scrumptious Marmite recipes, from roast potatoes to spaghetti

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The divisive paste has emerged as an ingredient in its own right, lending a warm, umami flavour to all manner of dishes. Here are a few to try

Last year, this newspaper said that “Marmite is having a massive foodie moment”, after noticing that the divisive yeast extract was increasingly featuring as an ingredient, rather than simply being smeared on toast.

Yes, Marmite has come into its own. As a sandwich filling, it remains polarising, but as an ingredient it is much more subtle, lending a warm, umami bite to all manner of dishes – as demonstrated by the 10 magnificent recipes below.

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Beautiful beans: how to use them in everything from burgers and dips to flatbread and chutney

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Beans are not just delicious but good for us – and the planet. They’re also amazingly versatile

Judith Choate loves beans. “Everything about them is good,” says the American chef and food writer. “They’re cheap, they’re highly nutritious. They’re good for the planet: when farmers farm them, they put nutrients back into the earth. I can’t even think of anything bad about them, except the one thing that people object to, which is they do take some time to cook.” Choate has now written The Mighty Bean, a book packed with simple recipes to encourage more of us to love legumes. Here are some of her tips to make the best of beans.

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Melting pot: 17 delicious, warming stews – from a Moroccan fish dish to Persian lamb

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Popular all over the world, stew is always a comfort, whether it comes as a Lancashire hotpot, French daube or a summery mix of courgette, mint and butter beans

Stew doesn’t have a poor reputation so much as bad branding. The name itself has an aura of disappointment about it, especially the way my children repeated it back to me, after they asked what we were having and I told them. “Stew!” they would say, with heavy emphasis on the “Ew!” It probably doesn’t help that “stew” shares an etymological source with the word typhus.

It is perhaps for that reason that we are often drawn to more exotic names for what is essentially the same idea: tagine, ragout, daube. But a basic, unfussy, slow-cooked stew can rival any of these, as Felicity Cloake’s perfect beef stew demonstrates. As with most beef stew recipes, this one begins with browning the meat on all sides, in batches, and then removing it before adding anything else.

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Meatless school menu sparks political row in France

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Temporary decision by Green mayor of Lyon to take meat off menu met by protests

A decision by the Green mayor of Lyon, seen by many as the country’s culinary capital, to temporarily take meat off the menu in school canteens during the coronavirus pandemic has sparked a major political row in France.

Government ministers have accused the mayor, Grégory Doucet, of “ideological” and “elitist” behaviour after the measure, which is also being studied by several other cities including Paris, came into force in Lyon’s schools on Monday.

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Red alert: 17 scorchingly good recipes with chillies – from tom yum soup to vodka

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Whether it’s squid salad, pork belly or a chocolate cake, almost anything can be jazzed up with some heat. Here are some fabulous recipes from top chefs

Chillies come in such a bewildering array of shapes and colours these days that it doesn’t pay to be too specific: if a recipe calls for a particular sort, you are bound to be unable to find it. In any case, the difference between any two chillies is largely a matter of heat, and heat is largely a matter of taste. So forget about size or colour (green ones are generally hotter than red, but then they turn red anyway if you leave them sitting about) or intimidating varietal names such as yellow death-inducing toxin. Just taste one. If it’s not hot enough, use two or three. If it’s too hot, scrape out the seeds and, specifically, the white membrane they’re attached to, which is the hottest bit.

The most obvious thing to make with chilli is probably chilli, and the least obvious person to rely on for a solid, no-nonsense chilli con carne recipe is probably Heston Blumenthal. Nevertheless, I make his version almost exclusively. While it’s about as fussy as you’d imagine, it’s also pretty forgiving. The fragata pimiento piquillo peppers he tells you to add at the end, for example: I never have any – I don’t even really know what they are – so I just skip that bit, and it’s fine. The spiced butter is the most labour-intensive aspect, and the most counterintuitive, containing as it does ketchup, marmite, Worcestershire sauce and, well, butter. But it makes all the difference.

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Viva veganuary! 17 delicious ways with tofu – from thai red curry to chocolate mousse

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The high-protein meat substitute is one of the world’s most versatile ingredients. Here’s how to use it in everything from tasty stir-fries to nutritious smoothies

On 11 January 1770, Benjamin Franklin, then in London, wrote a letter to a friend in Philadelphia, enclosing some soya bean seeds (“Chinese garavances”, referring to garbanzos, or chick-peas) and forwarding a recipe for a type of cheese that could be derived from them, which he called “tau-fu”.

Franklin may never have actually tasted tofu, and certainly didn’t know much about making it, much less cooking with it. To some extent this ignorance persists in the west, where tofu is prized as a high-protein meat substitute, albeit one so bland that it is basically a texture awaiting a flavour. Tofu may be versatile, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we know what to do with it and, unless you’re a vegan, it can be hard to get excited about it. If that’s the case, here are 17 recipes to change your mind.

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The wurst is over: why Germany now loves to go vegetarian

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More than 40% of Germans are cutting down on meat, and vegan burgers are a shopping mall staple

Inside a shopping mall in south Berlin, two colleagues are chomping on hamburgers and fries, cheese sauce running down their fingers as they try to beat the lunchtime clock.

Feelings of guilt are in short supply this Friday afternoon: the burger joint where the two women have grabbed a bite is called Vincent Vegan, and the patty inside the brioche bun is made of wheat, barley and soya.

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Tempura herbs and hasselback beetroot: eight flavour-packed new veg recipes from Yotam Ottolenghi

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After decades of messing about with vegetables, I’m still finding fresh ways to unleash their powers, revealed in this extract from my new book, Ottolenghi Flavour

I have never been shy about my love of vegetables. I have been singing the praises of cauliflowers, tomatoes, lemons and the mighty aubergine for years. But while it’s my mission to present vegetables in new and exciting ways, I must confess to a niggling doubt: how many more ways are there to roast a cauliflower, slice a tomato, squeeze a lemon or fry an aubergine?

The answer, I’m delighted to report, is many, and in my latest foray, I have been joined by my brilliant colleague and co-writer Ixta Belfrage. Our journey of discovery into the world of vegetables has focused on understanding what makes each one distinct, so they can be tasted afresh. It’s about creating flavour bombs, and it’s done in these three ways.

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One tin of chickpeas – 17 delicious ways to use it, from halloumi salad to chocolate torte

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It’s not unusual to have more tins of chickpeas than you know what to do with, but luckily there are many tasty options, whether it’s a simple curry or a super-comforting pasta dish

Chickpeas are a long-term store cupboard staple, the kind of thing you take with you when you move house. But they also build up: it’s not unusual to have more tins of chickpeas than you know what to do with, and an excess of one ingredient is nothing if not dispiriting. Here, then, are 17 easy and delicious ways to use them up.

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How vegetarianism is going back to its roots in Africa

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Health and climate concerns are behind the growth of plant-based diets which were once prevalent on the continent

In the meat-loving capital of Burkina Faso, customers at a small roadside joint eat bean balls, grilled tofu skewers and peanut butter rice while a report about chickens unfit for consumption being dumped on the street airs on the midday news.

A sign above the door proudly welcomes customers: “Vegetarian restaurant Nasa. Food for the love of health.” In Ouagadougou’s first plant-based restaurant, there are no knives on the tables.

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