November is World Vegan Month. Choosing to become a vegan has never been easier with so much advice and support available to you at the click of a button on the internet.
There are so many vegan recipe books and restaurants and you can find many vegan staples in your local supermarket too.
Even though its World Vegan Month you don’t have to go all out vegan for the month if that seems too daunting or perhaps you just want to try some vegan dishes before you take the plunge but you could try one or two vegan meals once a week throughout November.
A vegan does not eat any animal products so no meat, no dairy products such as eggs, milk or cheese and no fish, and nothing derived from animals either such as fats or suet.
So what do they eat? Well, a vegan diet is plant-based – vegetables, nuts, grains and fruits – and a good plant-based diet can still provide you with the protein, minerals, vitamins, iron and calcium that you need. It’s also suitable for children but does need to be carefully planned to make sure they get all the vitamins and minerals they need to grow.
People choose a vegan diet for many reasons whether it’s out of concern for animal welfare or the environment or perhaps for their own health. A vegan diet can help counter some of the biggest health issues of modern times such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
Still not sure about trying vegan this month? It’s also National Sausage Week so here’s a great recipe I have devised for mushroom and black bean sausage.
Mushroom & black bean sausages with crushed baby potatoes & roasted cauliflower, cherry tomato ragout and celeriac crisps.
Ingredients:
Sausages
200g button mushrooms
200g chestnut mushrooms
250g black turtle beans
100g cooked white rice
120g finely diced onion
20g dried potato flake
15g plain flour
20g olive oil
10g garlic puree
15g sundried tomato paste
15g Worcester sauce
1g cayenne pepper
1.5g ground fennel powder
5g smoked paprika
5g paprika
10g red pepper flakes
1g dried oregano
4g salt
4g yeast extract
Ragout sauce:
100g finely diced onion
400g cherry tomatoes
14g garlic puree
200g chopped tomatoes
40g tomato puree
60g extra virgin white truffle oil
4g fresh chopped basil
30g red wine vinegar
4g salt
1g cracked black pepper
30g sun dried tomato paste
6g paprika
1g cayenne pepper
6g sugar
Crushed potatoes:
400g baby potatoes
200g cauliflower (cut into small florets)
200g celeriac (5mm diced)
35g extra virgin white truffle oil
4g salt
60g diced spring onion
1g cracked black pepper
Celeriac crisps:
150g celeriac (wafer thin slices)
Vegetable oil for deep frying
Directions:
Sausages:
Put mushrooms in a food processer and blitz to a fine chop.
Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the diced onions, blitzed mushrooms and garlic. Cook for about 10 minutes until all soft and most of the moisture has disappeared. Place the black beans in the food processed and pulse blitz to a coarse chop but not a puree. Combine all the ingredients in an electric mixer and mix until evenly dispersed and the mixture will form together nicely.
Roll out pieces of cling film on your work surface and place 100g sausage shape pieces of the mixture on top of the cling film pieces. Roll them into sausages tying the ends to seal.
Steam the wrapped sausages in a steamer (or a colander over a pan of boiling water wrapped in foil) for 12 minutes. Allow sausages to cool for at least 2 hours in a fridge to retain their shape.
Ragout:
Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed sauce pan. Add the diced onions, cherry tomatoes, sugar and garlic. Sauté for about 10 minutes until the onions and the tomatoes have softened. Add the spices and cook for a few minutes more. Now add all the other ingredients apart from the basil. Bring to the boil and cook on a low simmer for 30 minutes. Add basil and set aside.
Crushed potatoes:
Preheat oven to 200c.
Cook the baby potatoes in salted water for about 30 mins until they feel cooked. Drain and put to one side. Coat the diced celeriac and the cauliflower florets in some of the oil and roast in the oven for 20 minutes. In a mixing bowl roughly crush the cooked baby potatoes. Add the roasted cauli and celeriac along with all the other ingredients. Gently mix all together until evenly distributed. Set aside.
Celeriac crisps:
Heat the veg oil in a heavy bottomed sauce pan to 170c (use a deep fat fryer if available). Place celeriac slices in the oil and fry for a couple of minutes until slightly golden brown and they seem to stop reacting in the oil. Remove from oil and place on a paper towel to drain excess oil.
Serving up:
Heat some oil in a frying pan. Cut the cling film off the ends of the sausages and remove the remaining cling film from each sausage. Place the sausages in the hot oil and fry, turning them regularly to colour all over. Whilst the sausages are cooking warm the ragout back through in a small sauce pan. Place the crushed potatoes in a microwavable bowl and heat in the microwave until piping hot.
Plate up with some crushed potato in the middle of the plate, surround the potato with some ragout, place 2 of the sausages on top of the potatoes and top with some celeriac crisps. Serve.
About Neil Shaefer
Marketing & Communications Executive of SK Foods.
Your food. Our Passion.
