ya girl starts school in september

Vegan life conundrums 4.0

Person: so what kinda vegan are you? Are you like high carb/low fat, keto, whole foods plant based, organic, raw, fruitarian, high protein, low carb, junk food, gluten free….

Me: Yes.


N.b.Apart from gluten free that has literally nothing to do with animals and I’m honestly baffled how the correlation came about

• Two cups pasta (I had wholemeal so that’s what I used but any pasta will do, gluten free, noodle, penne, spirals, whatever)
• A cup of almond milk (any non dairy milk is fine)
• Three tablespoons of flour (I used wholemeal wheat, but you could use rice, oat, or cornflour to make it gluten free)
• Half a cup of brewers yeast (nutritional or savoury yeast would work too)
• A pinch of salt
• A block of firm tofu (seitan would work too if you prefer it)
• A big handful of fresh chives (you could use dried as well, but you’ll need to simmer the sauce for longer and possibly adjust the amount)
• White or Apple Cider vinegar (could be swapped for lemon juice)
• A cube of veggie stock (optional)
• A splash of soy sauce (optional)
• A pinch of cumin seeds (optional)
• A few tablespoons of oil (I like to use the oil from sundried tomatoes but any vegetable oil is fine)
• A handful of pumpkin seeds (optional, you could swap for other nuts/seeds if you wanted)
• A handful of sunflower seeds (optional, you could swap for other nuts/seeds if you wanted)
• Olives (optional)
• Sun dried tomatoes (optional)
• Spinach, Kale, whatever vegetables you have spare would do fine, broccoli and cauliflower go surprisingly well in pasta dishes.

1. Put the pasta on to boil. Traditionally you’d add a pinch of salt and a splash of oil, but I don’t usually bother. If you’re using wholemeal pasta like I did it’ll take a little longer to cook.
2. Usually with tofu you’re supposed to press it to get the moisture out, but I’m lazy. Years ago I discovered if you freeze tofu and then thaw it (if you’re in a hurry you can defrost it in hot water), it becomes a lot more like a sponge and you can just squeeze the moisture out without any trouble. Cut or crumble the tofu into chunks however you like it, and throw them a frying pan with the cumin seeds and a splash of oil. I use a non stick frying pan but you can do without (it’ll just take more stirring).
3. Fry the tofu much the same way you would fry onions for a few minutes, then crumble the veggie stock over the top, then add around a third of the brewers yeast, and a splash of soy sauce. Keep stirring.
4. After a few minutes, or as soon as the stock and yeast start to stick or form clumps, add a splash of vinegar, this helps to deglaze the pan and adds a sharpness to the flavour. Keep stirring.
5. Now add any vegetables, seeds, olives, etc to the mix, except the chives and keep stirring till the vegetables are cooked. Chunkier vegetables will take longer.
6. Now, you can mix up the sauce in the pan with everything else or you can mix it up separately. I find it’s easier separate but it means one more container or pot to clean.
7. Mix a couple of tablespoons of oil with the flour, add a splash of soy sauce, and a splash of vinegar, and a pinch of salt. Stir into a thick paste. Slowly add the almond milk, stirring as you go. If the sauce is still thick, add some more milk.
8. Now add the chives and if you haven’t already, add the sauce to the pan, then drain the pasta (which should be done by now) and add that too. Lower the heat and let it simmer, stirring occasionally, for about ten minutes. If the sauce gets too thick in that time, add a bit more milk or even water. You’re looking for the flavour of the chives to spread out and mix with everything else. Add a bit more salt or vinegar if you think it needs it.

This mix should make enough to feed 2-4 people depending on how hungry they are. If you add a salad or bread or something it’ll stretch to six.