The Vegetarian - sample articles

The

Vegetarian

Sample articles

A sneak peek at the quarterly magazine of the Vegetarian Society

Featured sample articles...

Mary McCartney Interview We talk to our patron about her new book, blog and life as a vegetarian!

Tip of the Season

By Alex Connell, Principal Tutor of the Vegetarian Society Cookery School

Think Tank

An insight into some of the latest academic thinking and research concerning vegetarianism and vegetarians

Going Nuts for Coconuts A look at a number of coconut-based products approved by the Vegetarian Society

Lemon and Lime Dal recipe A simple and healthy dish with a fiery kick of Indian spice

www.vegsoc.org/join

22 The Vegetarian Summer 2015

Photo by: Tracy Gilbert

features Mary McCartney is an internationally renowned photographer, the eldest daughter of a Beatle and a vegetarian legend, sister of an iconic fashion designer, patron of the Vegetarian Society and – as our editor John Soonaye discovered for himself at her recent book launch – a wonderful cook! She may be a hard-working professional and busy mum, but she made a little time to talk to us…

John Soonaye: Hello Mary. I understand you’ve got a cook book coming out during National Vegetarian Week. Do you have a favourite dish from it?

Mary McCartney: Hi John. The book is made up of different menu plans, so I think I would have to pick a favourite menu plan, is that allowed?

JS: Of course.

MM: I’ve got one that’s called the Middle Eastern inspired menu plan – it’s got a really nice hearty moussaka recipe, a hummus and aubergine dip and a tabbouleh salad. I think that’s the one I would like to eat right now – I haven’t had lunch yet.

JS: Me neither – that sounds delicious.

MM: Really, though, they’re all my favourites. For the book I’ve put together all my favourite recipes of the moment. The minute I finished the book I thought of other recipes that I would want to put in there, so I’ve started a little food blog called P for Peckish. I’m going to post more ideas and inspiration on that.

JS: What do you think is the secret to great veggie food?

MM: For me, it’s about not overcomplicating it. It’s about letting the flavours of a few ingredients come out – not using millions of ingredients.

And keeping it satisfying but healthy… with a little bit of indulgence.

JS: Who do you test your recipe ideas on?

MM: I often get friends over and cook them dinner, and then I’ll ask them to give honest comments on the recipes.

I also test them on my family and my kids.

JS: Are they always honest?

MM: Yes, they are. They do it in a constructive way because they know that’s what I need. I don’t want people to tell me they like something if they

don’t. I’ll usually grill them about it, and ask them what they think, how a recipe can be made better.

JS: You’ve done a lot of travelling to different countries with your work.

Where in the world have you found the most culinary inspiration?

I’ve been a vegetarian a long time and I love to promote vegetarianism.

MM: Well, I have never been to the Middle East but my husband’s dad was Lebanese, I have Lebanese friends and in London I like going to Lebanese restaurants. I haven’t been there but I have a feeling that would be very inspiring. And I’ve never been to India, so I can’t say India! I love all the flavours in Europe, especially the Mediterranean. Let me think…

JS: You don’t have to have been to them…

MM: Well, then I would say Mexican and Middle Eastern because they use a lot of vegetarian ingredients anyway. With Mexican I love all the kind of different beans they use and the corn tortillas and the spices. I think as a vegetarian, with the beans and everything, it’s a good way of getting protein in. And I love avocado too.

JS: You’ve done a range of photography work from portraits of celebrities right through to food shots.

Which area do you find the most challenging in your work?

MM: Food photography definitely, because I consider myself a portrait photographer. That’s about people, setting up and planning the shot – but leaving a spontaneity to it. When I’m doing food photography it’s got to be very well planned out and you can’t really leave it spontaneous – you

have to make sure what bowls you’re using, you have to be very exact on the recipe… I like it once I’ve done it and I’ve got a good picture but I find it much harder work.

JS: And you took the food photography for your book?

MM: Yes. All of the recipe photographs in the book were taken while I was testing them. So they were all eaten afterwards! I don’t use any fake things or varnished things – it’s all just cooked and then photographed.

JS: The way it should be! You do a lot of work supporting good causes such as Meat Free Monday, and you’re also patron of the Vegetarian Society. How important is your charity work to you?

MM: When I think about Meat Free Monday, I don’t really consider it charity work – I consider it more of a word-of-mouth movement, a social thing. It’s such a simple idea – it opens a conversation talking about why eat less meat, and I like to discuss things like that. I find the meat industry very uncomfortable and I find it concerning for the environment. Meat Free Monday is a good way of people having a discussion and talking about their opinions. And being a patron of the Vegetarian Society – I’ve been a vegetarian a long time and I love to promote vegetarianism. That’s why I’ve done the book really, it is more geared towards people that aren’t vegetarian to give them vegetarian ideas.

JS: Meat reduction is one of the angles we’re focusing a lot more on now at the Vegetarian Society. Previously we would primarily focus on vegetarians and vegetarianism, but to get people to reduce their meat eating is a positive step.

MM: Yeah. And I know some vegetarians are a bit prickly about that, but I think some people maybe just do it a bit more gradually. They dip into it and realise it’s not as complicated Summer 2015 The Vegetarian 23

specialfeature-KIN2015

Photo by: Tracy Gilbert

and as tasteless as they thought it was going to be. From my point of view I like just to entice people in by trying to cook really tasty food. A lot of my friends are becoming more and more vegetarian the more I talk to them about it and cook for them – they don’t feel like they’re missing anything.

JS: We sometimes receive questions from vegetarian parents asking about vegetarianism and their children.

Sometimes about nutrition, sometimes about their children wanting to start eating meat. In your own life has this issue ever come up?

MM: As a parent I consider how I am going to feed my children nutritious food – which is something most parents think about whether their kids are 24 The Vegetarian Summer 2015

meat-eaters or vegetarian. I don’t think it’s necessarily a vegetarian issue, but as a vegetarian I need to think about protein and giving them a very varied diet. I’ll make soups with little white beans and alphabet-shaped pasta or miniature pasta shapes because that makes them more likely to eat it. It’s got lots of vegetables in too. I’ll do burritos with kidney beans in which is good for protein and iron, and I do a macaroni and cheese and put in some cauliflower and peas for variety. Like most parents, I do try and make sure that they don’t just eat pizza, pasta and cereal – a lot of kids just like pizza and pasta, don’t they?

JS: That’s true. A lot of people have unhealthy diets whether they’re veggie or not.

MM: I suppose the simplest thing would be just to try to give them variety like different grains, beans and vegetables, and not to just feed them one thing all the time.

JS: And your children are vegetarian?

MM: Yes. JS: Have they ever wanted to eat meat?

MM: No they haven’t yet. When I was home and was eating really well I didn’t really think about it. I imagine when they leave home and they start buying their food and stocking their own larders then they’ll question it more. But it’s not like they’re not allowed it. I’ve sat them down and said: “Look, if you want it then you can have it – I’m not going to tell you off.”

An insight into some of the latest academic thinking and research concerning vegetarianism and vegetarians.

Think tank

by Jen Elford, Head of Research and Information Services.

Seventh Day Adventist Colon Cancer Study For several decades a long-term health study involving the North American religious community of the Seventh Day Adventist church has provided a unique insight into the comparative health of vegetarians and nonvegetarians. The Seventh Day Adventists are a health conscious group of people among whom smoking and the consumption of alcohol are discouraged, and where vegetarianism is much more prevalent than in wider society. The Adventists though, are a diverse group in terms of age, sex, race, geographic location, and socioeconomic status, which enhances the relevance of the findings to the wider population.

The results of the study show that vegetarian diets are associated with an overall lower rate of colorectal cancers. The estimated overall magnitude of association for ‘all vegetarian dietary patterns’ was a 20% reduction in risk, but the researchers included in that group pescatarians who have a particularly low risk compared with non-vegetarians. Other studies have pinpointed several possible causal mechanisms by which consumption of red and processed meat might be linked to colorectal cancer including excess iron, and chemical damage to the lining of the gut from preservatives and from the charring caused during cooking.

Since 1976, two large cohort studies have tracked overall mortality and researched most major lifestylerelated diseases within the community, including diabetes and cancer.

In the UK, bowel cancer is the third most common cancer with around 40,000 cases diagnosed per year, yet it is regarded as one of the most preventable of cancers. A large British study (EPIC Oxford) has shown that vegetarians have a 60% lower risk of stomach cancer, but that rates of colorectal cancer in vegetarians are similar to that of health-conscious meat-eaters.

However, the total meat intake of the non-vegetarians in the British EPIC study was much lower than the average UK intakes of meat consumers reported in the National Diet and Nutrition Survey. The main methods of prevention are a high fibre diet, being active and maintaining a healthy weight. The main risk factors are smoking and drinking alcohol. =

Outcomes from the second study begun in 2002 have shown vegetarian dietary patterns to be associated with several beneficial health outcomes, including lower mortality; lower prevalence of obesity, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes. Recently, the American Adventist study has looked at the incidence of colon cancer, the second leading cause of cancer mortality in the United States. The cohort of 77,659 included 22,424 vegetarians and 5,851 vegans.

Reference: Vegetarian dietary patterns and the risk of colorectal cancers.

Orlich MJ, Singh PN, SabatĂŠ J, Fan J, Sveen L, Bennett H, Knutsen SF, Beeson WL, Jaceldo-Siegl K, Butler TL, Herring RP, Fraser GE. JAMA Intern Med. (2015 May 1;175(5):767-76).

The Westmount Seventh Day Adventist Church, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

38 The Vegetarian Summer 2015

n o s a e S e h t f o p i T food

by Alex Connell, Principal Tutor Vegetarian Society Cookery School

Simple strawberry tarts Makes 12 Cooking/prep: 15 mins Vegan

British asparagus and strawberries will soon be in season. I know they both can be bought throughout the year, but eating with the seasons makes a lot of sense. Not only does it cut down massively on food miles [the distance food is transported before it reaches the consumer], but it also supports local producers and growers – and the produce often tastes so much better.

Asparagus is a wonderfully versatile vegetable with a lovely flavour and distinctive shape. It works fantastically well in all sorts of dishes including paella, risotto, pasta, stir-fries, pies, quiches, flans, salads, pâté, soups… or just simply steamed and buttered as a side dish.

Strawberries need no introduction from me. For something a little more adventurous that the usual ‘with cream’ or ‘dipped in chocolate’ options, try adding them to salads dressed with a little balsamic vinegar and black pepper. Here are two recipes to make the most of these seasonal treasures.

42 The Vegetarian Summer 2015

Method 1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4

Ingredients

2. Roll out the puff pastry to a

• 300g strawberries, quartered • 500g Jus-Rol puff pastry • 3 tbsp apricot jam • Icing sugar (for dusting)

3.

Typical nutritional values per tart Energy: 104 kcals Protein: 1.3g Carbohydrate: 13.0g Of which sugars: 4.6g Fat: 5.6g Of which saturates: 1.2g Fibre: 0.5g Salt: 0.2g

4.

5.

6.

7.

thickness of about 5mm.

Cut out 12 disks of pastry 10-12cm in diameter and place them onto a lined baking tray.

Place 8 pieces of strawberry in the centre of each pastry disk, leaving a rim. Bake for 12 minutes.

While the tarts are cooking, gently heat the apricot jam with the same amount of water (3 tbsp).

When the tarts are cooked, brush with a little of the apricot jam mixture and allow to cool.

Finally, dust with a little icing sugar.

Tagliatelle with garlic and rosemary asparagus Ingredients

Serves: 4 Cooking/prep: 15 mins *Can be vegan

• 300g tagliatelle • 1 tbsp butter or olive oil* • 300g asparagus, trimmed and sliced into 4cm lengths • 3 sprigs of rosemary 1. Bring a large pan of water to a • 3 cloves of garlic, finely sliced rolling boil, then add the pasta.

• ¼ tsp chilli flakes 2. While the pasta is cooking, gently • Salt and pepper fry the asparagus for 5 minutes with 2 sprigs of rosemary.

Typical nutritional 3. Add the garlic and chilli flakes and continue to cook for 5 more values per serving minutes. Remove the rosemary.

Energy: 386 kcals 4. When the pasta is cooked, drain Protein: 16.0g thoroughly then add it to the Carbohydrate: 69.6g asparagus.

Of which sugars: 0.0g Fat: 6.9g 5. Serve straight away with a twist Of which saturates: 2.6g of black pepper and a light dusting Fibre: 5.1g of salt. For that extra chef’s touch, Salt: 0.4g garnish with a little sprig of rosemary, flowering ideally.

Method

Lemon and lime dal

A simple and healthy dish with a fiery kick of Indian spice.

Ingredients For the dal: • 3 tbsp groundnut oil • 1 large onion, finely chopped • 2 tsp cumin seeds • 1 tsp salt • 1 tbsp turmeric • 2 fresh chillies, sliced thinly (reserve a few slices for garnish) • 2 garlic cloves, chopped • 250g red split lentils • 1 litre vegetable stock • 1 tsp dried mint • 2 limes, zest and juice • 1 lemon, zest and juice

For the dressing: • 2 tbsp olive oil • ½ tsp cumin seeds • 1 garlic clove, finely sliced • ¼ tsp cayenne pepper • 1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves

Method 1. To make the dal, gently heat

the oil in a large deep pan, add the onion and slowly fry for 10 minutes. Cooking the onions on a low heat slowly will intensify the flavour and improve the whole dish.

2. Add the cumin, salt, turmeric,

chillies and garlic cloves and cook for 2 minutes.

3. Add the lentils, stock and mint.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Add more stock if required. Stir occasionally.

4. Add the majority of the lime and lemon juice, but reserve some to garnish.

44 The Vegetarian Spring 2015

5. To make the dressing, gently

heat the olive oil then add the cumin, the finely sliced garlic and cayenne pepper. Cook for only 30 seconds, then remove from the heat.

Serves: 6 Preparation: 10 mins Cooking: 40 mins Vegan

6. To serve, place the dal into a

serving dish and spoon swirls of the dressing over the top. Add the lemon and lime zest, the reserved chilli slices, a little fresh coriander and the remaining lime and lemon juice (to taste).

7. Serve with rice, nan bread or chapatti.

Typical nutritional values per serving Energy: 402 kcals Protein: 17.4g Carbohydrate: 41.4g Of which sugars: 0.2g Fat: 20.8g Of which saturates: 3.6g Fibre: 4.0g Salt: 1.9g

newly approved

Going nuts for coconuts...

It appears the flavour of the month - or at least of this issue - is coconut. A number of coconut-based products have been newly approved by the Vegetarian Society, so we thought we’d gather them all together for you. Come on, don’t be shy... (just a little coconut joke there for you!)

Kid’s Coco from Dr. Antonio Martins The first coconut juice for children. Kid’s Coco with banana combines 150ml of light coconut juice with 50ml of the finest banana purée to create a mild organic juice for children.

There is no added sugar or preservatives in accordance with the EU Fruit Juice Directive. dr-martins.at/english.html

Coco Zumi 100% pure, organic and fair trade coconut water.

Not from concentrate, and has absolutely no added sugar, no preservatives and no additives.

The product is simply the water from a young green coconut. Rich in electrolytes including potassium and magnesium, it hydrates the body quickly. cocozumi.com

Tiana Premium quality, organic and fair trade superfoods and beauty products. Including coconut butter, oil, nectar and moisturiser. www.tiana-coconut.com

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Coco Pro The first high-protein coconut water. Each 330ml serving combines 20g of whey protein with the natural nutritional properties of coconut water to deliver muscle recovery and hydration in a delicious and refreshing post-workout drink.

Made with 100% natural ingredients and no added sugar, it is available in two tasty varieties: coconut and coconut with pineapple. drinkcocopro.com

Coco Mojo Three coconut drinks: CocoSoul (with tropical fruits, botanical herbs, fruits and oriental spices), CocoPassion (with passion fruit and a burst of botanical herbs), and CocoPure (a pure coconut water drink). drinkcocomojo.com

OkoBay OkoBay have launched their new coconut milk ice cream - suitable for vegetarians, vegans, and coeliacs. They milk the coconuts by rubbing the flesh with water to create the milk. Without a cow in sight it’s a perfect dairy substitute. OkoBay’s ice cream comes in: straight up coconut, mango or chocolate flavours. www.okobay.com