Meat-free and full of fiery flavour
V
egfest, Europe’s biggest celebration of vegan and vegetarian food and drink, returns to Bristol’s Harbourside this weekend with an estimated 20,000 people expected to visit the three-day event. Vegfest has been promoting the benefits of a plant-based lifestyle to tens of thousands of people in Bristol for over a decade now. This year’s event will include more than 140 stalls, serving up a fantastic variety of veggie fare from Thai, Caribbean, Colombian and Indian street food to pizzas and paella. With a diverse line-up of live music to top it all off, including headliners Boney M featuring Maizie Williams, Peter Hook (Joy Division), Abba Gold and Gwen Dickey’s Rose Royce, this year’s VegFest is sure to draw a big crowd over the May Bank Holiday weekend. See Music on page 28 for details. Meanwhile, the event will also feature talks, workshops, cookery demonstrations, a cinema tent and a kids’ area with cookery classes, workshops and entertainment. The cookery demos will take in a diverse range of topics, from vegan cuisine in the last days of the Raj to a raw Mexican food fiesta. Jane Easton, food and cookery co-ordinator at Viva!, the vegetarian and vegan campaigning charity, will be giving cookery demonstrations on Saturday and Sunday. Her Sunday demonstration is called Everyone’s Going Dairy-free and features delicious dairy-free recipes such as artichoke filo pie with creamy butterbean, sun-dried tomato and olive filling, and mango and pecan cheesecake. On Saturday, Jane will be hosting an informal talk entitled 30-Day Vegan: Improve Your Life in Just One Month, which is aimed at helping people make the switch to a vegan diet. She will also be holding a cookery demo for “sexy sides and salads”, which includes this delicious recipe for smoky black bean cakes. Jane says: “This recipe is a variant on the popular veggie bean burger and was born from my love affair with smoked paprika; the smoky, slightly chilli flavour makes it a winner and it can be used in all sorts of meals. “The pulse family – beans, peas and lentils – features some of the world’s most important staple foods. Whether it’s lentil dhal, chilli beans, hummus, beans on toast, beansprouts, mushy peas or more exotic offerings, they offer endless culinary inspiration. “They are also an inexpensive yet an excellent source of healthy low-fat protein and iron – as well as a good source of vitamins, minerals and fibre. “Regular schemes and campaigns such as Meat-free Monday are encouraging us to eat more plant foods to help the environment, our health and the animals. This is a low-carbon, meat- and dairy-free recipe that is tasty, cheap and cheerful.” Visit www.bristol.vegfest.co.uk.
24 EAT IT ● ● ● ● ●
from Friday, May 23, 2014
SMOKY BLACK BEAN CAKES MAKES 2-4 CAKES ■ Half a red onion, finely chopped ■ 2 cloves garlic, crushed ■ Half a 400g tin of cooked black beans (or red beans such as kidney or aduki) ■ 250g/9oz cooked brown rice (for a cheat’s version, use ready-cooked sachets such as Uncle Ben and Tilda) ■ Half a tsp mild chilli powder ■ Half to one tsp smoked paprika, to taste ■ Salt and black pepper ■ 1 tbsp olive oil or a few squirts of low-cal cooking spray
■ Fry the onion in a little oil or oil spray until it starts to soften then cook in the garlic. Add the spices and cook for about a minute. Partly mash the beans. Mash most of the rice. Mix everything well together and form into three to four burgers or more. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or leave overnight. Heat a non-stick frying pan and add the oil/low-cal cooking spray. Cook burgers for two to three minutes or until brown – if they fall apart, squidge them back together with the fish slice. Turn and repeat the process. Alternatively, bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes on a lightly oiled baking tray – at about 190C/Gas Mark 5 – until lightly browned on each side. Turn once. Serve in lettuce leaves or a bun with a dollop of Vegan mayonnaise, tomato salsa, guacamole or tomato sauce, warmed through.