Sunday 7 October 2012

Roast dinner: this time it's vegan


It's been October for all of one week... so naturally I've already eaten a month's worth of Sunday dinners AKA ROASTS THAT RULE THE WORLD. Because it turns out roasts aren't actually *that* hard to veganise... apart from the whole roasted meaty bit. The rest is a breeze.

Just like fry ups, everyone has their favourite components for roasts- but here's a few vegan ideas and alternatives I've been working on (eating a lot of)...



Making a nut roast from scratch (that's coming later) or cooking Morrisons Butternut Squash Nut Roast - (seen above) Morrisons don't provide a list of vegan-suitable products, but as far as I can tell and have researched, these are vegan friendly.

Roast potatoes with olive oil, roasted carrots, parsnips, apples, shallots, cauliflower, curry-roasted squash (again, coming later...) onions, garlic and not forgetting cubed and roasted celeriac.


Mashed potatoes- just use olive oil whilst cooking, and then once the heat is off I add plenty of Vitalite (or another dairy-free spread) to add a little butter-flavouring. This is great with plenty of seasoning and chopped chives.

Kale, spinach, chard, green beans, peas, courgettes, cavolo nero. You know, ALL THE GREATS.



Stuffing- even with a nut roast, there is something about stuffing I can't get enough of! And what's even better is that from a look through Sainsbury's vegan-friendly product list, there are plenty to chose from.

And last but not least.... mushroom and onion gravy.
Running out of gravy is something that just does not happen for me. I've been known to disguise it as soup for lunch the next day, as is my level of devotion to that glorious gloop.

To make a really simple, hearty gravy, (as seen above) chop a white or red onion, sweat in a little oil, then add a handful of chopped mushrooms per person you are cooking for. Once these have reduced, pour in boiling water to just cover the mushrooms. Crumble in a vegetable stock cube and allow to reduce for about fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally. If you're lucky enough to have come across Geo Watkins Mushroom Ketchup then add about 2 tablespoons to the gravy now, or if not and you like a tang to your gravy, add a few good glugs of vinegar (although I feel this might be a love or hate thing...). Allow to reduce until your roast dinner is ready, making sure there's more than double enough to go round- this stuff won't hang about for long!

What are your favourite vegan roast staples?

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