A year in vegan meals

A year today I decided to try being a vegan for a little while. In January I read 'Eating Animals' and mostly ate a lot of chickpeas.

February meant my first vegan birthday cake, made to order by my long-suffering Mum. Thanks Mum!

Before I signed up to Growing Communities, I had to track down all my vegetables and fruit myself. So March was full of trips to the market.

Easter came around and I cooked the first of many vegan feasts for my family- roasted tomato soup, spring vegetable pie and mash potatoes.

In April I got down to veganising some of my favourite recipes from Wahaca and discovered Leffe is vegan. Big revelation.

I also managed to sign up to Growing Communities, the best thing I've ever done for my eating habits. I had to start scouring cook books to find ways of using all the new and unheard of vegetables we are given each week, and of course began taking A LOT of photos of fantastic vegetables.

In May I went to my first BBQ as a vegan and seemed to start a lentil burger factory. I also made carrot cake and lots of cups of tea for best friends.

Discovering apricots in the fruit bag one night in the park, and working out lunch box recipes to make on Sunday evenings.

In June I went on my first holiday as a vegan, to Krakow. I ate a lot of fruit, crisps and bread...

... but when I came home the vegetable bag had been transformed by all the gorgeous summer produce- I carried on making a lot of lentil burgers and sweet potato wedges for my family.

In July I picked edible flowers to add to salads and perfected a brownie recipe, which I will probably rename Gone in Sixty Seconds for 2013.

I also popped over to help my friend Alice at her tomato stall, and experimented with Bundt tins and Sunday baking like a woman possessed.

August meant lots of late night dinner parties and Mexican food, like Thomasina Miers' black eyed bean soup.

 September saw the last BBQ of the summer and the first squash soup...

...While October bought granola and more pumpkins than I knew what to do with!

The roasts began in November, my main objective being to use every shelf in the oven and every ring on the hob. I also made some ludicrous brunches and drank a lot of cava. But you already knew that.

The farmers' markets were in full bloom with all of November's produce, like the endless rows of apples at Borough Market. I made sweet potato and red lentil soup to combat blustering bike rides.

And finally it was December. When, with the help of a small army, I managed to cook a seemingly never-ending gluten-free Christmas dinner, and average at least four roast dinners a week.

So so long 2012 and Happy New Year to all my readers! I can't wait to see what 2013 holds for Guac & Roll.

Congratulations Growing Communities!

I was so happy to find out on Sunday that Growing Communities won the Observer Food Monthly Awards 2012 for Best Independent Local Retailer. I cannot think of any company more deserving, or one that has changed my entire attitude to food any more. I feel like I talk about their vegetable box scheme all the time, but if that's true, it's because it's so damn good!!

As if to add to such good news, my walk down to collect the vegetable box was scattered with autumn leaves and the prize of a pumpkin at the end of it- the first one this season, to be found in our vegetable bag...

Safe to say it's now very much at home on my desk!

If you live in Hackney or near any of Growing Communities' schemes in the UK, there really is no reason not to give it a trial month. It costs me and my boyfriend each a pound per day to have all the fruit and vegetables we could want every week, they're seasonal, you know exactly where they've come from and the farmers that grew them, and they taste SO much better than anything you can find in a supermarket.

Well done Growing Communities! Such a deserved award!

Growing Communities Veg Boxes

One week's fruit and veg bag from Growing Communities in Hackney

Within two days of becoming vegan, I realised that I was going to have to make some major changes to how I shopped for food. It wasn't just that I was suddenly spending much more money on fresh food in the supermarket, but without the added flavour of things like grated cheese, roux sauces or mayonnaise, I realised the produce I was buying tasted bland, watered down and sort of a lost in translation version of how I expected them to taste. 


I'm ashamed to admit it was only after switching to a vegetable box scheme that I realised potatoes have distinct different flavours depending on variety, or that salad leaves actually HAVE a flavour, that changes from leaf to leaf, taking command over a sandwich when before I just used them as filler.

If I am totally honest, my vegetable box order has completly changed how I eat in every way. There's the obvious things: it's all seasonal, it's as local as possible, and it means a lot fewer trips to the supermarket. But the changes I didn't expect have been the best. 


Washing the mud off all your carrots until you can see the first signs of orange, or red for beetroot, or pink for potatoes, and you're reminded that everything you're dealing with came from the ground, not stackable plastic supermarket palettes. I know I sound mad here but when you take away the distractions, vegetables are bloody brilliant. 


Using supermarkets less means you waste a whole lot less food. There's no BOGOFs or weird impulse buys when most of what you're getting through arrives once a week. This also means we've had to become much more careful with how much food we cook each night. I used to stick in a whole bag of potatoes for mash and think nothing of it. Now I know the six potatoes we get have to last three meals- and any leftovers go for lunch. And there's always leftovers. 

Most of the fruit and vegetables featured on Guac and Roll will be from the Growing Communities vegetable and fruit bags. The variety and warts-and-all produce is down to them, and I can't thank them enough for completely changing how I think about the food I eat each day.