How to Make Healthy Vegetarian Foods Recipes

Today you can call me a 'vegan taff', I won't mind.  Taff is a slang word that was often used to describe a person from Wales. There are a few different explanations to its origins, some say it refers to the River Taff (which sounds more likely) and others claim its is derived from the Welsh name David pronounced Dafydd in Wales.  I remember being called Taffy quite clearly when I was small, especially whenever I would visit distant relatives in England, their neighbours would hear our accent and shout out 'taffy's' here.   Anyway, today's prompt is ' make or eat a traditional local dish' and tomorrow's is 'h onour a human (or non-human) that inspires yours veganism' .   So I thought I would take the opportunity to share a post that I shared last year for Vegan Mofo,  as this touches on both: it is filled with lots of Welsh vegan goodness, some traditional and some original and its respectfully acknowledges St David, the patron Sai...

Dydd Santes Dwynwen Haput! Cariad - Welsh for Love, Darling Sws  - Welsh for Kiss  Tomorrow, the 25 January not only marks Burns Night in Scotland, but in Wales it marks  St Dwynwen's Day.  Yes we have our very own  Valentines Day in Wales known as  Dydd Santes Dwynwen .   St Dwynwen is The Welsh Saint of Love and Lovers.   Follow this link  to read and learn more about Wales Patron Saint of Love, otherwise feast your eyes on some home-made vegan Welshcakes .    Whether your Welsh or not, you should make some of these for your loved ones Or  just treat yourself.  For the recipe for the vegan Welshcakes, follow this link .  I am am sharing this with Kimmy at Healthy Vegan Fridays ;  and   Inheritance Recipes  challenge set by  Solange at Pebble Soup .  The theme this month is Fresh Start  hosted by   Coffee and Vanilla .  

Many of you came by last week through  Amy at  Five Welsh Castle posts, so in the same vain  I thought I would share five of my favourite Welsh leek recipes with you.  The Leek - as many of you will know is the national emblem of Wales alongside the daffodil and the roaring glorious red dragon.   This short blog post is also a nod towards St David's Day that will shortly be here and my Welsh roots. Hope some of these Welsh Leek recipes inspire you to celebrate St David's Day whether your Welsh or not.  Simple, but this  Leek and Potato Soup with Chilli aka Welsh Dragon Soup   remains one of my firm favourites.   I created these Welsh Leek, Caerphilly Cheese and Laverbread Burgers   when I lived in Scotland and my lovely nephew came up to see me, they were a super success.  You will find lots of versions of Red Dragon Pie, this Fiery Red Dragon Pie   is mine. Welsh Haggis Lasagne  -  Yes, the Welsh also ...

In anticipation of St David's Day, I made this Welsh Cawl Hot Pot yesterday afternoon. Most people in the U.K are  familiar with Lancashire Hot Pot made more famous by a barmaid called Betty (now deceased) in a popular British soap drama called Coronation Street.  It was Betty's signature dish at the Rovers Return Inn - a English pub.    Hot Pot is a slow cooked recipe traditionally made with lamb and vegetables, but as this is a vegetarian blog I made mine with some vegan mock 'lamb' meat pieces.  I also decided to give this Hot Pot a Welsh touch with the addition of leeks and good Welsh cheese.   Actually this can easily be a vegan Welsh Cawl Hot Pot, if you omit the cheese, but as I had some Dragon Welsh Caerphilly and Colliers Welsh Cheddar I opted to use them.   Although not authentic in any way, I enjoyed my vegetarian Welsh Hot Pot alternative.  It delivered on flavour, texture and substance.  there was also some gravy j...

Some of you will have noticed that in the past week or so, I have been gravitating towards Welsh recipes and Welsh things.  This is for the simple reason that next week many of us in Wales will be celebrating St David's Day , even the daffodils are coming out to celebrate, though to be honest they have been out posing by the side of the roads a month earlier. As we enjoyed the  Curried Root Vegetable Stew  a couple of weeks back, I thought I would make it again, but enhance it further with the addition of spices and leeks and make it somewhat Fusion Welsh - yes we do like our leeks here in Wales, well I do.   Even though the daffodils are confused and finding the British weather warm, some of us are still finding it, so stew-like meals have been on the menu quite a bit.     Cwtch means hug in Welsh and it a word you will hear and see a lot in Wales. And these light cloud like dumplings definitely give you a big warm welcome hug, who doesn't lov...

You will find many variations of vegetarian and v egan Shepherds Pie here, but I've never featured a Cottage Pie on my blog, not sure why as I have made them many times - perhaps its because it doesn't really look that pretty to photograph. So what is the difference between a Shepherds Pie and a Cottage Pie.  Traditionally a Shepherd Pie made with minced lamb and Cottage Pie with chunks of beef, but for vegetarians and vegans this is often substituted with minced mushrooms or a mock meat substitute.  Here is my version of a vegetarian Cottage Pie made with the addition of Welsh leeks which give it a little sweetness and topped with seaweed - Welsh Laverbread mash.  I was prompted to make a Welsh version of Cottage pie when I saw a Scottish twist on a Cottage Pie.  I am sure you will find a Irish version and with respect, we all know there is no shortage of English variations of the humble Cottage Pie. For those of you who read my blog will know that...

Dydd Dewi Sant hapus!   (Happy St Davids's Day!) Lovely readers.   Laverbread is known in Wales as 'Welshman's Caviar'.   I first heard about an actual 'Welsh Laverbread Caviar' product from my nephew who came up to see me when I lived in Scotland  (see here ), and it had since got me thinking of making my own.   The eureka moment came to me a when I made my balsamic beetroot pearls  and then it dawned on me  to try this with tapioca, basil seeds and even chia seeds.  These worked well as a substitute, the beady seeds swelled and became voluminous and gelatinous, however they lacked in flavour.  I had to find ways to inject flavours into these bobbly beads.  Natural colours were easy to impart, but flavours were a little harder to accomplish, but I eventually got there with: brine, tomato juice, carrot juice, smoked liquid and so forth.   Even though I've been making  vegan  Caviar  for a few years now, I ha...

With today being St David's Day, I thought I would share some Welsh things and Welsh nibbles in my kitchen.    I treated myself to a cute new Welsh mug, this has found its way to the office.  I've showcased this chopping board before on my blog, but I couldn't resist sharing it again.  It reads in Welsh 'Homemade Bread made with Love'.  It was given to me as a gift from my nephew many years ago and I still treasure it, no bread or bread knife has ever been near it.  This is a novelty dish wash scrubby in the shape of a Welsh daffodil.   I've had Blodyn Aur Welsh Rapeseed Oils in my kitchen cupboards for a while, I often use them for pasta salads.  The Oak Smoked and Chilli Oil are my favourites. I've been using the Chilli Oil quite generously recently, I think its my favourite of the three. Blodyn Aur means golden flower.    I've been making vegan Welsh Laverbread Caviar for a while, here is a jar that I made recently. ...

Wow, what a jam packed weekend I have had.   Yesterday we went to the annual  Elvis Festival in Porthcawl  and this morning to the first Vegan Welsh Vegan Festival in Cardiff.  I apologise in advance, I know my photographs are not great, but one reason this time that is legitimate is that the venue The Tramshed which is a theatre was a dark venue. I did my best for the stall holders there to showcase their vegan offerings.   I have to kick start with Cafe Atma which is based in Cardiff.  Here are three burgers Chakra Burger, Babu Burger and The Nutty One.    Falafel Wrap and Kofta Wrap Gav and his colleague are from Tandoori Q  .  On my wish list is one of their Tandoori Ovens, my father would be pleased.     Mex It Up cooking up some Jackfruit on twitter .   A brand of Elephants Jackfruit new to me   Fair Foods Catering    Sharaf Natural Foods Vegetarian Food Studi...