A good, honest feed at Hendersons

For months I've been going to the bistro part of Henderson's Cafe and buying discount sandwiches and have always wondered what the food was like in the cafe below.
Henderson's has been open for 50 years, which is amazing in a country that seems to be a little bit behind when it comes to vegetarian food. They now have two cafes, one restaurant and one bistro in Edinburgh and brilliant reputation amoungst locals and tourists.
So finally I decided to go in for a bite and see what a 50 years old vegetarian restaurant was cooking up.


Not bad. not bad indeed.

The food was simple, honest and affordable. I had a 'light lunch' deal, consisting of my choice of two salads, a choice from a selection of hot dishes and a slice of bread. I chose an asian tofu salad and a broccoli and cauliflower salad and the vegan haggis with neeps and tatties. Theres also a selections of very yummy side sauces; vegan mayo, homemade chutney and toasted sesame seeds.
And I must say, the haggis was by far the best haggis I've tasted in Scotland so far and for £6.95, I felt I had definitely got my moneys worth. 


They operate on a 'cafeteria' service at Henderson's. You grab a tray and move along the line until it's your turn to tell the lunch lady what you'd like to order and then continue to move your way along the lunch line to the counter with your food. This system gives it a really laid back, relaxed feeling, and with all meals costing under £10, I think I'd prefer to be transported back to my youth than to pay more to be served at a table.


I'm looking forward to having more visitors in Edinburgh so I have an excuse to go back and try more of their tasty lunches.

Papa J's rad salad

One of the great things about David Bann Restaurant, aside from the food of course.. and well obviously I'm going to say the service too, since I'm a waitress there... is the diversity of the staff. 
A lot of customers ask me whether the staff are vegetarian or not. The answer is no. There's a mix of carnivores, semi vege and vegan staff working there.
At first I thought it was odd that there are so many meat eaters working at a vegetarian restaurant, but really it's a good thing. Not only are the chefs great at what they do, I think it's important for carnivornes to see that you can create fantastic food without using meat.
In the past, when I've been working at other (non vege) restaurants, it's amazed me how chefs seem to be completely stumped when trying to come up with a meal to feed a vegan, or even a vegetarian.
Even something as simple as a salad can be made delicious with the right ingredients, yet the amount of times I would be served up a plate of lettuce with a scattering of tomatoes, usually followed by the chef asking if I really didn't want any feta on my salad and informing me it would taste a lot better. 
Which is why I am so happy now working at David Bann and being served up delicious meals every day. In fact I think quite often I forget just how lucky I am.
Further more, having non vegetarian chefs in the kitchen can lead to interesting conversations, one chef in particular (who wishes to remain anonymous, so I shall give him a rad nickname... 'Papa J'), brings up some interesting questions frequently, and has a surprising wealth of knowledge about vitamins and what I need to eat in my diet to keep myself healthy.
Apparently Doritos are not healthy. Who knew? (though I'm still not convinced).


In the end though, all we really need is to be more educated. I never knew how important it was to take B12 before Papa J kept harping on about it, and perhaps before working at David Bann's, Papa J didn't know how to make such an awesome vegan salad.

Glasgow vs Edinburgh

Glasgow vs Edinburgh

I very recently got offered a job writing for a tourist information website here in Edinburgh. And when I say 'job', I use the term loosely, meaning it's more like an unpaid weekly hobby which will look awesome on my CV and has potential to give me free vouchers. 
I've been told to articles similar to what I write here about veganism and what us vegans can feast on here in Edinburgh. 


So yesterday, after having my friend Kristin from Norway stay with me for the week, aka a seven day bender, I got to work on writing my very first entry.
And it got me thinking... what on earth do I write about? After spending over two months in Spain, when I arrived in Edinburgh I was like a little kid in a candy store. 


There was so many things I wanted to eat... and more importantly, that I could eat.
However three months later and numerous forum updates about how many vegan cafes and restaurants there are in Glasgow, I'm beginning to feel as though Edinburgh is being left behind in the whole 'vegan movement'. Why is it, that Glasgow is only one hour train ride away but some how there is a decade between them?
It does make me wonder, will Edinburgh catch up eventually or do they need a little push?

Oreo Disaster!!

Forget the world ending in 2012, the world as I know it has already ended!!

Oreos in UK and Europe are NOT vegan. I repeat, NOT VEGAN!!

I stumbled across an article which said the words I never wanted to read. "Oreos may not be vegan."


How could this be? Oreos are one of the fantastic 'accidently' vegan products that I love to gobble shamelessly on a Sunday night in front of the telly.


Still in denial I read a little further and found many contradicting web pages, some telling me they are vegan, some telling me that they use whey powder (derived from milk), and some even telling that oreos may not even be vegetarian!


I went to the god of biscuits, the oreo webpage and their FAQ and found out the truth:

Is Oreo suitable for vegetarians? Oreo is currently not suitable for vegetarians. However, our Research and Development team are trying out ways of making it veggie-friendly, and are optimistic that we could make an Oreo perfect for a vegetarian diet soon. Fingers crossed!  Is Oreo suitable for vegans? Oreo is currently not suitable for vegans because the recipe contains whey powder. We’re also hoping to work on a vegan option soon, so watch this space. Whey-powder free, vegan-happy Oreo will hopefully be available soon. Exciting!

Bad news. Very bad news.


Still in Denial... I looked into it a little further. Apparently these sly little devils up and change their ingredients as often as I change my bed sheets (fairly often...cough).


So where do vegans go from here? Do we simply make sure to check the ingredients on the packet each time we go to buy our fix of oreos? Or do we boycott a company that seems to have such wavering ethics and quite honestly doesn't seem to be too reliable?

Red Lentil Thai Chilli

Every day I look longingly through all the recipes on Post Punk Kitchen's website, wishing I had my own kitchen again and somewhere to store the many ingredients I need to make all the wonderful recipes I want to try.


However I am still living in a hostel, my baking goods all squeezed into a small cardboard box, elbowing my way for bench space and an element that can actually boil water rather than heat it to luke warm.


I'd almost given up my love of cooking and have spent the past week in the fetal position eating doritos for dinner, when I came across an easy curry recipe on PPK website, that contained no fancy spices or ingredients that backpackers can only dream of, but ingredients that I actually had tucked away in my box of goodies! Renewed with the desire for great food I decided to reunite with my love of food and try a new curry.


Now I must admit it didn't turn out perfect, it was a bit on the runny side, and my lovely Spanish friend accidently bought me a pot plant of parsley at the supermarket rather than a bunch of coriander, but all in all it was a little bit delicious.


I can't wait to move into my new house, and more importantly my new kitchen, just in time to recreate some tasty food for christmas!!


Check out http://www.theppk.com/recipes/ and fall in love.

Red Lentil Thai Chilli

Olive oil (1 teaspoon to 2 tablespoons, however much you feel like using)
1 large yellow onion, diced medium
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced medium
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 ½ lbs sweet potatoes cut into ¾ inch chunks
1 cup red lentils
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups vegetable broth
2 15 oz cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
1 15 oz can lowfat coconut milk
28 oz can diced tomatoes
½ cup fresh coriander, plus extra for garnish
Limes for garnish (optional)

Preheat a 4-quart pot over medium heat. Saute onions and pepper in oil with a pinch of salt, for 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and saute a minute more.

Add chili powder, sweet potatoes, lentils, salt and vegetable broth. Cover and bring to a boil. Let it boil for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. When lentils are cooked and sweet potatoes are tender, add the remaining ingredients and heat through.

Taste for salt and seasoning, top with coriander and lime and serve!

Step two: Find a job at a veggie restaurant..

Ok so this one is a little bit harder to come by... but if you do get the opportunity then this is by far the best way to get cheap vegan food.. in fact it's actually free!

Hurray for the pros of working in hospitality!

I've been lucky enough to get a job at a well known vegetarian restaurant in Edinburgh, and just to brag a little bit, after slumming it all day (food wise) due to far too long in unemployment, I got to eat a wicked  meal after my first shift.

Wait for it... it's pretty good...

Rice pancake filled with baby potato, cauliflower, chick pea and toasted cashews in a spicy aromatic coconut, courgette and tomato sauce. Served with tomato chutney and a big dose of awesomeness!

This one is usually just a vegetarian option involving a mint yoghurt raita, but most of the meals can be made vegan so there's lots of choice.

Gosh listening to me you would think they're paying me for this blog, but swear to blog, I am just super excited about my overly rad meal last night!!

If you can't get a job at one, NEVER FEAR there's an easy solution...

just make friends with someone who does. Easy.

Making sushi friends

Turns out making sushi in overcrowded hostels can be fun! And a great way to make friends.
Everyone is curious about how to make sushi, everyone, hence how to make friends.
Let me give you an example of how your conversation will go

CURIOUS BACKPACKER: "Is that sushi you're making?"

ME: "Why yes it is, do you want to learn how to make it?"

CURIOUS BACKPACKER: "I'd love too.... then lets be friends"

Ok, it doesn't always follow that exact example, but you get the gist of it.

Sushi is super easy to make. You don't have to be Japanese or overly patient to be blessed with the gift of rolling good sushi ( though it does help if you've rolled a few marleys in your life time ), you can learn simply through practice, practice, practice. Plus I bet there's probably at least one Japanese tourists at your hostel that can show you a trick or two.

My favourite sushi is with marinated tofu or tempeh, which you can usually find at most supermarkets, otherwise google to see if there is a health food store nearby.
Most cities or even towns have atleast one chinese supermarket, there you can find cheap nori paper, rice vinegar, ginger and wasabi.
Find a local farmers market and buy some seasonal veggies. I love using red pepper, cucumber, sprouts and avocado if it's in season.

And... BOOM a wicked vegan dish that you can make over and over again with all your newly made hostel friends,

Discovering delightful vegan food all over the world

Firstly, before we become friends, I guess I should introduce myself.

I'm Katy, I'm from New Zealand and at the moment I am in Europe.

I became vegetarian by accident. Really I did. It wasn't as if one night I just fell asleep in a big mac induced coma and awoke and happy vegetarian, nor did I have a particular moment where I decide "OK Katy, this is it, the last steak, tomorrow you're going green. There was no revolting documentary or a cute little lamb wearing a pink ribbon that made me change my mind. I really just slipped into it over the course of a few months, then went "Oh.. I guess I'm vegetarian."

Then I went vegan. Because once I realised the reasons for being vegetarian (yes, I was aware of them, but I wasn't really aware of them), I realised there was absolutely no way I couldn't be vegan.


It was possibly just after that, that I became FOOD OBSESSED. 


The problem is I am an absolute "flashpacker". I refuse to live of canned beans and love nothing more than finding somewhere selling a delicious slice of rich chocolate cake or a vegan ice-cream.


And so some how my travels have became about finding a choice vegan feed. Which if any of you vegans out there have been to Europe, you will know this can be a tiny bit tricky.

So I've composed a blog to help you find all the awesome little places that Europe has tucked away  that are brilliant for veggie loving people such as yourselves.