To peel, or not to peel? That is the question of many a home cook. You know how it goes: that recipe you saved looks so simple, so quick, and then you notice that sneaky extra step: “wash and peel the potatoes” and you think “uhhh… I’ve got better things to do with my time than peel potatoes!” I hear …
On vegan allyship
I set out to write a little opinion piece on the concept of vegan allyship – but since I don’t have enough knowledge on the relevant topics, I asked my social network for their thoughts on the concept. Some astute comments followed, and I’ve learnt some things. As a result, this article is taking a different direction to what I’d …
For the love of soy
I’ve been vegan almost 10 years, and even now, I hear the adage about soy being unsustainable (or a health threat) almost as often as I did back then. The livestock industry has done a pretty good job at vilifying this little bean. Nowhere in the history of agriculture has a bean caused so much upset in the world – …
Powering your workouts with plants
So you want to power your workouts with plants, but conventional wisdom (i.e. the guy at the gym) is telling you that you need way more protein than you’re already getting, and that protein == meat (or dairy, or egg whites). This is far from the full picture. Muscles are made of protein Muscles are made up of water, protein, …
Where to find ‘specialty’ vegan ingredients
Have you graduated from the “regular” categories of plant-based foods (vegetables, fruits, beans, grains)? Are you venturing into more creative vegan culinary pursuits? If so, you’ll need to start looking out for some specialty “vegan” ingredients that might be less common in more traditional recipes. It can be tricky to find these items, for the very reason that they’re not …
How to make your own nut butter
Growing up, peanut butter was a sandwich standard (of course) and I only encountered other ‘nut butters’ as an adult. Almond butter could be found in the health food aisle as an expensive alternative to peanut butter, and later we could find cashew butter and macadamia butter. Nut butters are a convenient and delicious way to get a good dose of healthy fats, and protein, …
Eggs: should we be eating them?
Eggs have been the topic of some heated debate in recent years. Should we be eating them? From a health perspective, there’s quite a lot of controversy in the media, as one study contradicts another, every other year. There are definitely some points in favour in eating eggs. They’re a convenient source of nutrition, they can be used in myriad ways to …
Can dogs be vegan?
It looks like I may soon be sharing my new home with a beautiful big diva of the canine persuasion. Therefore, I figured it would be a good time to read up about dogs and a vegan diet – and share my learnings here. Companion animals globally have a massive environmental footprint. So if it’s possible to reduce their impact …
Kiss the Ground: a review
I just watched the documentary Kiss the Ground on Netflix, and figured I’d share some thoughts on it. If you’ve watched it, it would be great to hear if it’s inspired you in any way. If you haven’t watched it, the ideas I’ll share here are worth a quick read anyway (I hope!). The theme of the film is soil …
Diabetes, insulin resistance & diet
Following my first post about Carbs vs Fats, I’m looking into insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes. I always thought of diabetes as an irreversible illness where you’d have to take injections every day for the rest of your life. But I’ve learnt a bit more and the great news is, that’s not true. First, some basics: What is insulin? Insulin …
Collagen on a vegan diet
A star of the beauty industry and the subject of recent bone both trends, collagen has become all the rage as a ‘must-have’ part of a supplementing regime to ensure strong nails, shiny hair, youthful skin. But is it necessary to supplement it? You might have realised that it’s not something that folks on a plant-based diet typically supplement, for the simple reason that …
Milk those plants
Milk. If I had known the lengths to which the dairy industry goes to convince us that we can’t live without it, the rebel in me would definitely have sought out alternatives sooner. Soy milk was the first ‘milk substitute’ I learnt about—and it’s still my favourite option: it’s high in protein, has a low environmental footprint compared to other …
The Daily Dozen Challenge
The most helpful guide for a healthy diet that I’ve ever come across, hands-down, is called the Daily Dozen Challenge. It’s created by Dr Michael Greger (founder of NutritionFacts.org), from having researched the special benefits of different plant-food groups. It’s all very well to say that it’s best to eat a whole food plant-based diet, but different foods have very different benefits that are often not shared …
Aquafaba: the best vegan egg substitute
I get a lot of blank stares when I mention this ingredient, which is understandable: it’s quite a recent discovery by a French food blogger in 2014. This revelation was transformative for the vegan culinary scene, opening up a world of possibilities: suddenly, the elusive meringue was achievable, along with chocolate mousse, macarons, nougat, ice cream and marshmallows. What is it? It’s …
Cooking from books, the old-school way
I love a good cookbook. Paging through a book of beautiful food photos is half the pleasure, and knowing all the potential that your shelf of cookbooks holds for delicious treats is a little bit exciting! Like most millennials, I only really started using the internet for *literally everything* as an adult. I was a bit of a bookworm growing …
13 ways to eat more beans
I’ve talked about how important it is to eat beans (or other legumes) every day: they’re a super important source of protein, fibre, iron and many other good things. But when we’re not used to the idea of eating beans regularly, our imagination might not stretch much further than emptying a can of beans into a bowl. We forget that there are hundreds of …
Carbs vs Fats
When it comes to dieters and health trendsters, carbs and fats have had avid fans and haters alike, thanks to a very polarised portrayal in the media. As such, we’ve seen both extremes, with low-fat diets minimising fat and oil intake, and low-carb diets minimising all carb-rich foods. Low-fat diets have been around for ages, based on the premise that …
Fun facts about nuts & seeds
You know how health blogs always harp on about the benefits of nuts and seeds? Well this one is no exception. Indeed, plenty of nutritional studies (including rigorous interventional trials) have found that regular consumption of nuts and seeds significantly reduces the risk of lifestyle diseases and premature death overall. And despite their high calorie-density, they are causally linked to …