Planet Veggie

Uh oh, it was only the second ever Vegan Monday and I failed. Slightly, failed, anyway. Okay, there’s no slightly about it – either I went a whole day only eating and drinking stuff that was vegan or I didn’t, and I didn’t. I have to confess I had a Galaxy Bubbles Hot Chocolate mid-morning. And I have to confess it wasn’t even after I’d drunk it I realised; I realised when I was spooning it into the mug. Oops.

Still, let’s not dwell on the fuck-ups – let’s focus on the positives – I spent the rest of the day staying away from anything with bits of animal in and redeemed myself hot-chocolate-wise by having a Whittards Chilli Hot Chocolate in the afternoon (which, as far as I could tell, was vegan).

Breakfast was a banana smoothie (made with soya milk), clementine and plum.

Lunch was a bit tricky, as I didn’t have anything to make soup with and the only soup in the cupboard was cream of mushroom or cream of tomato. I pondered over peanut butter on toast without any butter, then decided on vegetarian (vegan) haggis in pitta bread with mango chutney and tomato.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, vegetarian haggis with mango chutney sounds weird, but it works, honest – give it a go. (It also tastes better than it looks, a bit of greenery would have livened it up but I could only find a packet of soggy, wilted rocket in the fridge.)

I’d had dinner planned all day – Linda McCartney sausages, chips and beans. Then The Meat Eater came home and said ‘noooooo, I’ve been eating crap all weekend, I need something healthy’, so I told him a) there’s nothing wrong with sausage, chips and beans; and b) he likes sausage, chips and beans anyway. He agreed with me. Until he remembered it was Vegan Monday and started moaning again. So I reminded him Linda McCartney sausages are his favourite and Linda McCartney sausages are vegan, so there.

Okay, maybe it’s not the healthiest dinner in the world. Quick and easy and tasty though. I’ll try and be better prepared for next Vegan Monday. Doing some shopping at the weekend might help.

When The Meat Eater arrived home on Friday, he announced he fancied a BBQ for dinner. So off we went to Tesco for provisions of a Linda McCartney BBQ Selection Pack, coleslaw, potato salad and beer.

I’d been sent some Warburtons Square(ish) Wraps to try and so, instead of the more traditional burger bun, decided to use those with the food. This proved to be a great choice as they’re versatile and not as heavy and dense as a burger bun.

I cut my wrap in half, as they’re big.

I folded one half over the Linda McCartney Chicken-style fillet, with salad leaves, mayonnaise and HP BBQ sauce.

The Meat Eater put a skewer of halloumi, mushrooms and red pepper marinated in Reggae Reggae Sauce on half a wrap and topped it with the other half.

I rolled up the other half of my wrap around a Linda McCartney sausage.

These wraps are the perfect size for a couple of burgers or sausages and leave you feeling just the right amount of full.

Warburtons Square(ish) Wraps are available in white, brown and seeded varieties.

I was invited to a Greek cheese cookery event in London which, because it clashed with my last drama seminar of the year at uni, I couldn’t attend. Gutted. However, the organiser kindly sent me samples of what I’d missed which included the Yamas! Halloumi burger slices. I love halloumi but have never had it on a burger before, so last night (because I have Sunday nights off from cooking) The Meat Eater made us a not-very-traditional Sunday dinner of burger and chips.

The halloumi was grilled on the George Foreman, placed on top of a Linda McCartney Quarter-pounder and, to mine, I added tomato and chilli relish, mayonnaise, fried onion, lettuce, gherkin and tomato. Gorgeous.

The burger was served with a Linda McCartney sausage, chips, mushrooms and coleslaw and was the best burger in the world ever.

As well as the halloumi burger slices, Yamas! have plenty of other vegetarian cheese in their range (only one of their cheeses – the Graviera – isn’t labelled as suitable for vegetarians).