A great time to be vegan…

Tags

Vegan Christmas menu, Vegan Christmas Recipes, Vegan Food photography, vegan recipe, Veganuary, Vegetarian main course, Vegetarian Society, Viva!

In case you’ve been wondering why it’s been a bit quiet on my blog… I’ve been cooking up some feasts and can’t wait to share lovely new images and updates.

I’m delighted to say that the last few weeks and months have been particularly busy with work assignments which is just great news! It clearly shows that the demand for mouth-watering vegan recipes is increasing all the time. And because of this growing exposure, more and more people are inspired to choose cruelty-free, flavourful new food ideas, yeah!! It’s very special to be part of something that’s just getting bigger and bigger.

It does however mean, that because of my family and work commitments my dear blog has been a little bit quieter. ‘Rushed and half-hearted’ just doesn’t sit well with me. From now on I’ve decided to go for monthly posts.  It means that I can still give you great recipes and high-quality images when I share my favourite recipes.  I do have a feeling that the odd little blog post may sneak in between too 🙂
So, with this important announcement out of the way, let me dive into some of the recently published articles/recipes/case studies/website updates…

Christmas feasts have been tickling my taste buds since August!
Check out these wonderful dishes from the Vegetarian Society. By clicking on the photos you’ll get taken straight over to their website. I’m so pleased to say that both dishes are vegan and the flavours are incredible. The Butternut Bells have a filling of walnut, lentils, pine nuts as well as some apricots and smoked paprika – a great recipe from the Vegetarian Society’s cookery school.

The second recipe is a Leek and Hazelnut Tart. It looks stunning with a layer of roasted red peppers (and harissa, oh my goodness… so tasty!). It’s then topped with a mixture of sautéed leeks, vegusto cheese, cranberries and crunchy roasted hazelnut pieces. I love the creativity and depth of flavours in the recipes that have been sent my way from the Vegetarian Society. 10/10 for fantastic vegan cuisine!

If you’re looking for even more celebration food I can’t wait to share the next photos for inspiration. Did I mention that I have joined Viva! again for their Viva!Life magazine recipe pages? Three pages of glorious festive fayre… I’ve even included my very first experiment with ale in a pie.

Here’s what’s in store in the newest edition that has just gone out to their supporters. To find out more about the brilliant work Viva! do and to join them click here.

For this elegant started I chose to re-create a German classic: Chicken Salad
This recipe includes chicken-style pieces, mandarines and pineapple in a creamy mayonnaise dressing. Some paprika, onion salt and finely chopped spring onions round off the dressing beautifully.

Adding just a few finely chopped prunes was a very good choice, if I say so myself! It brings out all the richness and mellow sweetness in this Shallot, Mushroom and Chestnut pie.

These Nut and Artichoke timbales with smoked vegan cheese are rich, full of festive flavours and will make a perfect centrepiece for a leisurely Sunday lunch too.

Gugelhupf (or Bundt cake). What a great name and even better – it’s easy to make and tastes amazing! This attractive cake is flavoured with Grand Marnier soaked cranberries, chocolate and orange zest. Are you tempted yet?

 

And finally, with so many bright and beautiful images to show off I’ve updated my website in the process. Great to add some testimonials as well! Pop over to www.flavourphotos.com to have a look.

So, what’s your latest news? Any favourite new cookbooks I’ve missed or must-try recipes? I feel like I’ve been doing a bit of blogging hibernation and I can’t wait to hear what everybody’s been up to!

Also, have you checked out the new Veganuary site yet? I’d love to hear if you’re as impressed as I am.

Lots of love,
Chava

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If your business could benefit from fabulous meat-free recipes and photographs I’d love to hear from you.
Keep in touch via Twitter (@flavourphotos) or Facebook
and look out for more scrumptious food photography here: www.flavourphotos.com

 

 

Viva!’s Incredible Vegan Roadshow – Gloucester

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Amanda Woodvine, Bournemouth Vegan Fair, Gloucester, Gloucester Vegan Group, Incredible Vegan Roadshow, Jane Easton, Juliet Gellately, Tall Poppy Foods, Vegetarian for Life, Viva!

Viva! Incredible Vegan Roadshow does Gloucester!

A brilliant day in a packed town centre venue:
Gloucester Guildhall turned into vegan central with talks by Juliet Gellately and Viva! health campaigner Veronika Powell, plus cookery demonstrations and tastings by Viva!’s cookery expert Jane Easton.
The tables were almost bowing under the weight of delicious free food samples, kindly supplied by VBites, Bute Island Sheese Company, Organico, Good Hemp, Wicken Fen Sausages, Fry’s Vegusto, Food Heaven Cheesecakes, Ombars, Leafu, Cariad Cakes and Goodie Good Stuff…
(VBites Pepperjack Cheezly was a new one for me, yum!)
There were some fabulous hot dishes on offer too by Viva!. We sampled a delicious Vegetable and Tofu dish and a sun-dried tomato and asparagus pasta with pesto. The boys discovered a whole table with dairy-free milk options, including a very tasty chocolate milk! Chocolatey smiles all round 😉

Vegetarian for Life’s wonderful Amanda Woodvine (Editor of the Didsbury Dinners Cookbook) was there with her stall as well as many other campaigning groups and organisations such as Sea Shepherd, the Velvet Monkey Foundation, Dean Farm Trust…
It was a lovely day out for the whole family browsing the packed hall full of vegan information, guides, tasty foods, clothes, Moo free chocolates and Yaoh’s goodies; perfectly rounded off by cake from Tall Poppy Foods and The Gloucester Vegan Group.
My experienced taste testers came away with big smiles, bags of goodies and two thumbs up.

Viva!’s founder and director Juliet Gellately

Cookery Writer Jane Easton preparing meals from the new Viva! Cookbook (which I believe is out in May!).

Tall Poppy Foods from Selly Oak, Birmingham. Stunning cakes served with a happy smile!

Fiona and the team from the Gloucester Vegan Group. The members have been very busy baking all these tasty treats to raise funds for the Evesham Farm Animal Sanctuary.

If you’ve never been to a vegan event like this I would really, really recommend that you go along to one near you. The Vegfest website has a list of events around the country and I’m delighted to be sponsoring the website of the Bournemouth Vegan Fair.
The atmosphere at these events is so warm and welcoming and even after 14 years as a vegan I’ve picked up lots of information about nutrition. Best of all, I got to catch up with many familiar faces and colleagues as well as meeting some lovely new people. Thank you Viva! for a great day out 🙂

Love is in the air…

Tags

Chocolate, chocolate mousse, dairy-free, dessert, Food photography, protein, tofu, Valentines Day, Vegan, Vegan Recipe Club, Vegetarian, Vegetarian Recipe Club, Viva!

… and so is the smell of chocolate in my house! With Valentine’s Day just round the corner this rich, indulgent chocolate mousse is the perfect dessert treat for two! But it’s so good that you might not even want to share this with anybody else!

Last week I worked on a fabulous commission for Viva!, the largest vegetarian and vegan organisation in Europe. I have always had a soft spot for this passionate campaign group from Bristol, as they were one of my very first clients. Without their support in the early days and regular commissions, who knows if I would still be photographing food today. Scroll right down on my page of published articles to see these very early beginnings. Haven’t photography styles changed!

Viva! produces a large number of guides on all things animal-free, health, nutrition and diet. My mission was to create an updated image for the cover of their ‘How to be dairy-free’ guide. The chocolate mousse recipe is from their Vegan and Vegetarian Recipe Club and is the quickest, most indulgent way to turn tofu and chocolate into a mouth-watering treat that will make you go weak at the knees with delight. Yes really… tofu!

If anybody ever asks me again where I get my protein from I might just show them this picture!!!

Luxury Chocolate Mousse

1 pack silken tofu (approximately 350g)
150g vegan chocolate
3-4 tbsp maple or agave syrup
½ tsp vanilla extract
Pinch salt

Blend tofu and salt until completely smooth and creamy, scraping the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is blended properly.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler: Heat a couple of inches of water to boiling point in a saucepan. Turn the heat down and place a heat-proof bowl over the pan of water, making sure that the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the base of the pan. Now break the chocolate into chunks and place it in the bowl with the syrup and vanilla extract. Stir gently with a rubber or plastic spatula until the chocolate has completely melted.

Add the chocolate mixture to the tofu and blend again, using the spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl, as before. Taste and add more syrup if necessary and blend again. Refrigerate in individual serving dishes of your choice for an hour or so – nice shot glasses or little expresso cups look lovely.

I’ve used a piping bag for this mousse and added some dairy-free squirting cream.

Have you got a favourite tofu recipe, sweet or savoury? I bet there are some fabulous ideas out there!
Would be lovely to hear your comments. I hope you stick around for a bit and follow me on twitter or Facebook. Lots of love, Chava

Recipe from the Vegan and Vegetarian Recipe Club.
Link to Viva!’s Guides

Top 10 Gifts for Foodie Valentines

Tags

Animal Aid, Booja Booja, Chilli, Coffee stencils, Cook Vegetarian, Cordon Vert Cookery School, Demuths, Le Creuset, Ms Cupcake, Sutra Kitchen, The Spicery, Valentines Day, Valentines Gifts, Vegan, Vegan Society, Vegetarian, Vegetarian Living, Vegetarian Society, Viva!

Are you on the lookout for the perfect present for a (food) Lover? Here are my top ten suggestions that are bound to get you brownie points… Maybe even home-made brownies if you’re lucky!

Valentines and knives? Why on earth would you put these two together?!
Recently, my aunt bought me these two amazing German kitchen knives. I know this makes me sound like a real ‘food nerd’ but I was very, very excited! The large one of the two is probably the best knife I have ever owned – it’s perfectly sharp and feels great to hold. Slicing my way through a huge pile of carrots, leeks and mushrooms for the mini pastries below was a joy. If you haven’t tried it before… cutting leeks with a really good kitchen knife feels almost as smooth as slicing through cookie dough, very satisfying! If I get lots of requests I may just share the recipe next week 😉

Now, my aunt knew exactly what would get my heart beating faster with excitement – a thoughtful and very kind present! It got me thinking about gifts that would be perfect for passionate (food) lovers and with February 14th just around the corner, here’s your handy guide to make your Valentine’s Day!

1. Coffee lover’s morning greetings

These personalised cappuccino stencils are the sweetest way to share your love for coffee…. Be my Valentine or Marry me?, what will you choose?

2. Spice up your love life

Chilli peppers have been hailed for centuries for their aphrodisiac powers.  Turn up the heat and add spice and vibrant colours with a gift that’s perfect for keen gardeners too.

3. Let them eat cake

Utter the words “Ms. Cupcake” and watch your loved one swoon. The famous London bakery have launched an online ordering service for their delectable vegan cakes. Either order online here or let your Valentine choose for themselves (gift vouchers from £10).

4. The way to your heart…

Le Creuset’s heart-shaped casserole dish in a deep passion-red colour looks stunning at any time of year… Why not make romantic meals for two a regular feature in your calendar?

5. The Classic – Chocolate from heaven

Choose award-winning chocolate truffles to set your loved one’s heart aflutter!
Fabulous choices from mouth-watering Banoffee Toffee to classy Champagne truffles.

6. An experience – Cookery courses

©Demuths, Bath

You’ll be the sure to benefit from this gift in the long-term too. It’s a sort of investment 😉 There is a list of dedicated vegetarian cookery schools around the country with courses ranging from basic knife skills to cordon vert cookery skills. Take a look at:
Cordon Vert Vegetarian Cookery School (Altincham nr. Manchester)
Demuths Vegetarian Cookery School (Bath)
Sutra Kitchen, Vegetarian and Vegan Cookery School (London)
Our Lizzi, Vegetarian Cookery School (Malvern)

7. A gift that keeps on giving

   

With a gift subscription for a foodie magazine your Valentine will be reminded of your affection and love each month!
I’m slightly biased about these publications as I work with both of them. They make a fantastic, thoughtful choice for vegetarians, vegans and flexitarians and will bring you the latest meat-free news, food trends and delicious recipes in a very stylish package.

8. Variety is the spice of life

The Bath-based Spicery will shake-up any meal-plan boredom and take you for culinary journeys around the world with their spice kits! You can either put together a selection of their vegetarian meal kits in a giftbox or sign up for a monthly subscription service. I have tried one of their packs already and will soon be posting about the spicy-tangy Pav Bhaji that took us right back to the street food stalls of Gujarat.

9. Show you care

Let your caring side shine and show your support with a gift membership to one of the UK’s leading veggie/vegan organisations, e.g.
The Vegan Society
The Vegetarian Society
Viva!
Animal Aid

10. Beautiful dishes from a tasty dish

These stunning pasta bowls with their striking patterns have certainly captured my heart. Will they add a burst of colour to your Valentine’s kitchen? With sugar-sweet names- Amelie, Lulu and Violette are a feast for the eyes!

I have loved putting this list together and I hope you have found some fun inspiration here. Would be lovely if you stick around for a while and check out some of my recipes including these little fellows…

What would be your foodie gift of choice? I’d love to hear how you are planning to woo your Valentine this February.