Sophia is a HCPC Specialist Dietitian based in the South East of England. She specialises in eating disorders, disordered eating, IBS and the low FODMAP diet, type 1 and 2 diabetes, and PCOS. Sophia has developed her practice by incorporating a weight-inclusive approach and focusing on finding food freedom.
Sophia is registered with the British Dietetic Association.
I’ve only ever had shepherds or cottage pie back in primary school with school dinners. It was never a traditional dish in my household. I’m enjoying trying vegan recipes of usually animal-product based.
This vegan cottage pie with a topping of sweet potato mash was based on Jamie Oliver’s recipe with a few tweaks. Delicious veggies plus green lentils and chickpeas cooked together with vegetable stock, herbs and balsamic vinegar (surprisingly gave it a meaty taste)
Vegetables added:
Onions
Mushrooms
Celery
Tomatoes
Peas
Carrots
Allowing all the veg to stew for a while so they were nice and soft and then added the chickpeas and lentils.
The sweet potato mash was simple and easy with 5 sweet potatoes and then mashed with dairy free butter. There was just about enough to cover the pot. Sprinkled with basil and olive oil then baked for 20-30 minutes.
The sauce came up in the sides quite a bit but it was super delicious either way! This big pot made 3 portions to freeze for the rest of the week.
Looks a bit like mush but this was a perfect winter-warming evening meal.
Cheesy Pasta to us!! Was delicious and super filling!
I used a recipe I found by one of my favourite vegan and gluten free recipe websites Minimalist Baker
With a few adjustments as I didn’t bake garlic and I’m not coeliac or gluten intolerant.
I couldn’t believe how easy this recipe including ingredients that I always have to hand:
Pasta or in this case pasta tubes
Very Lazy chopped garlic
Plain flour
Olive oil
Almond milk
Nutritional Yeast
Salt and pepper to taste
Vegan parmesan cheese (found the Violife Prosociano Vegan cheese style for £3.50 at Sainsburys)
Making the sauce, involving using my very lazy minced garlic being browned for a few minutes with 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Don’t let it burn as this ruins the flavour of the garlic. Then slowly add the flour with a little bit of almond milk at a time whilst whisking. It was quite lumpy to begin with, requiring some extra, extra whisking. But that was okay as we blended it up with the rest of the ingredients in the food processor or in this case nutribullet. Then cooking the sauce some more. All whilst the pasta is cooking. It’s all ready together and then wham! Mix and serve.
One thing we forgot to do was add some veg. I think broccoli florets would go perfect with vegan mac n cheese. Especially as its quite a heavy dish, definitely shown as I only managed a small bowl. And I love pasta!
Last year following taking part in Veganuary 2017 I continued being vegan until about June/July as it became increasingly difficult I decided to take a shot with dietetic journalism. Here’s a little snippet of it … There’s always the common phrase that eating healthy is ‘expensive.’ However, I strongly disagree and as a postgraduate student keeping my food expenditure to a budget is critical.
During my undergraduate degree a couple years ago I was a vegetarian for a short period of time to experiment with my cooking. As the idea came to me and I continued my research on the positive impact Veganism can have I become increasingly excited to begin my vegan journey.
As a full-time postgraduate student funding myself through working part-time I enjoy cooking simple and easy meals, such as veggie bolognese, curries, stir fries. On average I purchase a big online grocery shop costing between £40-£50 plus possibly one or two additional mini shops for snacks of fresh fruit. I planned my meals every couple days, making large portions of meals to spread throughout the week and freeze for another time.
Meeting my protein requirements
The first comment I would hear from family and friends about taking part in “Veganuary” and still continuing as vegan (most of the time) is I couldn’t possibly be getting enough protein. My main protein sources include beans and pulses, tofu and nuts. I’ve found that my favourites are tinned beans and pulses easily added to any main meal, especially as you don’t have to pre-soak them for 24 hours beforehand.
Veganism is one of the most effective ways a person can make to reduce the suffering of animals, contribute to the environment and improve personal health.
Fruit and vegetables
“Fresh is best” is what I used to go by following my undergraduate nutrition degree when buying my essential 5-a-day fruits and vegetables. Being on a monthly budget, frozen is definitely cheaper and is always available. My frozen vegetables include butternut squash, stir fry veg, chopped peppers, kale, broccoli and cauliflower, and green beans. Nowadays, techniques are used before flash freezing and studies have shown that there are no consistent difference between fresh and frozen.
Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12 deficiency can result in anaemia and nervous system damage. Vitamin B12 is primarily found in animal-based sources, therefore the main vegan sources are food fortified with B12 and supplements. At first I wasn’t too concerned about becoming deficient, but since last month I have been taking a B vitamin complex supplement.
Once again I start my vegan journey in 2018 and hopefully this time it will fully stick.
Bags of mixed nuts – blended into crumbs using a food processor
Breadcrumbs
300mls vegetable stock
Jus Roll Puff pastry (surprisingly vegan) 2 sheets
Small amount of almond milk to glaze
Equipment:
Hand blender/food processor
Baking tray
Trying out this recipe was a complete trial and error that turned out delicious! First of all I bought 2 bags of Morrison’s mixed nuts as they were cheaper and I couldn’t find the original recipes chestnuts and pecans it required. Secondly as I was blending them with a hand blender, it broke after blending one pack. So the rest I had to chop finely by hand, which made a mess and a half. Note: use a food processor (next time I definitely will)
My Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
2. Wash your portobello mushrooms and place on a baking tray sprinkled with the garlic, olive oil and rosemary. Bake for 15 minutes.
3. Heat a little bit of oil in a frying pan to sauté the finely chopped red onion. Alongside a tablespoon of rosemary and thyme. Add 1/2 teaspoon of brown sugar and stir for a couple minutes. Set aside.
4. As you’re waiting for the mushrooms. Blend all the nuts into a food processor until fine. Remove into a mixing bowl and add a few tablespoons of breadcrumbs to the mixture.
5. Add the sautéed onions to the dry mixture and mix well.
6. Using boiling water, add 300mls of boiling water to a vegetable stock cube. When this is ready add a little bit at a time to the dry mixture. Continue until it becomes slightly wet a sticky that you can spoon out in chunks.
7. Roll out your pastry sheet onto greaseproof baking paper on your baking tray. Spoon out your mixture into the centre, leaving room at the top and bottom to fold over. Neatly press down to form a nice shape.
8. Add the portobello mushrooms on top and then another layer of your mixture on top.
9. Ready to roll out your other pastry sheet on top to cover. When you have your shape, cut the extra pastry off with a knife. Using a fork, close the edges of the wellington by pressing down. Lightly glaze all over with almond milk.
10. Bake at 200 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes.
We added some vegan stuffing balls around in to bake too.
An ultimate favourite and I’ve had many friends asking me how I make these so easily and quick whenever I want. Following completing Veganuary 2017 I explored various ways to make my favourite meals without using animal products. It was an eye-opener and a challenge at the same time as at one point I became stuck for ideas for different meals. Especially as a postgraduate student for the last 18 months I’ve been busy and sticking to a budget. I was able to share my ideas for a ‘Vegan Diet on a Student Budget’ in the British Dietetics Association Dietetics Today August 2017 edition.
One day, as you do, I was craving pancakes so searching I went for a recipe. As you can imagine when you start searching for anything, different types of methods came up using coconut sugar or coconut oil. I understand coconut oil is a massive trend, however in my opinion the health benefits have been shaped from limited and inconsistent evidence.
Anyways, I wanted to shape a simple recipe mixed in one bowl. So here it is, with my little adjustments.
My Ingredients:
170g plain flour
2 tbsps sugar (I use whatever I have around)
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
200mls almond milk (I’m sure any dairy-free milk will work well)
1tbsp oil (I mainly use olive oil)
(makes 8-9 pancakes)
To serve: cover in maple syrup or honey or whatever toppings you want to try
My Method:
1. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Make a small well in the middle of the dry mixture, add the almond milk (or any dairy free milk of your choosing) and oil.
2. Mix the dry mixture and wet mixture together with a fork to get rid of any lumps.
3. Heat a lightly oiled frying pan (sometimes I use dairy free butter) over a medium heat. Using a ladle, drop a large spoonful of batter into the frying pan and cook until you see bubbles forming all over. I always take a look at the other side slightly with my spatula to ensure its golden brown before flipping. Flip, and then cook until the other side is golden brown too. Repeat this until there is no more batter left.
My favourite curry recipe! This is my definite go-to curry recipe as I always have these ingredients in the cupboard. Warming and full of coconut flavour. Very mildly spiced but I guess you could some chilli flakes if you wanted to.
Serving size – Completely up to you. Usually lasts me 3-4 portions.
My Ingredients:
1 white onion
1 glove of garlic
1 tsp of garam masala
1 tsp of turmeric
1 tsp of coriander
1 tsp of cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
400g can of chickpeas
400g can of chopped tomatoes
400g can of coconut milk
Any kind of rice you want – Make enough for 4 portions (I’m terrible at judging correct amounts)
If desired:
Fresh tomatoes
My Method:
1. Make your rice as directed on the packet. I usually make basmati rice, which takes approximately 10 minutes to boil. Follow the directions on amounts to use on the package. Top tip: Once 10 minutes boiling is complete, take off the heat and cover the rice for another 12 minutes and then it will be ready to serve.
2. Use the a few sprays of the olive oil sprays into a frying pan and heat until warm. Dice the onion and sautee until lightly browned. Finely dice the garlic and add this to the frying pan.
3. Add the garam masala, turmeric, coriander, cumin and allow to fry for a couple minutes
4. Add in the can of chopped tomatoes and allow to simmer for 10 minutes, breaking up the tomatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Pour in the coconut milk and allow to simmer on a low heat for 10 minutes.
6. Right at the end, drain the can of chickpeas and stir into the curry.
7. If you want to, add in some chopped fresh tomatoes
Eat For You Dietitian 