Vegan Effect

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 8th of September 2025 This is the easiest curry you will ever make.  It is a blend of warm spices and flavours.  It can be ready in 40 minutes or less and will impress any house guest you have. Not only is it tasty, but it contains a lot of nutrients that are essential to your health. Notes Tagine is usually roasted in the oven in a special tagine pot with a funnel top. I do it on the hob because it's very quick when it is veganized.  If you want to roast it in the oven, follow the steps, but roast it for 30 mins at 170 °C and skip the resting step. Serves 3 Time, 40 mins  Ingredients Chickpeas x 1 tin (240 g drained) Soya chunks x 90 g dry Enough boiling water to cover the soya chunks Peaches x 1/2 tin + light syrup Chopped tomatoes x 1 tin Carrot x 160 g diced Sweet red pepper x 100 g sliced Stock cube x 1 Spices Chilli powder x 2 tsp Turmeric x 2 tsp Coriander x 2 tsp Black ground pepper x 1 tsp Cumin x 2 tsp Cinnamon ...

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 8th of September 2025 Cottage pie is a traditional English dish that was all the rage in the last half of the last century.  It's traditionally made with minced beef, but vegans use many alternatives.  In this vegan version, I will be using green lentils and tvp.  It has a beefy flavour and is great at warming you up on cold days.

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Updated ? of ? 2025 I used to eat this dish all the time when I was younger.  I used to like it with a generous helping of sweet and sour sauce.

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 25th of August 2025 This is one of the first Korean dishes that I leant how to make.  Traditionally, it is made with soft tofu, but I like to use firm tofu.  It is still soft enough to absorb all the flavours. 

Written by   McDonald, T.    |  Date 14th of July 2025 This is a quick and easy salad that as joyous to look at as it is to eat. Loaded with flavours from the pepper, spianach and chickpeas. You can either serve the pasta and chickpeas cold or hot. I find that using saracha or sweet chilli sauce as a dressing.

  Written by   McDonald, T.    |  Date ?th of July 2025 When the weather is hot, only salad will do, but what dressing to use?  Well, this is easy and loaded with flavour.  It has an interesting mix of flavours and texures that will add something different to your salad.

Written by   McDonald, T.    |  Date 23rd of June 2025   This is a quick and tasty dip that is great as an accompaniment too.  You can make it as hot as you like and leave out any ingredients that upset your stomach. I tend to leave out onion and garlic because they can cause the IBS to flair up. Still, with this recipe, I don't miss out.

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Updated 16th June 2025 Never miss out on chocolate bars again.  Making your own vegan chocolate bar is so easy and requires no baking at all.  You can have this recipe ready to eat in a few hours and take only minutes to prepare.

Written by   McDonald, T.    |  Date 26th of May 2025  This curry is based on a fish curry. Instead of fish, it uses jackfruit and grated tempeh to simulate chunks of fish and fish flakes.  It has a great texture and a good amount of heat to its taste. 

Written by   McDonald, T.    |  Date 12th of May 2025 A very quick and easy red vegan pesto!  This has a wonderful taste and goes great with pasta or even spread on some homemade bread.

Written by   McDonald, T.    |  Date 5th of May 2025 This was a favourite of mine while growing up.  With today's vegan ranges, it's very easy to make.  I used banana bread cut into fingers for the sponge, but you can use a regular sponge if you want. Notes I used banana bread cut into fingers in place of the sponge fingers. I used Flora double cream, which took a lot of whipping! I used Alpro vegan custard.   I used wibble strawberry jelly crystals   Serves 6 Time - 2 days Ingredients  Strawberries x 1 tin Vegan custard x 1 carton Vegan double/whipping cream x 1 carton Vegan jelly crystals x 1 sachet Vegan sponge fingers x  Apparatus Medium glass bowl Measuring jug  Hand whisk Method  Cut the sponge into fingers about the size of a finger and add to the glass bowl. Drain the strawberries and add to the glass bowl.  Make the jelly as directed on the packet. Pour the jelly over the sponge fingers and strawberries....

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 21th of April 2025 Filled with rhubarb and strawberries and topped with a biscuit crumble.  This has got to be one of the best desserts in the world! It's so comforting and easy to make.

Written by   McDonald, T.    |  Date 7th of April 2025 Straight forward bread with no need for a Dutch oven. Get great results the same day with this easy to make and fantastic tasting bread. Waste Short term waste: Zero  Long term waste: Flour packaging Yeast packaging Salt container  Notes Hydration is at 80%. Baker's notes Flour 100% (500 g) Water 80% (400 g) Yeast 1.4% (7 g) dry  [Fresh is 4% (20) g]  Salt 0.012% (6 g) Water temperature Between 40 °C and 46 °C   Makes one 800 g loaf Ingredients 200 g white flour strong bread flour 300 g wholemeal strong bread flour 6 g Salt   7 g active dry yeast/instant yeast 1 tbsp of vegetable oil 400 g of lukewarm water Seeds optional Apparatus Dough scraper Danish whisk Spatula Large mixing bowl Baking sheet Method  Add both flours to the mixing bowl and mix flours together with the balloon whisk.  Add the salt and yeast in different places, and then mix with the balloon whisk aga...

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Updated 31st of March 2025 Fancy a traditional English dinner?  This is one of my favourites and is easy to make vegan. Textured vegetable protein (tvp) has been around forever and is great when mixed with green lentils.  You will get great textures, flavours and a good dose of protein.

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 24th of March 2025 If you love potatoes as much as I do, you will love this dish too!  Very simple, but will add that extra layer of taste to your meal.  Potatoes are a great source of carbohydrate, are sweet and delicious.  You can serve these on their own or with your main meal. 

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 17th of March 2025 Fresh, lemon and zesty!  This is great in the summer when you need something that makes you feel fresh and clean.  It's very easy and quick and is made with fresh lemon and cracked black pepper.  I love to have it with rice, quinoa, or potato and vegetables, but it's great with anything.

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Updated 10th of March 2025. Soda bread is a favourite of mine.  I like to have it regularly because it's so quick and easy to make. Furthermore, it's a simple job to increase the nutrition if you want, which is what I'm doing with this recipe. Adding the seeds really increases the nutritional value of this Irish bread, and since next Monday is St Patrick's Day, why not get the ingredients this week and be ready to make it for St Partick's Day!

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Updated 3rd of March 2025. This is a great dish with crisp fun vegetables in a spicy sauce. If you have always wanted to try more Korean food, this is an easy dish to start with. 

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Updated 17th of February 2025. Traditional British food is amongst the greatest in the world!  Stews are great in the colder weather because they provide so much warmth and comfort.

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 10th of Februry 2025  A quick and simple stew with a difference. This is very tasty and great with either potato, rice or quinoa. Ingredients Mock meat chunks Mushrooms Kale Leek Stewing sauce Method Chop the vegetables into bit size chunks and add to a pot. Add the kale and sliced leek. Add the stewing sauce and stew for about 40 minutes. Results   I hope that you liked this blog and if you do try this recipe, please let me know how you got on and what it turned out like. You can leave a comment in the comments below.