Posted on
For most vegans, there was a turning point, a moment where everything clicked. From this point, they took the plunge to not take any part in animal cruelty and switch to a plant-based diet. This point for me was watching this video, The hardest part of being vegan:
Posted on
This baked sweet potato makes a great accompaniment to a dish, and a brilliant alternative to chips or mashed potatoes, as well as being a healthier option too.
These sweet potatoes look fancy, and that's one of the reasons I love them so much. They’re actually so easy to create, but when you put the lines across, stuff them with flavours and herbs, it really gives the wow factor.
I know for some people it can be quite daunting deciding on your own ingredients for the recipe (after all, you’re here looking for a recipe because you won’t want to do that bit!) so I’ve compiled a list of suitable herbs, you can choose one or two to chop up and they’ll work deliciously:
Thyme
Oregano
Basil
Rosemary
Coriander
It's important you use a nice sharp, thin knife for cutting into your sweet potato, a thicker knife stands the risk of getting stuck each time, and a blunt knife is going to need too much force to get it though and will probably head to uneven wonky lines!
When it comes to serving these potatoes, your options really depend on what dish they’re being a side to. One great option I love is serving them with some guacamole, vegan cheese, extra garlic butter or even top with some pine nuts.
2 medium sweet potatoes
2 cloves fresh garlic
1 tbsp freshly chopped herbs of your choice
1 spring onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp vegan margarine, melted
Salt and pepper
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200c and line a baking tray with foil. Using a sharp knife, slice into each potato, going about â…” of the way down with each cut. You want about ½ cm between each slice.
Mix all your other ingredients together, then using a pastry brush or your hands, rub your mix all over the potatoes, making sure you get into all the cuts.
Bake for 50 minutes to an hour depending on your potato size, and half way through run a fork across the potatoes to really open them up as they soften, giving them that signature hasselback look and allowing the flavours to really get through.
Make sure your potatoes are cooked through and then serve with your favourite dishes.
What did you think of this recipe? Did you do anything differently? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below. Don’t forget that you can share all your foodie makes with us using the hashtag #HBivore.
Follow us on Facebook and like us on Instagram to keep up to date with our latest recipes, news and content. You can also use the form below to receive all our news straight to your inbox each week.
Written by Amy Northwood
Her-Bivore
My passion for food and conservation has led me to where I am now! My aim is to show people that veganism can be diverse, tasty and adapted to fit every lifestyle and budget!
You can find me on Instagram 
Posted on
If you're looking for a cupcake recipe to test your skills then this is not for you! This vegan chocolate cupcake recipe is the almost ‘too good to be true’ cheats way to get perfect vegan cupcakes every time, especially considering there are only two ingredients you need to worry about, and they're both already measured out for you!
They're lovely and moist and are perfect for parties or maybe even a naughty treat for yourself! It is worth mentioning that if you'd prefer one big cake then the method is just the same. You just have to make sure to adjust your cooking times accordingly, I find that they take longer to cook because the mix is slightly wetter than if you’d made them according to the box.
If chocolate isn’t your thing (or if you fancy a change) this works with pretty much all the Betty Crocker mixes! The only box cake that isn't vegan from that range is the red velvet, due to the sourcing of the colouring.
I’ve heard that there are some cheaper brand of box cake that work just the same, but I’ve never tried them so please let us all know in the comments if you’ve tried any other and whether they work!
For this recipe you literally just need the box cake and a can of any carbonated beverage. I’ve made them with soda water, lemonade, cola, diet cola, honestly as long as it bubbles it should work.
How does 330ml of carbonated drink replace the other ingredients? Why did someone ever try this in the first place? Your guess is as good as mine, but I’m glad it does and I’m glad they did.
The good news is that the betty crocker icing range is almost pretty much all vegan too, and if you’re new to veganism the cadburys chocolate icing (and fudge icing!) are accidentally vegan too! If you want this type of icing to set though, you’ll have to pop them in the fridge when they’re iced.
Total Time: >30 minutes
Yield: 10 cupcakes
1 Box of Betty Crocker's Devils Food Cake Mix
1 330ml Can of Carbonated Drink (I used diet cola)
1 Tub of Betty Crocker's Chocolate Fudge Icing
1.) Preheat your oven to 180c. Empty the contents of the cake mix into a large mixing bowl and then add the can of coke. You should then whisk this mixture until it has combined, don’t worry about the bubbles, they’ll go.
2.) Spoon your mix into your prepared cupcake cases. You want each one just over half full because this will give it space to rise. You won't get as many as the packet says, as you're not adding as much quantity to it as instructed but I usually get about 10 cupcakes.
3.)Then bake for around 15-20 minutes, or until a rounded knife or cocktail stick inserted fully into the centre of a cupcake comes out clean and then cool on a wire cooling rack.
4.) Allow your cupcakes to cool completely. Using a piping bag with a nozzle, pipe the icing onto the cupcakes (if you haven't got a bag or nozzle handy, you can just use the back of a spoon to spread the icing onto the cakes). You can then either top with any vegan decorations, or just leave them plain! Then allow the icing to set completely and then store in an airtight container in the fridge.
What did you think of this recipe? Did you do anything differently? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below. Don’t forget that you can share all your foodie makes with us using the hashtag #HBivore.
Follow us on Facebook and like us on Instagram to keep up to date with our latest recipes, news and content. You can also use the form below to receive all our news straight to your inbox each week.
Written by Amy Northwood
Her-Bivore
My passion for food and conservation has led me to where I am now! My aim is to show people that veganism can be diverse, tasty and adapted to fit every lifestyle and budget!
You can find me on Instagram
Posted on
When I first discovered aquafaba (chickpea water) I couldn't believe it had so many uses. Something I had been pouring down the sink for years, could be used to make the easiest and most delicious vegan desserts I had ever seen!
My own take on this popular dessert uses sugar, as personally I have a sweet tooth, but for a healthier mousse you can skip adding the sugar completely, and just have the richness of the chocolate. You can also use other flavourings than vanilla to get a different taste, I've tried both orange and mint flavourings and both are amazing.
When you’re whipping up your aquafaba, for the sake of your arms you really need an electric mixer. It’ll take about 5-10 minutes at a high speed, you want to be able to turn your bowl upside down and the fluffy peaks to stay exactly where they are, only then is it thick enough to continue.
When you mix the chocolate mixture in, you’ll look at your beautiful peaks disappearing and panic you’re doing something wrong, you’re not! Persevere, you will lose quite a bit of the consistency but as long as you’re being gentle and are folding the mixtures together rather than mixing you will be fine. They set again once they’re in the glasses/jars.
I’m so excited to hear what you all think of this one, so make sure you let me know in the comments below how you got on!
Total time: 30 minutes.
Yield: 4 servings
A 400g tin of chickpeas
150g Vegan dark chocolate
A good splash of almond milk (any milk substitute will do)
60g icing sugar (optional)
1tsp vanilla extract (optional)
Fresh fruit to garnish (optional)
1.) Break your chocolate up and gently melt in a bowl over a pan of hot water on a low heat. Adding your almond milk here will stop the mix becoming too stiff, and will aid melting. Once melted, move to one side and allow to cool. This is when you should mix in your vanilla extract and your icing sugar.
2.) Drain your chickpeas over a bowl (it's the liquid from the tin you want, rather than the chickpeas themselves) and then using either a free standing mixer or an electric hand whisk, whisk the aquafaba until it forms large white peaks. This will take around 5-8 minutes with a standing mixer, but longer with a hand whisk. The good thing about aquafaba is that (unlike egg) you cannot over whisk.
3.) Your aquafaba should be light and firm, and you should be able to hold the bowl upside down without it moving at all. At this point you want to check your chocolate has cooled enough, if your chocolate is too warm, it may cause your mouse to deflate too much. If your chocolate has set by accident, simply warm it for 5 seconds at a time in the microwave until it’s soft and runny enough to mix in.
4.) Fold your chocolate mix into your aquafaba, trying to keep as much air in as possible. Don't worry if your mix deflates slightly, this is normal.
5.) Once combined, either spoon or pipe your mix into glasses and place in the fridge to fully set! Garnish with whatever fruit or decorations you like just before serving!
What did you think of this recipe? Did you do anything differently? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below. Don’t forget that you can share all your foodie makes with us using the hashtag #HBivore.
Follow us on Facebook and like us on Instagram to keep up to date with our latest recipes, news and content. You can also use the form below to receive all our news straight to your inbox each week.
Written by Amy Northwood
Her-Bivore
My passion for food and conservation has led me to where I am now! My aim is to show people that veganism can be diverse, tasty and adapted to fit every lifestyle and budget!
You can find me on Instagram
Posted on
I always find that soups are a bit of an underrated part of society, often seen as a starter instead of the main event. I love soups, which you can probably tell from my vast array of soup recipes such as:
And now of course the humble minestrone. What I love about minestrone soup is that it features two of my favourite things in one: soup and pasta!
As always, I don’t like to limit the imagination to traditions, but if you want a traditional minestrone soup you could use orecchiette pasta. I generally just use whatever small pasta shape i have around at the time.
What truly makes minestrone the heartiest of soups isn't just the pasta, but also that it’s packed full of vegetables and beans, all of which provide a long lasting fuel to your body as well as being packed full of protein and nutrients.
When you’re preparing your ingredients, think about what size you want your vegetables chopped to. This soup doesn’t get blitzed with a blender, so the size you chop them in the size they’ll stay! There’s no right or wrong answer to this, and its all down to personal preference. Remember that smaller vegetable pieces won’t take as long to cook, and larger pieces may need longer, so whichever size you choose you should try to be consistent!
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 large potato, peeled and roughly chopped
1 small swede, peeled and roughly chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 large leek, trimmed and sliced
½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1 litre vegetable stock
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
150g pasta (any shape and size is fine!)
1 tin cannellini beans
1 large handful of greens (savoy cabbage, kale or spring greens will do nicely), thinly sliced
4tbsp tomato paste
Fresh crusty bread (to serve)
Method:
Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large saucepan, then add your garlic, potato, swede, carrot, celery and leek and cook for about 10 minutes on a medium heat, stirring regularly.
Add in your oregano, bay leaves, thyme and tomato paste and stir in, cook for another 5 minutes.
Add your tinned tomatoes and veg stock, then gently bring up to a simmer and leave to cook for about 20-30 minutes, until your veggies are almost cooked.
Add your greens and pasta, bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer and allow to cook for as long as your pasta needs, feel free to add some more boiling water if you need to thin your soup down a bit.
Pick out your bay leaves, then season to taste with sea salt and cracked black pepper and serve with some fresh crusty bread.
What did you think of this recipe? Did you do anything differently? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below. Don’t forget that you can share all your foodie makes with us using the hashtag #HBivore.
Follow us on Facebook and like us on Instagram to keep up to date with our latest recipes, news and content. You can also use the form below to receive all our news straight to your inbox each week.
Written by Amy Northwood
Her-Bivore
My passion for food and conservation has led me to where I am now! My aim is to show people that veganism can be diverse, tasty and adapted to fit every lifestyle and budget!
You can find me on Instagram