Up your vegan picnic game with five Stem & Glory recipes to impress

By Louise Palmer-Masterton, founding father of Cambridge vegan restaurant enterprise Stem & Glory.

I heard a programme on the radio the opposite day, speaking concerning the origins of picnicking and the way picnics had been initially luxurious and decadent affairs. Quick ahead to current instances and picnicking appears to have been overtaken by plastic wrapped grocery store comfort meals.

At Stem & Glory we are saying let’s put some creativity again into our picnics! Summer time is lastly right here, so mud off your picnic basket and head off to the river for some outside enjoyable. Listed here are 5 home made vegan crowd pleasers to swimsuit vegans and non vegans alike, and properly price that little bit of additional effort.

Vegan ‘Egg’ Mayo Sandwiches

Makes 2-4 rounds of sandwiches relying on the bread dimension

• 250g smoked tofu
• 2 tbsp vegan mayo
• 1 tbsp engevita flakes (or extra to style)
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp salt
• plus vegan salad cream till you might have the precise consistency

Crumble the tofu along with your fingers into small items. Does not matter if some items are bigger than others.

Combine all the opposite components in a big bowl. Add roughly 2 tbsp vegan salad cream. Add the crumbled tofu and blend properly with a picket spoon. Add extra salad cream till you get the precise consistency (tofu must be properly coated however not too runny). For those who don’t have vegan salad cream simply use extra mayo and add a touch of agave syrup and a touch of lemon juice. Serve a beneficiant layer right into a sandwich comprised of bread of your selection. Because the filling is barely mushy, a softer bread works properly with this one.

The ‘VLT’ (Vegan BLT)

Makes 2-4 rounds of sandwiches relying on the bread dimension

This has been on our menu at Stem & Glory Cambridge for years and it’s an absolute winner.

The trick is making the tempeh bacon tremendous skinny and tremendous crispy and having simply the correct amount of mayo to make it sing!

• 200g tempeh (you should purchase this contemporary or frozen – if frozen defrost fully earlier than utilizing.
• A big contemporary tomato
• Child gem lettuce
• Vegan mayo

For the marinade:

• 100 ml tamari
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika (optionally available)
• 1 tsp liquid smoke
• 1 tsp maple syrup

Combine the marinade components. Thinly slice the tempeh. Marinade for 5-30 minutes (tempeh normally soaks up marinade rather well)

Shake the surplus marinade off the tempeh and shallow fry in slightly olive oil till crispy and really barely charred across the edges.

To construct the sandwich. Unfold vegan mayo on each slices of bread. On one facet add a layer of sliced tomato, a layer of lettuce, then a layer of the crispy tempeh. Prime with the second slice. Reduce into triangle quarters and luxuriate in. Tip – with this sandwich be sure you add sufficient mayo so it dribbles out barely for the complete expertise!

You could possibly additionally make this with thinly sliced tofu – marinade for longer.

Chzek Potato Salad

Serves 4

Once we opened our first restaurant we had a Chzek chef referred to as Kat. She cooked many Chzek dishes, this one being my favorite. Rather more attention-grabbing than a potato salad 🙂

• 200g diced potato
• 300g small diced blended root veg – resembling carrots, kohlrabi, celeriac, parsnip
• 100g peas (if utilizing frozen, defrost in boiling water)
• 2 tbsp chopped gherkins
• 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
• 1 small pink onion very finely chopped
• 1/2 cup (60ml) vegan mayo

Cook dinner the potatoes and roots in boiling salted water for five-six minutes. Drain and permit to chill.

Combine the gherkins, parsley, pink onion and vegan mayo collectively in a big bowl. Add the cooled greens and blend properly. Add extra mayo in line with your private choice – the veg must be properly coated however not too runny

Vegan ‘Quiche’

Makes 8 massive slices

It is a staple in our home. It’s very tasty straight from the oven, and works fab chilly in a picnic with some pickle.

By all means make your individual pastry, however there are superb vegan pre made shortcrusts in each grocery store.

• Pre-made pre rolled shortcrust pastry (320-375g)
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 leeks finely sliced
• 2 tbsp white wine (optionally available)
• 250-280g agency tofu (relying in your block dimension)
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar (or lemon juice)
• 2 tbsp plant milk (I exploit oat or soy)
• 2 tbsp engevita flakes (or different model of yeast flakes)
• ½ tsp thyme or herbs de Provence
• ½ tsp salt (or extra to style)
• Contemporary floor black pepper to style

Gently lay the pre rolled pastry right into a 24cm fluted tin (unfluted additionally works simply tremendous). Be sure to don’t stretch the pastry. Trim the surplus from the sides and make some jam tarts with it :). Prick the bottom with a fork a number of instances, and bake with none filling at 200C for 12 minutes. It’s also possible to use baking beans in case you have some. If the pastry bubbles up, simply pierce gently with the fork or the purpose of a knife. Take away from the oven and canopy with a tea towel while you cook dinner the filling.

Cook dinner the sliced leeks within the olive oil till mushy and barely caramelised. As soon as mushy add the wine if utilizing, and cook dinner till the wine has evaporated fully. The leek combination must be mushy, however not watery. Enable to chill.

Combine the remainder of the components in a blender and mix till very easy. Alter the seasoning. It must be fairly tasty even with out the leeks.

Add the leeks to the blended tofu combination and stir properly.

Add to the pastry case. Easy the highest.

Bake at 180C for 30 minutess, or till the highest is beginning to brown and the filling is totally set within the center.

Serve chilly with Branston or farmhouse pickle.

Purple Pepper Dip

This candy and smoky dip is ideal as a dip, or served on the facet with absolutely anything

Serves 2-4

• 1 pink pepper minimize into strips
• 1 pink onion sliced
• 1 massive entire clove garlic
• ½ tsp smoked paprika (optionally available)
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• ½ tsp salt & pepper

Combine all of the components collectively so the whole lot is flippantly coated with olive oil. Add extra oil if wanted.

Place right into a shallow baking tin and roast at 180C for 25 minutess.

Enable to chill barely, then mix till easy. Style for seasoning and add extra salt and pepper to your style. The dip must be candy, smoky and really tasty!

Learn extra

Vegan or plant-based: What’s the difference and does it matter?

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