“If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian.” Paul McCartney.

 

“No longer now he slays the lamb that looks him in the face, and horribly devours his mangled flesh.Which still avenging nature’s broken law, kindled all putrid humours in his frame. All evil passions, and all vain belief. Hatred, despair, and loathing in his mind. The germs of misery, death, disease and crime.” Queen Mab viii.

Rocking the Christmas Showboat

The holiday season can be a difficult time for aspiring vegetarians or vegans, and eating with relatives and friends can be a mine field. How can we tell mum that we don’t want to eat the turkey and the ham, she’s so diligently prepared? Or tell our friends that fish isn’t a vegetable!

Feelings get hurt, tempers fly and there’s a battle raging at the table.

Rather than defending our dietary choices or pushing the meat to one side of the plate and only eating the vegetables, why not make a delicious nut roast at home. Then we can take ‘the main course’ with us to relatives and friends who do not share our compassion for the creatures.

The recipe below is one of my favourites…..

Vegan Pecan Roast                                      

Grease a loaf tin with coconut oil and preheat oven to 350F.
Ingredients:
17ozs of ground pecans and 4ozs of ground walnuts.
It is better to grind the nuts yourself, store bought ground nuts can be old and rancid.
Four slices of sprouted bread or whole wheat bread. Discard the crust and process into bread crumbs.
Three tablespoons of ground flax or chia seeds in place of eggs.  Add two tablespoons of water for each tablespoon of flax or chia seeds.
A good pinch of oregano and parsley, either fresh or dry.
Two large leeks.
Cold pressed coconut oil.
Real salt or sea salt to taste.

Method: Clean the leeks, chop finely and sauté in a little coconut oil until tender. Leeks are long mild onions and have a distinctive flavour. Red wine can be added to the leeks while cooking. The alcohol evaporates leaving a full bodied flavour. If you can’t find leeks use two large onions finely chopped instead.
Mix the ground nuts, breadcrumbs, chia seeds, leeks and herbs together in a bowl; add salt and pepper to taste with a little Bragg’s amino acids, if you have it.
Slowly add water to the mixture until the consistency is soft, but not runny.  Scrape nut loaf mixture into greased bread tin, cover with foil and bake for fifty minutes to an hour.

Take off the foil and brown the top for a few minutes then loosen the edges and turn out onto an oval dish. You can flambé the roast, if you like with a little brandy. Serve with roast potatoes and parsnips,  brussel sprouts, carrots, jerusalem artichokes and mushroom gravy. Enjoy!

You can add any vegetable to the nut mixture you want but always sauté it first so there are no hard chunks in the finished product.

The roast can be served hot with vegetables and gravy, or cold with salad. It can be fried, hashed, curried, the variations are endless. And it stores well in the fridge for up to a week. Can also be frozen and used when needed.

If you want to use walnuts or cashews instead of pecans, just substitute them in the recipe. Use two large finely chopped onions marinated in dry red wine for a walnut roast and white wine for cashews. All the nut mixtures can be used for burgers, vegan shepherd’s pie, vegetable wraps with sliced avocado topped with alfalfa or broccoli sprouts, and you can make rissoles and cover them in pastry …regular or filo dough, and a slice goes well with rice and broccoli…

Nuts can be replaced by quinoa, millet, lentils etc. All make a good base for vegan roasts.

Join the fourth dimensional rebellion…live and let live and have a cruelty free holiday season.

Egg replacement for vegan cooking.

To replace one large egg use  1 tablespoon of chia seeds. Place in a small bowl and stir in 3 tablespoons of water. Allow to sit for 30 minutes before using in a recipe. The mixture will have thickened slightly and feel like a loose jelly.

If you are looking for delicious alternatives to a flesh based diet check out:  http://www.onegreenplanet.org/

“Nothing is foreign-parts relate to whole: One all extending, all-preserving soul connects each being, greatest with the least- Made beast in aid of man, and man of beast; All served, all serving-nothing stands alone. Has God, thou fool, worked solely for thy good,thy joy, thy pastime, thy attire, thy food.”  Pope: Essay on Man.