Vegan Isn't Vapid

Food has become an even bigger subject in my life this year – I've gotten greedier. In January I turned 24 and decided I should try and switch my diet up a little by having more vegetarian and fish dishes. I’m a meat fiend and love nothing more than ordering a KFC on a Friday so I thought this challenge would be interesting.  

Thankfully, the food god brought me Anjum Anand. Some say she’s India’s answer to Nigella Lawson. I say her food is great; it’s both simple and easy to follow. Even though my dad is Indian, I shamefully know nothing about how to cook Indian food. And as we mainly have meat dishes, sometimes lentils, I decided to make Anjum’s Fish curry.  I left out the chilli just because we didn’t have any – bad Indians! – but it tasted just fine without them. In all, the dish proved to me at least, that you can easily cook lovely fish curries.
                              

My enthusiasm for vegetarian food rocketed when I went to visit my non-animal eating friend in Cardiff and got to indulge on the eclectic dishes available. Here are the three dishes that I ate and I'm still raving about.  

A vegan fry up. Yes, really! I need a good hearty – MEATY – fry up as much as the next person, but this one proved that you can have one that’s vegan. 

Note: the “scrambled eggs” are tofu, which had various things in them from spinach and coriander to cumin and salt. 

I told my friend how much I loved the meaty Pho Ga I had made and he tried to come up with an East Asian inspired vegan alternative. And it was just as good. 

For an extra treat we got this lovely dish at Cardiff’s Vegetarian Food Studio. A shop come restaurant that serves delicious vegetarian food and they let you bring your own alcohol. You can get a feast for less than £10, so is well worth a visit if you’re in town. 

Did I come back home with an urge to eat only vegetarian food? No, not quite. All I needed was a Dominoes Meat Feast pizza and that's what I ordered. It did however, make me realise the range of vegetarian food available and how easy it was to make.