Author: Clare

Cruelty free cook, crafty lady, obsessive reader, animal babysitter, and mistress of lego

Review: Waitrose Vegan Spinach Ravioli

On By ClareIn products1 Comment

Waitrose are trying to up their vegan game. We approve because it’s one of the few supermarkets in walking distance and it makes us feel fancy to shop there. One of the few offerings we’ve managed to track down so far is the spinach ravioli.

There was a point in our life when we lived off supermarket ravioli. We’d have spinach and ricotta ravioli whenever we were stuck for ideas so this is a real nostalgia trip. Of course it has no ricotta in it; instead the packet promises ‘solidified coconut derivative’. That’s not a joke. That’s what the packet says: ‘solidified coconut derivative’. At this point I’d recommend Waitrose hire some better writers.

Despite the plain packaging and the bizarre description this is a pretty solid midweek, no-fuss option. We tossed ours with some tomato sauce and relived our memories.

Review: Pizza Cafe (Newton Abbot)

On By ClareIn Devon, Newton AbbotLeave a comment

The Pizza Cafe in Newton Abbot has a great reputation locally for its vegan options. We decided to try it out on a Thursday night. It was rammed and we’ve been told that’s the case all the time. We did manage to get a seat though and started to work our way through the menu.

We began with the vegan combo. Purely because it’s hard to find a whole platter of starters to eat when you are vegan. The combo was carb heavy with crisp potato skins, buttery garlic bread, waffle fries and onion rings. Not the most exotic selection but satisfying and the garlic mayo was great and — not going to lie — I want to pour it on everything ever.

Pizza time: Kate went for the Mama Mia with pesto, tomatoes, pine nuts and spinach and I had As Good As It Gets with olives, spinach, tomatoes and feta. I’m not big fan of the base, it was a little bready for my liking, but overall it was a decent pizza. Kate thought hers had too much cheese, making it a little soggy in the middle.

Desert was the highlight. It was incredible. We split our desert which turned out to be pretty hard. The brownie came first and while it was absolutely delicious it ended up being overshadowed by the banana bread sundae. Vanilla ice cream, chocolate ice cream, slices of banana and hunks of banana bread. So, so, so good! And it looked so amazing that waitress had to reassure us that it was vegan.

All in all we’ll definitely be going back. We need to try the burritos and the milkshakes anyway.

Brunch and Munch: Where to find the best hollandaise sauce (Vegan MoFo 2018)

On By ClareIn veganmofo18Leave a comment

There are cookbooks that I think I would still buy, full price, if it only had one recipe. There’s the Banana Everything Cookies from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. There is the Stir-fried Tofu, Shiitakis and Green Beans from Vegan For Everybody. And, because this post is about something brunchy, there is the hollandaise sauce from Vegan Bowl Attack by Jackie Sobon.

That isn’t, of course, to say that the rest of the book is no good. It’s just that this recipe gets made so much it justifies the price. It’s so quick and easy. In that respect completely unlike a traditional hollandaise, but the taste is exactly the same. It’s perfect on the bowl it belongs to or on top of a eggs Benedict type concoction usually with whatever seasonal veg we have on hand. Purple sprouting broccoli, asparagus or – like here – samphire.

TV Trays: Vivera Veggie Shawarma (vegan mofo 2018)

On By ClareIn veganmofo181 Comment

Okay so there was only one thing I could post about with today’s prompt and that’s the current convenience food addiction of the Burgess/Morley House. Vivera Veggie Shawarma.

Yeah it doesn’t look like much but the spices are spot on and the texture is fantastic. We serve it on flat breads and then top it with whatever we want. Nothing for Kate and lettuce, chilli sauce and sliced spring onions for me. Takes about five minutes to make and then it’s all binge watching all night.