Ocado Are Making It Easier For You To Shop Vegan and Gluten Free

A day or so ago I told you all about vegan snacking, in my attempts to make it much easier for you to be healthy and satisfied on a plant-based (and gluten free..should you need) diet.  Today I hope to make it even easier, not just for snacks but for all your food shopping needs.  

When I am staying in a super vegan friendly city like London, Brighton, Berlin, San Francisco, even, to a lesser extent, Mexico and Buenos Aires, I have found it easy to access whole food shops (even totally vegan stores), that cater for mostly all of my whims.  However it is far from the case in most cities in the UK to have a good grocer/produce market where I can find artisan or even generic vegan products.  I'm staying with my mother right now, in between trips.  In a commuter city only 20 mins outside London.  It has not got one healthy food store.  Being here has been frustrating to say the least.  So, when I got an invite from Ocado to come chat about their vegan range, I was sceptical to say the least.
I met with some super nice members of the Ocado team, and some fellow bloggers. Karin Ridgers from Veggie Vision was there..I was so excited to finally get to meet a woman I've long admired for her commitment to bringing fun and entertainment to the veggie world, via her TV shows. Also, Claire, a vegetarian blogger for FoodIFancy.com, to name but two.  We were presented with a feast, dreamed up by the Ocado team and created by the chefs at Tibits.  Whilst we were happily chowing down and getting to know each other, the Ocado team were telling us about how they feel it is so important to cater for all dietary requirements and tastes and how open they are to expanding their range. It was a real eye opener.  What was so surprising is that I never thought of Ocado  as a retailer who could deliver really good vegan fayre.  A search for 'vegan' products currently grabs up 251 products.  

As I was enjoying the company and the food, I was thinking of you and the implications having a well known online-delivery grocery store be so interested in making sure they have a well rounded stock of vegan and gluten free foods.  Yes, independent and co-operative stores will always remain uppermost in my choices, but to know we can all get these foods so easily now filled me with much excitement.  Our dietary choices impact the world and our loved ones in so many ways, we are all now waking up to this. It is all making a difference.  My vision for a vegan world by 2035 is steaming ahead!

I sampled a few of their range of convenience foods and condiments.
Vegan Pesto   so tasty I was eating it straight from the jar!
Holy Cow Spicy Bombay Ketchup oh mama, a slow, sexy burn  
Booja Booja Champagne Truffles  so good. A sure fire vegan seducer.
Granovita Mayola Egg Free Mayonnaise   where would life be without vegan mayo?
Belazu Tomato & Smoked Paprika Sauce   excellent for a speedy mid-week pasta dinner
If you remember, I recently reviewed gluten free wraps.  You can now get those from Ocado too.

They are just a taster of what you can find.  If they don't have something that you'd like to see them stock they told me they welcome your suggestions.

I hope this makes life a little (or a lot) easier for you.
All opinions are my own. No thumbscrews were used. I just want to help.

If you are a vegan newbie, want or need to ditch dairy or gluten, want to eat healthier and need help where to start or where to look to find substitutes, just post a question on my Facebook page and I will try and do what I can help.

Okra. So Misunderstood! Kadhai Bhindi. Easy Weeknight Recipe.

Let's face it.  Okra can be a bit scary.  The long green hexagonal vegetable is renowned for being a omitting an oozy goo when chopped and its covered with a fine down (not painting a pretty picture am I?!)  But it is enjoyed all over Asia, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and the jolly Caribbean. So, I figure we've been missing out.

After a bit of internet trawling I see there are ways of enjoying it at its best.  It needs to be very fresh, so when you bend it in half it snaps rather then merely creases.  Cooking it whole, quickly or without lots of water minimises its mucilaginous qualities.  If you chop it and cook slowly in a stew the goo disperses into the broth.  Some say, introducing it to some acidity, such as lemon, tamarind, tomato etc. holds back the gloop. Each country has it's own way of preparing.  All good, I guess.  
I wanted to flavour it with spices and curry it up.  There are a million Indian Cookbooks sitting on bookshop shelves, but at home, I have four 'go to's'.  I thumbed through each one, salivating at the dark and exotic photographs, and plumped for Monisha Bharadwaj - India's Vegetarian Cooking 

It was quick, less than 25 minutes from scratch.  Rich and flavoursome.  

I'm feeling lazy today.  I'm a little jaded after I raced to catch as much of the sunny day as I could yesterday..running, walking and finally cycling under it.  So here is a photo of the recipe.  Captured straight from the book.  I did make a few changes to the original recipe.  I used coconut oil instead of olive.  I used coconut sugar instead of brown sugar.  I didn't have white poppy seeds so I threw in black, and my mustard seeds (love the sound when these start to pop in the heat of the pan) were yellow.  I enjoyed the slow caramelising onions, fragrantly curling around my house, and creating the paste in the blender was fun.  So many cultures do this.  Mole in Mexico.  Agushi in Africa. And others, I am too lazy to recall for you right now.

It's a nice recipe. Layered with deep flavours, and it takes little time to make.  Yes, there are a few ingredients but 'effort in = taste out'. If you don't have some of the ingredients in your store cupboard, then, well it's about time you did! These make flavour and keep life interesting.

I would say it serves 2 and not 4.  Double it up, if you have any left over (you won't) then freeze the rest or have it in a wrap with crunchy iceberg lettuce and (vegan) cool Smokey Mozzarisella for lunch next day.

Gluten Free. Dairy Free.

Okra with Tomatoes.  Kadhai Bhindi

Delicious!

Do you have any tips for using Okra?  Which is your favourite recipe?  Do you have any vegetables you are scared of using?
We'd love to know.  Go to post a comment to tell all.

Raw Sprouted Buckwheat Hummus - Recipe

Raw Sprouted Buckwheat Hummus


I have a friend who calls chickpeas 'devil food'.  The force of her wrath is due to the 'fall out' after-effect of the ubiquitous legume.  Mindful of this and needful of dip, I hunted around for alternatives.  I'd not soaked any almonds so that was out.  My stock of pre-cooked black beans were frozen solid.  Oh dear, I had nothing to 'hummus' but I craved it so! 

In a moment of inspiration I grabbed my dish of buckwheat, happily going about its business of sprouting on my windowsill.
I paired it will all the usual 'hummus' suspects, and crossed my fingers as I stood and watched it quickly blending into a thick, pale cream.

I slathered it thick on a wedge of sweet potato, hot and steaming, fresh from the oven and eagerly bit into it like an open-faced sandwich. Verdict?  It is really rather tasty!  Hunger abated and full of delight that my experiment had worked I roasted some cumin and bashed the smoking seeds with a pestle to release the flavours, and the together the two became firm friends.
I then dug around in my cupboard to fish out my mandolin (not the instrumental kind..though that would of been fitting!) and sliced some delicate rounds of beetroot to create an easy starter.  More about that after I've shared the basic recipe with you.

First, sprouting the buckwheat.  Buckwheat is not a grain but a seed, related to the rhubarb family.  It is full of amino acids (one of most complete sources on the planet) and is gluten free.  It is a 'healthy' starch and after soaking in water for 20mins (some say longer but I've heard it can spoil quickly), it gives off a gloupy gel like substance that needs to be rinsed vigorously.  Once rinsed pop into a sprouter and rinse 3-4 times a day.  You should see the little sprout tail emerge after a day or two.  Rinse, rinse and rinse again, and then you are ready to turn it into moreish (and Moorish) hummus.

Ingredients
2 cups raw sprouted buckwheat
1 plump clove garlic
1/2 tsp salt (pink preferably)
1/2 lemon juice (2 Tbs)
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar or ume plum seasoning (to lift)
1-2 Tbs tahini (raw if that is your bag)   I used 1 Tbs and it was delicious.  See what you think.

Method.
1. pop all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth and creamy.  Check for seasoning.  Is it ok?  You may like more lemon or more salt.  Try it.

Nutrition (source Food Matters)

Sprouted buckwheat is an amazing food because it tastes like a grain but is actually gluten and wheat free and not a grain at all. It is one of the most complete sources of protein on the planet, containing all eight essential amino acids. This makes it perfect for diabetics and those who want to cut down on their sugary carbohydrates and to balance their blood sugar levels. It is also known to lower high blood pressure. 

Sprouted buckwheat also cleanses the colon and alkalizes the body. Buckwheat is a wonderful super food for people who have varicose veins or hardening of the arteries. One of the reasons is that it is full of rutin, which is a compound that is known as a powerful capillary wall strengthener. When veins become weak, blood and fluids accumulate and leak into nearby tissues, which may cause varicose veins or hemorrhoids. 

This healing food is also rich in lecithin, making it a wonderful cholesterol balancer because lecithin soaks up "bad" cholesterol and prevents it from being absorbed. Lecithin neutralizes toxins and purifies the lymphatic system, taking some of the load off of the liver. Sprouted buckwheat is also a brain boosting super food. 28% of the brain is actually made up of lecithin. Research suggests that regularly consuming foods rich in lecithin may actually prevent anxiety, depression, brain fog, mental fatigue and generally make the brain sharper and clearer. 

Buckwheat is high in iron so it is a good blood builder. It also prevents osteoporosis because of its high boron and calcium levels. Sprouted buckwheat is high in bio-flavonoids and co-enzyme Q10. It contains all of the B vitamins, magnesium, manganese, and selenium, as well as many other health giving compounds. 


Wow!  AND it makes great hummus.  Also, when teamed with mint, fresh raw beets, cumin, lemon oil and my homemade Marrakesh Relish….it is heavenly!

Enjoy!

Be well

India Leigh x

p.s  another raw buckwheat recipe you may like caramelised onion tart

p.s.s it is an excellent substitute for oats too.  Try it for breakfast.