If I’d know being vegan was as easy as it is, I would’ve become vegan years ago. Truth be told, I was worried about what I could eat before becoming vegan, and I know lots of people worry about defiencies, but to be honest, this is the healthiest diet I’ve ever been on! Partly, because I now have to do a lot of cooking from scratch, thanks to the fact that food manufacturers seem to be dairy in every. little. thing. We’re eating more veggies, cooking from scratch almost every day (some days we have leftovers) and becoming much more aware of food and taste. While I will never look forward or get excited by cooking (or washing up afterwards!), I am mostly pleased with the results of what we make. Don’t get me wrong, I won’t be entering Masterchef or anything, but we’ve got a good selection of pretty decent and pretty tasty vegan meals.

1. Cheese on Toast. To be honest, I don’t really miss cheese. I thought I would, but it’s not even an issue. However, that doesn’t mean to say that I’m not happy about the mature melty vegan cheese from Bute Island. It’s not too fake, has a good texture and doesn’t take long to melt. I added some French’s Texan Jalapeño Relish and it makes for a tasty lunch.

2. Tofu Salad. This is a little something I came up for school lunches. It’s particularly handy is there’s enough for two days. I fry a block of tofu, cut into chunks, while cooking some Waitrose mixed grains. Once the tofu is golden, I put in a cup of peas, edamame beans and any other veg around. This time it was carrots, but I’ve also added mushrooms and sweetcorn. I add in the cooked grains, a tablespoon of soy sauce and a tea spoon of chili. Delicious!

3. Vegan Sausage Bap. For this, I used some of the Fry’s Braai style sausages, which worked really well, a squirt of tomato ketchup and some vegan mayonaise.

4. Tofu Stir Fry. This is my all time favourite dinner. I use a block of tofu, a pack of stif fry veg from Waitrose, which consists of baby sweetcorn, tender stem broccoli and green beans. I also make this Minimalist Baker sauce with a few variations. I don’t put in any ginger because it’s the devils work. I also reduce the amount of sugar and corn starch by half. The sauce covers everything really well. I’ve used Biona Spelt noodles and instant noodles, the latter being my favourite because it’s easier. Phil’s not so keen on this one, because of the veg, so I’ll make it when I can leftovers the next day.

5. Vegan chilli. Sainsbury’s veggie mince is delicious. We can get enough chill out of one pack for two dinners for the pair of us. We simply chop two onions, two red peppers, two green peppers, add the mince, a tin of red kidney beans, chopped tomatoes, tomato puree and chili powder. On the first night, we have it with brown rice and the second night, jacket potatoes and vegan cheese. It’s such a winner!

6. Vegan Roast Dinner. Roast sprouts are delicious. Fact. Add some leek, parsnips, carrots, roast potatoes, gravy and the VBites Turkey Roast. This was surprisingly easy to do, even in our small and dodgy oven. It took about an hour and a half to prep and cook, but obviously as it’s a roast, it’s quite easy and you can enjoy a nice glass of vegan red wine while it’s cooking. This might be what Phil and I have for Christmas so it was a good test.

So when people ask what me what vegans eat, it’s very simple really – healthy and delicious food!