My personal food journey...

I have been on an incredible food journey over the past 5 years, challenging myself to constantly try new things and test my cooking skills to the max. I love the simple things in life; simple pleasures such as watching friends and family enjoy my food and catering to their differing tastes. Our shopping habits have changed over time too; from Supermarkets, to focusing on independent retailers and local markets, to discovering the ease of online shopping (as I currently have an injury that has kept me at home a lot).

As a child I was a vegetarian for a few years, mainly as a result of my concern for the welfare of animals. I like to think that over the years my husband and I have continued to be conscientious eaters spurred on by our environmental, social and ethical awareness.

Now is the time to start a new chapter. We recently watched an inspiring documentary “Forks over Knives”* which started the cogs turning;

“Let food be thy medicine” – Hippocrates.

The amount of meat we now consume in the Western world is unnatural. Our bodies do not need the high doses of meat protein, fats and sugars contained in the highly processed foods being eaten daily. Walk around any supermarket and you will see wall-to-wall processed foods and a very low percentage of whole, plant-based food.

As a result we have decided to embark on a Meat-free and Dairy-free Diet. The health benefits of which are plentiful. We will still eat occasional fish and seafood but the majority of the diet will be essentially vegan.

As some of you will be aware my previous food blog was called “Cheesus Loves Me”, so I have decided to wipe the slate clean and start a new blog here based on the principles of our new diet. I would like to help inspire others, but am by no means preaching. I just want to have a bit of fun showing how wonderful meat-and-dairy-free meals can be, hope that you will try them out and maybe think about the possibility of taking a few meat-free days each week. You can follow me @VChloeK on Twitter / Instagram / Pinterest and please feel free to comment and/or ask any questions.

* I highly recommend watching the “Forks over Knives” documentary and others like it, such as “Food Inc.”,“Food Matters”, "Vegucated" and "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead". 

Carrot & Chickpea Tagine

I love a good tagine but in the past have counted on meat juices to carry the other flavours into umami. My first attempt at making a wholly veggie tagine was a learning curve and the result was something delicious and wonderful. Moroccan flavours are spicy, zesty and fresh making this dish an absolute treat. Each mouthful brings together different flavour combinations and really surprised me. Using a tagine makes for moist and tasty grub which is slow cooked for maximum flavour. If you don't have a tagine you can use a casserole dish but I would shorten the cooking time by around 20 minutes. 

To serve 2, you will need:

1 x 400g tin of chickpeas, drained & rinsed

4 medium-sized carrots

​3 whole garlic cloves, bruised 

6-8 firm green olives

1 cinnamon stick

1 preserved lemon

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 large red chilli, sliced

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

½ tsp smoked paprika

1 tbsp sea salt flakes

Approx. 10 black peppercorns

300ml water

Large handful of coriander, roughly chopped

Firstly set your oven to 170c to preheat. Slice the carrots and throw them into a large bowl. Add to this the chickpeas, garlic cloves, preserved lemon, cinnamon stick, olives, extra virgin olive oil and red chilli - I like to keep the seeds in for a little extra heat but by all means remove them if you have a low tolerance to chilli. Crush the black mustard seeds, coriander seeds, smoked paprika, sea salt flakes and black peppercorns in a pestle and mortar then add to the bowl.

Mix this all together well ensuring that the carrots and chickpeas are coated fully in the seasoning. Add this to the tagine then pour in the water to almost cover the other ingredients. Cook at 170c for 2 hours. Remove from the oven a couple of times during cooking to mix and check liquid levels - if at any point you feel that the mixture is becoming dry then add a splash more water. This is most likely if you are using a casserole dish so keep a closer eye on it if you wish. After 2 hours increase the oven heat to 210c for a final 30 minutes. If your tagine hasn't reached the right consistency just pop the lid off and back in the oven to thicken it up slightly. Once fully cooked remove the cinnamon stick and mix in most of the chopped coriander. Serve immediately with a dollop of soured cream (or dairy-free equivalent), more coriander and a toasted pitta.

There are so many flavour highlights; the warm soft garlic spilling out of the clove, the fruitiness of the olives which have given so much of themselves to the dish, the zest of the preserved lemon, the aromatic coriander, the light chilli-tingle on your tongue. And best of all, the carrots and chickpeas have absorbed it all. Lush!