Make Your Own Vegan Burger – The Kidney Bean Supreme

As vegans and vegetarians, we have our own little culture. It might be spreading fast, but we still find ourselves in a difficult position when we venture out of our little cultures and find ourselves presented with a choice between kebab shop or a greasy takeaway. Often, things are better when they’re homemade, and this burger is no exception. Smashed kidney beans, delicious garlic and a spicy edge created by chilli flakes and paprika make this recipe the perfect batch meal ready for heating up after a night out or for work lunches the next day.

With too much meat being proven to be a bad thing both for your health and for the environment, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying this meal as a meat-eater either. Students and those of us on a budget, four of these vegan patties cost me under £2.50 to make and I enjoyed them over two days (mainly because I’m greedy). They will certainly fill you up though.

I’ve added Tesco‘s own brand vegan cheese as a topping to this recipe. However, you can skip this to keep things cheaper or add cheddar instead. A little yoghurt would work a treat (vegan option also available).

The Kidney Bean Supreme

Ingredients

• A tin of kidney beans
• 1 onion, chopped thinly
• 1 clove of garlic
• Three handfuls of spinach, chopped
• 4 mushrooms, chopped into small chunks
• A tsp of paprika/ A tsp of chilli flakes
• 50g of breadcrumbs

Step One – Frying

Take a large saucepan and heat a tablespoon of oil. Drop in your sliced onion and mushroom chunks and fry until they begin to brown. Once they do remove from the pan and place into a large metallic or plastic mixing bowl.

Step Two – Mashing

Into the mixing bowl, add your drained tin of kidney beans, along with the other ingredients and smash them into the onions and mushrooms. You want to make sure that the kidney beans are mashed enough that they stick the other ingredients together, whilst retaining some of the shell for a good texture.

Step Three – Patties

This bit is messy. Turn the hob back on and heat your saucepan up again with a little more oil. Taking your hands, form your mixture into several patties and place them onto the saucepan, making sure you give yourself enough space between each to flip them over.

Step Four – The Finale

As the patties cook, take a spatula or a turner and flip them over every 4-5 minutes to ensure that both sides cook evenly. Once the patties have been cooking for half an hour or so, remove them from the heat and serve up in buns. Add vegan cheese, normal cheese, yoghurt or salsa, as well as a tomato slice extra spinach or gherkins for the ultimate burger experience.

Why not double or triple the recipe and keep the patties in the fridge for a supply of burgers throughout the week? You’ll be enjoying delicious food every day and save money too.

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Small Space Garden | Episode 1 – Building A Small Raised Bed

I’m 27 and I have a great passion for growing food. For five years I’ve been on a journey to learn about how I can get more colour, flavour and excitement into my meals. From allotments to balconies and windowsills, I’ve grown in a variety of spaces. Now, I want to share what I’ve learnt with you.

In towns and cities, space is becoming increasingly hard to come by. If you’re interested in growing your own food, but you rent a home, you don’t have a garden or you just don’t have the hours to commit, the idea of growing your own food might seem impossible.

I have great news for you though: you only need a windowsill, a balcony or a small raised bed to grow some delicious crops. In my new series, I’m going to show you exactly how you can get the most out of growing your own food in a small space.

In the first episode of the Small Space Garden, I’m building the small raised bed that I’ll be using for the project. All you need is some thick material to keep the bed together, compost, food scraps, woodchip or dead leaves and you can turn your small or paved garden into a fresh food feast.

Check out Episode One, below:

younggroundsound – #1: Paul Matson Interview

Are you interested in gardening but don’t have the first idea about how to get started?

In my first younggroundsound podcast I talk to Paul Matson, co-creator of Sow How, about his book and about just how important growing your own food is for your health. Check it out below:

Growing your own food couldn’t be easier with Sow How. You can find more information about the book here. You can also follow Sow How on Twitter, here.

 

How to Start a Windowsill Veg Patch

Windowsills can often be awkward spaces in homes. Just what do you do with them? Do you keep them free, or do you pack them with nice-looking ornaments?

How about a pot, some soil and some salad seeds?

It might not be the prettiest sight you’ve ever seen on your windowsill, but a container full of crunchy salad leaves or delicious herbs is a fantastic investment. How many of us have gone to the supermarket to pick up a £1 bag of “fresh” herbs and found ourselves only using half of the bag, whilst the other turns into disgusting slush?

By growing your own tasty basil, you can have a constant supply of leaves to add to money-saving recipes and to add an extra bit of flavour to meals. In addition to this, if you keep your supply of salad leaves or herbs going, you can also start saving money. I’ve been running a little experiment on my own windowsill to see just how successful windowsill salads could be. You can see my first blog post about the project here.

And, after a couple of months, this is what my mini veg patch looks like now:

What a fantastic little production line this salad pot is. Whether you’re keen to bring fresh leaves to your work sandwiches or herbs to your pasta pots, a windowsill salad patch is definitely worth a go!

Bloggers Event with The Chocolate Bear Kitchen and Strawberry Thief, Bristol

Bristol has so much to offer you, the adventurous eater. Yet, whilst many will offer exciting and interesting menus – nothing quite compares to the innovation, the passion and the flavour of the Chocolate Bear in his current residence at the Strawberry Thief in Bristol.

James’s menu is bursting with inspiration. All of the food featured is friendly for vegans, vegetarians, gluten free and dairy free diets. Each dish has been paired beautifully with the Strawnberry Thief’s range of carefully chosen Belgian beers. Whether you’re a regular adventurer or you want to try something different, together, the passionate food and the palette of smooth, fruity, hoppy and dark beers will leave your taste buds reinvigorated.

See my video below for a taster of what you can expect:

youngground reviews: Café Kino

Bristol is the spiritual home of alternative culture. From veganism to multiculturalism, it leads in so many ways. For non-meat eaters who live in Bristol, the city is a haven of alternative food. For those who live outside of the city, a pilgrimage to Bristol is well worth it.

Every corner and every street in the city has a new and exciting eatery to tempt you in. Instead of having to rely on the small box on the side of a menu offering a salad or a bog-standard veggie burger, us meat-avoiders can sit down and eat a meal that is as full of love and passion as any top-quality steak.

Stokes Croft is a densely-packed feast of treats. Along with the bright graffiti and fantastic pockets of music and rhythm deeply engrained into the street’s identity, each restaurant and café you pass holds its own inspiring menu and decor.

Café Kino is a pioneer in vegan thinking. The eatery and café’s ethos is all about community. And this sense of a big community is only reflected in their rich menu. From a selection of non-dairy milks to go with your coffees and teas to vegan cheese to top your chips and your burgers, Kino has considered the tastes and interests of everyone. There are no traces of meat anywhere on the premises, of course. Whilst that may turn off those kings of beef, by taking out that most common of ingredients you’re left with a menu that challenges, inspires and excites.

Slightly political note: linking back to Kino’s community ethos, this also applies to the wider world. With demand for meat increasing at an alarming rate, those quality steaks are going to become rarer. By looking at alternative cuisine based on pulses, grains, nuts and soya, we can continue to enjoy rich-quality food at much cheaper prices.

And boy, was the burger I ordered delicious! Again, not an ounce of cheese in sight. Kino do offer vegan cheese to top your food. However, I really didn’t miss the cheddar once I tucked into my meal. Whilst cheese has become an essential ingredient for everything, my burger matched any cheesy quarter-pounder and the beautiful, flavoursome tomato salsa I layered on top of my burger took the definition of a vegan burger to new heights.

Meat-obsessives: be a little more open-minded and give Kino a try. You can go one day without meat. To my fellow non-meat lovers in the UK and beyond, Kino alone is enough to make the journey to Bristol.

How to Grow Chillies Without a Lot of Space

Whenever I get into a conversation about growing food with one of my friends the most common reason for them not attempting to have a go is because of a lack of space. Now, as many of you are aware, my mission in life is to prove to everyone, no matter what you do or how much time you can spare, that growing your own food is actually very achievable.

So I started the Grow Your Own Food Challenge. The aim of the challenge is to show you all from seed through to meal that, garden, balcony or windowsill, there are still plenty of options available to you.

I’ll be posting videos and hashtagging #seedsaturday and #seedsunday every time I sow a new plants or share an update on the plants I’ll be growing this year.

Last weekend, I started my first batch of chilli seedlings. You can see the video below. Remember, if you’re new to this or you know someone who wants to grow their own food, make sure you follow my Facebook page for more information.

The Grow Your Own Food Challenge Begins

Yes, it’s finally here. Spring is only just around the corner and the chance to save money, introduce fantastic flavour and live a healthier lifestyle are all within your grasp. I’ve created a little introduction which can find below:

I’m challenging all of you who are reading this now to have a go at growing at least one edible plant this year. Here on my blog and on Facebook and Twitter, I’ll be posting daily sowing updates and videos, hints and tips, recipes and more to encourage you all to have a go yourselves. You don’t need a garden, you don’t even need an outside space – a windowsill is often enough to grow some delicious salads.

I don’t just want to witter on to you for 6 months though – this is a conversation that all of us can join in and come away from feeling inspired. So share your pictures, ask questions and get growing!

Let’s start this growing revolution!

Cost-cutting Curries: Sag Aloo

Don’t you just hate it when you’re craving an Indian but you only have £5 to your name?

Well, it may surprise you to know that you can make several of your Indian takeaway favourites with very little effort and without blowing the bank.

My sag aloo goes perfectly with this recipe.

Behold, my video recipe for sag aloo – one of our all-time favourite Indian sides. It takes no more than 20 minutes to make, is full of yummy flavours and will cost you barely anything. The potatoes here are dirt cheap, the spices can be used again and again and sag aloo is also a great way of using up that leftover spinach you have in your fridge that goes off tomorrow.

You can bulk make this dish eating it alongside a delicious curry tonight, storing it for a couple of days in the fridge and taking it to work with you instead of buying that meal deal.

Why not give my simple recipe a try and let me know how you get on?

Beat the January Blues: My Easy Veggie Tikka Masala

How do you make the poor month after Christmas more exciting? The weather is still cold and there’s not much money in the pot so eating out is not an option.

Well, there is one way that you can celebrate: make your own easy, delicious curry by following this ridiculously easy guide. Oh, and by the way, it’s both veggie and vegan friendly!

TOTAL APPROXIMATE COST: £4.64

DAYS IT’LL LAST: 3

Go on, treat yourself this evening and have a tasty curry, you won’t regret it and you’ll save money as well!

Like what you see? Why not check out some of my other tasty, cheap and exciting recipes here.

I’d love to see your results, why not share them over on @youngground or on facebook and we can celebrate a foody January together!