The Scottish Vegan Cookbook

Jackie Jones has worked at Edinburgh University Press for many years. In addition to her publishing career, she has undertaken numerous vegan cookery, restaurant-level courses and masterclasses in the UK, and has a Vegan Diploma and Advanced Vegan Diploma from Demuths Cookery School, Bath.

A BIG VEGAN SHOUT OUT

A vegan revolution is taking place in Scotland. In cities and towns across the country, local cafés, restaurants, market stalls and food festivals are offering an ever growing set of options for vegan diners, and some are completely vegan. Not all provide traditionally Scottish food, so if you want to veganise some of your favourite Scottish dishes at home this is the book for you.

The recipes in The Scottish Vegan Cookbook show you how to prepare a wide variety of tasty plant-based dishes drawing on Scotland’s abundant seasonal vegetables, fruits and whole grains. There are recipes for well-known favourites such as Cullen skink, haggis, ‘neeps and tatties’, Scotch broth, clootie dumpling and cranachan. I’ve added a modern twist to old recipes such as orange and carrot ‘posset’, healthy salads and soups using Scottish ingredients, and some contemporary updates, such as Scotch mist, using meringues made with aquafaba.

The long tradition of Scottish cookery incorporates the culinary influences of other cuisines, and there are many international and fusion dishes which make up the current cookery and restaurant scene. While I have drawn on techniques and ingredients from other countries (such as French-inspired sauces or Asian miso and tofu), I have focused on offering vegan versions of culturally identifiable Scottish ‘classics’.

Throughout the book I have aimed to take into account current thinking about what constitutes a nutritionally balanced vegan diet. I have often used alternatives to refined white sugar, bleached white flour and industrially processed fats, although there is still a place for some indulgent puddings and desserts!

The following recipes use ingredients that most people can find at their local farmers’ market or in greengrocers, health-food shops or supermarkets without the need to source exotic or uncommon items further afield. The recipes are not complicated, although one or two use quite a long list of ingredients. Don’t be daunted – these are often herbs or condiments to build up the flavour profile of a dish and they can be set out in advance.

There are recipes here for brunches, soups and breads, salads, main courses, vegetable accompaniments and desserts, as well as plant-based ‘basics’ such as oat milk, vegan butter, cream, custard, ice cream and tomato ketchup. Whether you are a novice cook looking for guidance, a keen cook looking to expand your repertoire or a professional chef looking to add Scottish vegan options to your menu, I hope you enjoy trying out some of these recipes.

CONTENTS

A Vegan Diet

The Vegan Store Cupboard

BASICS

Butter

Cashew Cream Cheese

Cashew Yoghurt

Chia Jam

Cream

Ice Cream

Kale Crisps and Kale Sprinkles

Mushroom Gravy

Oat Milk

Savoury Shortcrust Pastry

Tomato Ketchup

Vanilla Custard

Vegan Stock

BREAKFAST & BRUNCH

Baked Grapefruit, Orange and Raspberry Bowl

Black Bean and Mushroom ‘Black Pudding’

Blueberry and Oat Milk Smoothie

Date, Almond Milk and Peanut Butter Bliss Shake

Carrot ‘Cake’ Breakfast Bowl

Crunchy Oats

Easy Kale, Tomato and Cashew Nut Stir-Up

Lorne ‘Sausage’

Oatmeal and Toasted Seeds

Porridge with Blueberries, Hazelnuts and Wheat Germ

Quinoa, Fruit and Nut Nutrient Bowl

Scotch Pancakes with Rhubarb and Apple Compote

Scrambled Tofu

Super Brekkie Juices

‘Tattie’ Scones

Tempeh Butty

Vanilla Pots with Warm Blackberry Sauce

Very Berry and Beet Smoothie

Yummy Chilled Chia Seed, Fig and Pecan Oatmeal

Zingy All-Day Brunch Bowl

SOUPS

Carrot and Oatmeal (Orcadian Oatmeal) Soup

‘Cock a Leekie’ Soup

Courgette and Broad Bean Soup

‘Cullen Skink’

Haricot Bean Soup

Leek and Potato Soup with White Beans

Lentil Soup

Mushroom Soup

Scotch Broth

Spicy Parsnip Soup

Split Pea Soup

Watercress Soup

SALADS

Asparagus, Fennel, Avocado and Orange Salad

Beetroot Salad with Vegan Crowdie

Broad Bean and Blackberry Salad

Buckwheat, Carrot and Apple Salad

Easy Watercress Salad

Kale, Chickpea, Cranberry and Sesame Salad

Quick Pickled ‘Herrings’

Raw Slaw Deluxe

Super Salad

BREADS AND ACCOMPANIMENTS

Banana, Date and Pecan Loaf with Chocolate Chips

Bannocks

Herb Scones

Morning Rolls

Oatcakes

Pumpkin Seed and Oat Soda Bread

MAINS

Braised Celeriac and Haricot Beans with Hazelnut Crust

Carrot, Leek and Butter Bean Casserole

‘Fish’ Pie with Watercress Sauce

‘Forfar Bridies’

‘Haggis’

‘Herrings’ in Oatmeal

Kale and Lentils

Leek and Mushroom Flan

Lentil and Beetroot Burgers

Mac and Cauliflower ‘Cheese’

‘Mince’ and Gravy

Mushroom, Borlotti Bean and Ale Pie

Sage and Onion ‘Sausages’

Sandy’s Beans

Shepherdess Pie

Smoked Tofu Casserole

Spring Vegetable Bake

‘Stovies’

Three Nut ‘Meat’ Loaf

VEGETABLE ACCOMPANIMENTS

Baked Carrots and Swede

Champit Tatties

Colcannon

Creamed Leeks

Neeps and Tatties

Skirlie

DESSERTS

Baked Oaty Date Apples

Blackberry, Apple and Cardamom Crumble

Blackcurrant Parfait

Boozy Baked Plums

Chocolate and Cherry Mousse

Clootie Dumpling with Orange and Marmalade Sauce

Compote of Dried Fruit with Ginger and Lime Yoghurt

Contemporary Caledonian Cream

Cranachan

Five Fruit Salad Flavoured with Elderflower

Raspberry and Almond Trifle

Rice Pudding with Strawberry and Rhubarb Compote

Roasted Strawberries and Peaches with Orange Muscat

Scotch Mist

Sticky Toffee, Pear and Ginger Pudding with Sticky Toffee Sauce

Strawberry Soup with Poppy Seed Shortbread

Super Calcium Carrot and Orange Posset

Sweet Chestnut and Chocolate Tart

Further Resources and Reading

Acknowledgements

Index

A VEGAN DIET

A well-balanced vegan or plant-based diet needs to include a wide variety of macronutrients – fat, carbohydrates and protein – together with essential micronutrients – vitamins, minerals and trace minerals. The staples for a healthy vegan diet are starchy foods such as whole grains (which keep the grain intact, including the germ and the bran) together with fruit, healthy fats (more about this follows), nuts, pulses, vegetables, seeds and soya-based foods.

I offer some common sense indicators here about the nutritional needs of vegans according to current nutritional thinking. I have concentrated on some of the key areas where vegans need to be sure they are eating sufficient plant-derived nutrients or are supplementing them adequately. This information is based on reading a range of books on vegan nutrition, on recommendations from vegan organisations such as Viva! and the Vegan Society, on UK and US government health websites and on the nutrition modules that I took for my vegan cookery diplomas. The information has also been checked by a qualified vegan nutritional therapist. If you have concerns about your nutritional needs, however, do consult your general health practitioner or a nutritional therapist who can work with you on your specific nutritional requirements.

PROTEIN

Advice about protein in vegan diets from advisory groups such as Viva! is that you can get enough protein by eating a healthy and varied nutrient-rich and whole-food vegan diet.

The science bit in brief: of the at least 20 different amino acids that can form a protein in the body there are nine which the body cannot produce by itself, known as ‘Essential’ Amino Acids (EAAs). These must be obtained from our diet. In order to be a ‘complete’ protein, foods must contain all nine EAAs in about equal proportions.

A word about . . . quinoa

Quinoa currently has the status of being something of a wonder food. While it has been grown for thousands of years by the Incas high up in the Andes, it is now grown in Britain! Hodmedod’s are the main supplier of British-grown quinoa, as well as other pulses and grains. Quinoa can be found in supermarkets and in health food shops.

As well as containing protein, quinoa is full of dietary fibre, iron, magnesium, manganese and phosphorus. It is also gluten-free and easy to digest. Rinse it thoroughly before use to remove the bitter coating around the grain.

Some plant-based foods are ‘complete’ proteins. According to the NutritionData website (nutritiondata.self.com/), these include amaranth, buckwheat, chia seeds, hemp seeds, quinoa, seitan (pronounced ‘say-tan’, which is made with vital wheat gluten flour), soya beans and spirulina.

Getting enough protein should not be difficult for vegans if we eat a wide array of plant-based proteins. While our protein requirements vary, the NHS recommends an intake of 55g per day for men and 45g for women.

Most plant foods contain the nine EAAs needed to build protein in our bodies, just not always individually in the ideal proportions. However, current nutritional thinking is that we do not need to consume all of our EAAs in one go, or even every day. Therefore we can meet our protein needs by eating from a wide variety of food groups, including:

•Beans: such as black beans, chickpeas, fava beans, kidney beans and peanuts, the higher protein options being black beans (around 21g per 100g), chickpeas (around 19g per 100g) and peanuts, which are a legume (around 25g per 100g serving).

•Nutritional Yeast: a very high source of plant protein at around 40g per 100g; a single serving is about a tablespoon of nutritional yeast flakes.

•Nuts: such as almonds, cashews and pistachios, with almonds packing in 21g of protein per 100g, with a serving being around 30g.

•Pulses: such as lentils, which provide around 9g per 100g, with 150g being an average serving.

•Seeds: such as pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and sunflower seeds, as well as amaranth, buckwheat, chia seeds and hulled hemp seeds, each containing around 18g of protein per 100g, with 30g being a serving.

•Soya-based foods: including soya beans and edamame beans (young soya beans), soya milk, tempeh and tofu, with tempeh providing 18g of protein per 100g compared with tofu at around 8g per 100g.

•Spirulina: derived from seaweed and a source of plentiful protein (as well as of calcium and magnesium), providing around 57g of protein per 100g. Although expensive, a serving is just a teaspoonful.

•Vegetables: such as broccoli, garden peas, mushrooms and spinach.

•Whole Grains: such as brown rice, bulgur wheat and whole oats.

Easy ways to pick up protein are by eating baked potatoes with hummus; baked beans on toast; peanut butter wholemeal sandwiches; brown rice and beans; soya yoghurt with sunflower seeds or nut butter; scrambled tofu; wholewheat spaghetti and tomato sauce made with rapeseed oil and almonds; and eating amaranth, buckwheat or quinoa instead of white rice and pasta.

You can also supplement protein intake with protein powders such as pea protein and hemp protein, which you can add to breakfast bowls, soups, smoothies, biscuits and cakes.

Tryptophan

Tryptophan is an essential amino acid which helps with general growth and development and is converted in the body to serotonin – known as the mood enhancer.

Plant foods rich in tryptophan include almonds, beans, buckwheat, cashew nuts, chia seeds, flax seeds, garden peas, lentils, millet, oats, pistachio nuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, spinach, spirulina, tofu, watermelon seeds and wheat germ.

VITAMINS AND MINERALS

Vitamin B12

B12 is required for a healthy nervous system, to prevent anaemia, for a healthy heart and circulation and for our uptake of protein. I have started this section with B12 because this is a vital vitamin which needs to be supplemented for vegans – and arguably for non-vegans as well – because it is not reliably available from plant sources or in sufficient amounts from other food.

Some breakfast cereals, nutritional yeast flakes, plant milks, soya-based foods, vegan butters, vegan stock powders, yeast extract/Marmite and plain vegan yoghurts are fortified with B12 (i.e. the vitamin is added to them). Of these, the best sources, according to Viva!, per average portion are fortified yeast extract (enough to spread on one slice of toast) and fortified soya milk (a glass of around 200ml).

The Vegan Society currently recommends either eating foods fortified with vitamin B12 two or three times a day or taking a B12 supplement daily of at least 10 micrograms or taking a B12 supplement weekly of at least 2,000 micrograms. If taking a supplement, it is still possible to eat foods fortified with B12 as well.

For further information see the websites of the Vegan Society or Viva! Heath.

Supplements are available in tablet and chewable tablet form or as a liquid supplement that can be taken sub-lingually (i.e. dissolved under the tongue).

Vitamin A

Although Vitamin A is only available from animals, our bodies are able to convert beta-carotene into the vitamin, which is required for growth, heart health, a well-functioning immune system, and healthy skin and vision. Foods rich in beta-carotene are predominantly orange, red and yellow fruit and vegetables, although don’t overlook green veg! Good sources include: butternut squash, cantaloupe melon, carrots and carrot juice, dried apricots, mango, papaya, peaches, peppers, pumpkin and sweet potatoes, as well as broccoli, chard, kale, spinach, tomatoes (cooked) and watercress.

•Vitamins A, D, K and E are fat-soluble vitamins, and so best eaten with a little healthy fat.

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)

Vitamin B2 is required for energy, healthy hair, nails and skin. Useful sources include almonds, avocados, broccoli, cabbage, dark green leafy vegetables, dried prunes, mushrooms, pumpkin, soya-based foods, tomatoes, watercress, wheat germ and yeast extract.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is essential for the body’s tissue growth and repair, for the body’s absorption of iron and for healthy teeth, bones and skin, and its antioxidant qualities help to boost the immune system. Vegans who eat a wide range