April Vegetarian Roundup - Macsween Haggis, Jealous Sweets and Rachel's Organic Luscious Fruits

Today I am featuring a round-up of all of the delicious vegetarian products which have graced our kitchen table this month.

Macsween Vegetarian Haggis

Traditionally associated with the stomach of an animal, haggis isn't something which I would guess rates highly on the wish list to sample for a Vegetarian. I have to say, with Scottish ancestry in the blood I often baulked when I saw haggis grace the dinner table as a child.

Happily, there are now vegetarian versions of haggis available on the market to try and I have to say, I have been pleasantly surprised when sampling Vegetarian Haggis from Macsween of Edinburgh the award winning, family owned haggis producer. Their vegetarian Haggis, which is approved by the Vegetarian Society and also vegan friendly is made of a combination of fresh vegetables, pulses. locally milled oats, spices, sunflower and pumpkin seeds.


Macsween's vegetarian Haggis is really easy to cook and prepare. You can either boil it in it's packaging, or pop it in the microwave for a quick and easy meal. I was sent some regular vegetarian Haggis and also a Moroccan Spiced Haggis to sample. I very much enjoyed both, but the extra depth of flavour which the Moroccan spiced Haggis had really tickled my taste buds, and I have to say that I enjoyed this flavour a little more and it was a clear winner for me.

Interestingly, vegetarian Haggis actually accounts for one in four of Macsween's products sold annually. You could eat it on it's own, with a salad as I did, use it as a stuffing for vegetables, or spread on top of bread. It is a very versatile product and a fantastic source of protein. I am now firmly a vegetarian haggis convert as is hubby. As a meat-eater, he was really surprised at how delicious the vegetarian version of haggis was.

Macsween Vegetarian Haggis is available in a 500g pack, RRP £3.55, and as a microwaveable version, 130g, RRP £1.50, from Waitrose, independent retailers and online from the Macsween website, I would definitely recommend that you try it as it is fantastic!




Jealous Sweets

Jealous Sweets are a company aiming their sweets firmly at grown-ups rather than children, so they immediately get my vote for trying to do something new and interesting in the confectionary market.

Unboxing the package of delicious sweets I was sent, I was extremely excited to find the beautiful packets buried deep inside. I love the luxurious gift boxes and stylish packaging, they really make you feel that these sweets are something special. With flavours like Grapefruit & Orange, Morello Cherry & Pineapple and Pomegranate, these sweets are firmly for the adult market, even tempting chefs such as Tom Aiken and Jamie Oliver.

I have to confess that I am not typically a huge sweet eater. So many sweets have hidden gelatine in them that I tend to just avoid them. However, Jealous sweets are full of natural fruit juices, free from artificial colours and flavours, and they’re 100% vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free, so they are definitely enough to tempt me to give them a whirl!

We were really impressed with how much flavour the sweets contained. They tasted so vibrant and fresh We also absolutely loved the smell of the cherry sweets - they smelt just like cherries! My personal favourites were the tangy worms and the grizzly bears!

I would go out and get a few boxes of these if I were you - either for yourself or perhaps as gifts. Jealous Sweets are available online and via Amazon, Ocado, Selfridges and other stockists for £2.49 per 50g Box. If you are looking for some Vegetarian sweets, or just something a bit different, maybe consider giving them a go!

Rachels Yoghurt

Rachel's "Luscious Fruits" multi-pack range of yogurts have been receiving a bit of a makeover recently. The organic food brand has redeveloped their recipes to be creamier and more indulgent, and the pack has also been redesigned to give it a fresher feel.

Luscious Fruits multi-packs now offer creamy new combinations to choose from including creamy rhubarb and raspberry, creamy apricot & vanilla and blueberry & vanilla as well as Peach and Mango. Made using only the finest organic fruit and ingredients, these bio-live Luscious Fruits yogurts are made with locally sourced milk and no artificial colourings, flavours or preservatives.

We sampled the Rhubarb and Raspberry, and Mango and Peach flavour pots. I really loved the creamy mango flavour. The girls enjoyed the peach and raspberry flavours. I was impressed with the creamy thickness of the yogurts, and the rich, developing flavours. The fact that these yogurts are also organic is a lovely bonus. They make a great addition to the table for pudding and I would advise picking up a multi-pack or two to sample!

Rachel's new Luscious Fruits multipack range is npw available in Waitrose stores and online at Ocado this spring priced at £1.89 (RRP) for a pack of four 110g pots.

Disclosure: Products offered in consideration for review. 

Salad with Quorn Sausage

I know that vegetarian sausage is not something you may typically see on a salad, but recently I have been trying to incorporate more protein and less dairy into my diet, which as a vegetarian is pretty hard as without meat, fish and cheese, there is not always much else left!

Eggs are a fantastic source of protein, as are vegetarian protein replacements and so my go-to lunch of late has consisted of a salad with Quorn Sausages. For this meal, I did add a bit of sour cream to my salad, but if you want to avoid dairy altogether, you could add balsamic glaze instead. You could also replace the sausage with perhaps the quorn ham/chicken too.

I hope you enjoy making this salad. What is your favourite salad?

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Salad with Quorn Sausage

by Clare Rudd, April-24-2015

Ingredients

• Spinach, Watercress and Rocket Salad
• Cucumber, cut in half
• Tomatoes, cut in half
• 4 Quorn Ready Made Sausages, chopped
• 2 tsps Sour Cream and Chive
• Alternative: Balsamic Dressing

Instructions

1. Assemble the salad by placing the salad leaves in a dish first, followed by sprinkling the tomatoes, cucumber and Quorn sausage over the top. 
2. Add the dressing - either 2 tsps Sour Cream and Chive dip, or balsamic dressing. 
3. Serve immediately.

Covent Garden Souper Boosters: Roasted Moroccan Stew & Mexican Chilli Soup

Sometimes a helping hand is never a bad thing when you are a busy Mum and so I am all for food brands giving us a little boost to make quick and easy delicious meals. New Covent Garden approached me to sample their new "Souper Booster" range and to create a recipe for them with the Souper Booster blends and the wonderful array of vegetables they sent.

Souper Boosters are a quick and easy way to add a fresh flavour boost to homemade soup. They are available in four blends including Mexican Chilli, Aromatic Thai, Wild Garlic & Herb and Roasted Moroccan.

I very much enjoy making soup and often use up leftover vegetables in the fridge by throwing it all in a pan with a bit of stock, blending it and freezing until needed, so these products are right up my street. Soup can be a bit boring and flavourless and so I love the idea of introducing some interesting and varied flavours into the pan.

The souper booster range of flavours all smelt and tasted absolutely fantastic. For us, the Mexican Chilli and Roasted Moroccan flavours stood out by a mile as we love Mexican and Moroccan food and so I decided to create dishes using both of those flavours.

I created a Roasted Moroccan dish using red peppers, chickpeas, and butternut squash. The dish can be eaten as a stew/tagine, or you could blend it to make a soup. I also created a Mexican Chilli Soup using sweet potato, red and green peppers and red onion. The recipes are below for you to sample.

I would definitely recommend adding New Covent Garden Souper Boosters to your cupboard as they offer soup a pick-me-up and turn them into amazing flavoursome dishes. My hubby absolutely loved the Mexican Chilli Soup as the flavour has a bit of a kick to it. The Roasted Moroccan dish was a bit of a richer, warmer flavour and still equally as delicious. The kids also enjoyed the soups, so it's also a great way to get hidden veg into them!

New Covent Garden Souper Boosters are available to buy online for £2 each

Disclosure: Products offered in consideration for Review

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Roasted Moroccan Stew or Soup!

by Clare Rudd April-23-2015

A Stew or Soup made with Roasted Moroccan Souper Booster

Ingredients

• 2 Onions, chopped
• 1 Red Pepper, chopped
• 400g Chickpeas, drained
• 700g Butternut Squash, cubed
• 400g Chopped Tinned Tomatoes
• 1/2 a tube Roasted Moroccan Souper Booster
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Litre Hot Water

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and cook the butternut squash cubes, covered in a little oil for around twenty minutes.
2. Saute the onions in olive oil until golden and add the red pepper and cook until the red pepper softens also.
3. Add the Butternut squash and Chickpeas and combine. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring regularly.
4. Add the tinned tomatoes and half a tube of Moroccan Paste to the vegetables and combine well. 
5. Cover the Vegetables with the hot water, and simmer for around fifteen minutes. For a stew, transfer to an oven proof dish and cook in the covered dish for around forty minutes at 200 degrees.
6. Once cooked, serve immediately. 

For soup, rather than transferring to the oven, cook on the hob in a covered saucepan for a further thirty minutes. Once cooked, allow to cool and then blend to make soup.

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Mexican Chilli Soup

by Clare Rudd April-23-2015

A soup made with Mexican Chill Souper Booster

Ingredients

• 1 White Onion, chopped
• 1 Red Onion, chopped
• 1 Red Pepper, chopped
• 1 Green Pepper, chopped
• 2 Carrots, chopped
• 1/2 a tube Mexican Chilli Souper Booster
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 500ml Hot Water
• 500g Passata
• 1 Sweet Potato, chopped

Instructions

1. Saute the red and white onions in oil until softened. 2. Add the red and green pepper, carrots and sweet potato to the pan and cook for a further 10 minutes, stirring regularly. 3.Add the hot water, passata and half a tube of Mexican Chilli Souper Booster to the vegetables and combine well. 4. Bring to the boil and simmer for around twenty minutes5. Once cooked, allow to cool a little, blend in a food blender and serve.

Spring Green Smoothie

As I have previously mentioned, recently I have been on a bit of a health kick, trying to eat a bit more healthily and incorporate more fruit and veg into my diet.

A friend was extolling the benefits of green smoothies to me, and so I thought I would give a green smoothie a go. I am aware that the colour sometimes puts people off, and the thought of including vegetables or salad in a smoothie, but once you start drinking green smoothies, you soon realise how delicious they are and often forget what is actually in them!

I absolutely love vegetarian blog "Tinned Tomatoes" written by fellow blogger lovely Jac, which I'm sure many of you follow also. She recently shared a fantastic article featuring fifteen Green Smoothies to improve family health.

On her blog, she also shared her Green Stegosaurus Smoothie which I have based my Spring Green Smoothie Recipe on in a bid that it will appeal to the kids too! To put a twist on her smoothie, I added Pineapple and Curly Kale to my recipe and omitted the wheat grass powder.

I love the Green Smoothie I made as the pineapple and banana gives the smoothie it's sweetness and the mint gives it a really fresh hint of flavour.

I think that I am definitely now a Green Smoothie convert!

I would love to hear what your favourite Green Smoothie is!

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Spring Green Smoothie

by Clare Rudd April-9-2015

A delicious Spring Green Smoothie Recipe

Ingredients

• 50g Fresh Spinach
• 50g Fresh Curly Kale
• One Banana, roughly chopped
• 75g Frozen Pineapple Chunks
• 50g Cucumber, chopped
• 400ml Apple Juice
• Handful Mint
• 5 ice cubes

Instructions

1. Place all the ingredients in a blender apart from the ice cubes.
2. Blend the ingredients in the blender together.
3) Add the ice cubes and blend once more.
4) Serve and Enjoy!

Details

Prep time: 5 mins  Yield: Serves Four

Aldi Spring Recipe: One Pan Quorn Fillets with Roast Asparagus

Spring is in the air and with the clocks change I for one am certainly enjoying the lighter nights. Along with bright nights comes a desire to shift from the warm stews and pies of winter to slightly less heavy dishes. However, as there is still quite a chill in the air, they still have to be warm and filling!

Aldi asked me to create a vegetarian Spring recipe using their delicious ingredients and so today I am featuring a really simple fuss-free one pan vegetarian recipe: Quorn Fillets with Roast Asparagus. This recipe celebrates spring produce including some beautiful asparagus and gorgeous piccolo tomatoes. I love this dish as it is very colourful and full of flavour and it is also really quick and easy to cook. Plus as it's all in one dish it saves on the washing up!

In my dish photographed below, I only used one packet of asparagus tips, but upon reflection I have doubled the asparagus to 250g in the recipe instructions below as I feel that more asparagus was needed.

I hope that you enjoy cooking this dish. I would love to hear what you think of it.

What is your favourite Vegetarian Spring recipe?

One Pan Quorn Fillets with Roast Asparagus

Ingredients

500g Baby Maris Peer Potatoes
3 tbsp Specially Selected Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil
250g Specially Selected Asparagus Tips, trimmed and halved
250g Specially Selected Piccolo Tomatoes
1 tbsp Solesta Balsamic Vingear of Modena
3 Quorn Chicken-style Fillets

Method

1. Heat the oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas mark 7. 
2. Place the potatoes in an ovenproof dish and pour 2tbsp of the oil over the potatoes. Cook for around twenty minutes until the potatoes start to brown. 
3. Add the asparagus to the potatoes and mix around. Continue to cook for a further fifteen minutes. 
4. Throw in the cherry tomatoes and the vinegar and place the quorn alongside the vegetables in the middle of the pan. Drizzle with the remaining 1tbsp oil and return to the oven for another ten to fifteen minutes until everything is cooked. 
5. Remove from the oven and serve. 

Disclosure: Voucher offered in consideration for review. All views are my own.