Sep 2019 – ROOTING ABOOT: Voyage to Veganism

Thai-Spiced Pumpkin Soup

In the lead up to spooky Halloween now is the time to take full advantage of all the fresh pumpkins available. I can’t remember where I found this recipe but it’s been a regular on Rooting Aboot’s table for years. Sometimes we have vegetable spring rolls with this soup but a thick piece of bread dunked into it will suffice.

20ml vegetable oil

25g Pure Sunflower Spread

1 garlic clove, chopped

4 shallots, chopped

2 small red chillies, sliced diagonally

15g Blue Dragon Thai red curry paste (or more if you like it spicier)

15g fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 stick lemongrass

500ml vegetable stock

350ml coconut milk

500g pumpkin (or butternut squash), peeled, seeded and diced

Heat the oil and vegan spread in a pan over a low heat.
Add the garlic, chillies, ginger, lemongrass and shallots and gently cook until they are soft. This only takes a few minutes so be careful not to burn them.
Then add everything else, bring to the boil and simmer for ten minutes (or till the pumpkin is soft).
Take off the heat and blitz with a blender until smooth.

My extra tips for this recipe: Blue Dragon’s Thai green curry paste can also be used. Morrison’s supermarket sells frozen ginger cubes in their freezer section, which is so handy when making spicy food. In Glasgow, we are also blessed with really brilliant Indian mini-markets specialising in spices etc and they often stock frozen ginger too.

Loop & Scoop

665 Great Western Road

Glasgow G12 8RE

https://loopandscoop.com/ice-cream-menu/

https://www.facebook.com/loopandscoop

Ice cream parlours used to be as attractive to vegans as getting a pin in your eye. They were places we just had to walk on by. They were dead to us. Well, not anymore. Loop & Scoop have come to our frosty rescue.

They are the first ice cream and churro bar in the UK and their parlour is a bright, welcoming space with plenty of seats upstairs in a mezzanine area. More importantly, they always have SIX different vegan ice creams and/or sorbets on offer at any one time. These are kept in a separate freezer on their own (directly opposite the window) and away from the milky stuff. Just ask the staff and they’ll direct you to heaven.

The Vegan Choconut loop and scoop with chocolate ice cream and orange sorbet.

The churros (a fried dough pastry) are vegan anyway, but Loop & Scoop make them soft and doughy on the inside and crispy on the outside. I personally recommend the Vegan Choconut loop and scoop: a large hot churro covered in dark chocolate glaze with chopped nuts and two ice cream scoops of your choice. It’s your pot luck which flavours are available on the day but the Biscoff, Turkish Delight and Dark Chocolate are really top notch and they’re very generous with their scoop sizes too. What more can I say?

Super Duper Superdrug

https://www.superdrug.com/csr/vegan

There is often the misconception that being vegan must be expensive but it’s easy enough to keep your oxters fresh and clean without costing the earth.

With plant-based lifestyles gaining a much higher profile in recent years many high street shops have been taking note. One of my favourites is Superdrug. They sell vegan shampoos, anti-perspirants, toothpastes, bath and shower gels /creams, facial lotions and potions etc etc etc. Most of these products are very reasonably priced and Superdrug regularly have special offers.

Scotland can be a harsh place in autumn and winter but with their skincare ranges for both men and women, we can all slap it on.

Male skincare is here: https://www.superdrug.com/b/B.%20Men

Female skincare is here: https://www.superdrug.com/b/B.%20Skincare

When I was in there last weekend I noticed vegan labels have been placed directly underneath many products so they’re now really easy to identify. It’s such a relief not having to read all the ingredients on the back like a complete nerd.

They even have their own cosmetic brand called B.

https://www.superdrug.com/brandshop/B/makeup

And there’s no need to look like a panda or The Cure’s Robert Smith on a bad day.

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