Following on from the success of their veggie Percy Pig sweets, Marks and Spencer have just launched some brand new gelatine-free Colin the Caterpillar sweets. This time, instead of tweaking the appearance of the existing non-veggie sweet (like with Percy pig, who was given a green ear), they have launched a whole new shape - by changing Colin the caterpillar into a butterfly. What a lovely idea!

Hopefully the new lime, orange and blackcurrant flavoured Colin the butterflies will be as attractive to non-veggies as they are to veggies! Let me know what you think when you have tried them.

The twittersphere has been getting very excited about this new launch - with my tweet yesterday (from @VeggieAdvisor) announcing the new launch - generating a huge and very happy response!

Have you tried the new Veggie Percy pigs yet? If so what do you think?

UPDATE 15/05/12

I am pleased to announce that Marks and Spencer have now launched Vegetarian Colin the Caterpillar sweets!

Ingredients (serves 3-4)

• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 110g of quorn chicken-style pieces (frozen or chilled)
• 35g (about 5) dried apricots, finely chopped
• 1 tsp of mild curry powder
• 1.5 tsp of Garam Masala
• 0.5 tsp of tumeric
• 0.5 tsp of tomato puree
• 1.5 tsp sugar
• half a pint of dilute vegetable stock or water
• 150g of low fat natural yoghurt (1 small pot)

Instructions

1. Fry the onions in a little butter or oil for 4 to 5 minutes.
2. Add Quorn pieces and fry until the Quorn starts to brown. Then add the curry powder and garam masala to the pan and mix everything together. After a couple more minutes add the apricots, tomato puree, vegetable stock or water, tumeric and sugar to the pan and mix well. Simmer for 20 minutes with no lid on the pan, so that the liquid reduces to a thick paste/sauce.
3. Leave the mixture to cool then add the yoghurt. If you used water instead of stock, add salt according to taste. You can eat right away, but it's best served chilled (after being refridgerated).

Tips:

• If you like raisins/sultanas you can add these at the same time as the dried apricot.
• If you want to make your Coronation Quorn more indulgent, you can use cream and/or mayonnaise instead of yoghurt. You may want to omit some of the sugar if you use mayonnaise.
• Adjust the spices to your own taste.
• Can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge and used the next day.
• Great for sandwiches, picnics and salads.

I attempted to make this one a heart shape before baking, hence the funny shape!

Making your own bread is fun and very satisfying. Focaccia is one of my favourite types of bread, as it's really tasty and very easy to make.

Ingredients:

• 6 oz (175g) Strong white flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 g easy-blend yeast
• 2.5 tsp dried rosemary
• 100 ml hand-hot water
• 2.5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions

1. Sift the flour and most of the salt (reserving a little for sprinkling later) into a mixing bowl. Add the yeast, and 1.5 tsp dried rosemary.
2. Gradually stir in the water and 1.5 tbsp of the olive oil to make a soft dough.
3. Turn onto a floured surface and knead the dough until smooth and elastic. This should take about 5 minutes.
4. Shape into a round, of about 5 cm thick. Place on a greased (or baking paper covered) baking tray and prick all over with a fork.
5. Cover with greased clingfilm and leave in a warm place until doubled in size - about 1.5 to 2 hrs.
6. Preheat the oven to 220° C/gas mark 7 or 200° C if you have a fan oven.
7. When risen, remove the clingfilm. Drizzle the rest of the olive oil over the bread and lightly spread out with your hands or a silicone brush. Sprinkle over the remaining rosemary and a couple of pinches of salt. If you have an olive oil spray, it's good to mist over the dried herbs before baking.
8. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until golden and hollow-sounding when the base is tapped. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Tips

• You can adapt this recipe, by using different herbs and incorporating different extra ingredients into the bread. Substituting the rosemary for basil, and adding sun-dried tomatoes to the dough, makes a tasty variation.
• For extra flavour and decoration, you can top with olives before baking. Chopped peppers and onions also make great toppings.

Ben discovered this place when he was working in the area. He and his colleagues had eaten there a few times before they realised that the food was exclusively vegetarian! Before that, they just thought that the meat tasted a little funny!

I was slightly cautious when I first visited, since the buffet features a few dishes that look like meat, and the vegetarian aspect of the restaurant isn't emphasised much. However, the staff assured me that all the food was vegetarian.

I have now eaten a few lunches at Zen Garden and each time the food selection has been slightly different. The dishes include things like sesame toast, crispy seaweed, Singapore noodles, stir fried vegetables, tiny spring rolls, samosas, Thai curries, chow mein, sweet and sour, and rice. There's always a wide selection of things to choose from, and despite me being a little fussy, I never struggle to find things I like. If you dislike salty food, this place might not be for you, as many of the dishes taste like they are high in salt. I try to off-balance the salty dishes with the less salty ones. Occasionally some of the dishes can be a little cold, but this doesn't detract much from their tastiness.

One of the most appealing things about Zen Garden is the price of the food. If you eat in, you can have as much as you like for only £5.50. They also offer a takeaway box that you can fill up yourself for £3. If you're in London on a weekday, I'd definitely recommend checking this place out! Hopefully you won't be disappointed.

Ben sampling an Innocent Veg Pot

Today Ben and I ventured into London to attend the Vegetarian Society's Meet the Manufacturer event, held at the Window Conference centre in Islington. We weren't sure what to expect, since we've attended a few vegetarian events in the past (some of which weren't very interesting) but I'm happy to say that we were very impressed. The event was popular, well-organised and introduced us to a range of different vegetarian-relevant companies and products.

There were lots of talks/discussions/focus groups to choose from, and these were taking place in a number of different rooms at the same time. There were also cookery demonstrations and business stands offering information, food samples and products for sale.

Redwood's had some interesting new products available for tasting: vegan tuna, a burger made with vegan cheese and vegan bacon, vegan duck and some mushroom pâté. I thought the burger tasted okay, and Ben didn't think the 'duck' was too bad. We both liked the mushroom pâté. We also tried some Munchy seeds. Ben bought a big tub of chocolate seeds for sprinkling onto porridge.

We attended talks by Innocent (about their Veg pots), Goody Good Stuff sweets, and Goodlife Foods. Each were interesting and informative in their own way - and we got to try their products and take away some freebies, which was great. Here's some of the things we found out about:

Innocent Veg Pot

There are now eight varieties of Innocent Veg Pot. All of these are vegetarian and six are vegan. This hasn't always been the case, since one of their pots use to contain fish sauce. Apparently the company received lots of complaints about this from vegetarians who had accidentally bought the product (I think there was also an issue with how the product was labelled). Anyhow, they've now conceeded that the fish sauce was a big mistake, and it has since been removed and replaced by soy sauce. We were told that Innocent love feedback - so it's definitely worth contacting them if you have a problem with any of their products. All the Innocent Veg Pots are approved by the vegetarian society - and each one contains at least 3 portions of your 5-a-day. At the Meet the Manufacturer event we sampled Portugese red pepper piri piri, Thai coconut curry, Indian vegetable masala and Roasted aubergine moussaka. Ben liked the Indian vegetable masala the best, whilst I prefered the Roasted aubergine moussaka. We noticed the vegetables in each of the pots were only lightly cooked (and still firm) and the rice was al dente. Although the pots looked quite small, other people at the talk assurred us that the meals were filling, and made a satisfying meal. Innocent are currently in the process of devising some new flavours - so keep an eye on their range. For attending the talk/tasting group were given some vouchers for some free Veg Pots, and also some free smoothies!

Goody Good Stuff Sweets

Last year, we discovered Goody Good Stuff sweets at the Viva Veggie Roadshow in Brighton, and we subsequently held a competition here to win some of these sweets. We were pleased to see Goody Good Stuff again at this Meet the Manufacturer event, and here we got the opportunity to learn more about their company. Goody Good Stuff make vegetarian and vegan jelly-type gummy sweets. All their sweets are vegetarian, and many of them are vegan. They have a wide range of different shapes and flavours and some products in the range are available in Holland and Barrett. The major news at this event was that the company are in the process of developing a vegan marshmallow! This marshmallow will not require chilled storage (as some of the current varieties) and will be suitable for toasting. They are also hoping to produce a mini version for sprinkling onto deserts and hot drinks. We will keep an eye out for future announcements about this, and will let you know if/when we hear anything!

Goodlife Foods

Goodlife Foods produce a range of frozen vegetarian foods that are currently stocked by Waitrose, Sainsburys and ASDA. At the Meet the Manufacturer event we got to try a new product in their range - Mozzarella and Tomato dippers. These will be available to buy from Sainsburys in March. I thought they tasted great, and even Ben, who isn't keen on tomatoes, liked them. They are triangle-shaped and coated in breadcrumbs, with a filling that tastes just like a pizza topping! The Goodlife Foods talk was more of a feedback session than a presentation. It was interesting hearing what kinds of products people like, although some members of the audience were a little eccentric, with views that perhaps weren't typical of vegetarians as a whole! One lady said that she thought all living things were spiritual, and that biting into an apple was probably just as bad as biting into a steak! But amongst the questions and answers we did pick up a few interesting facts about the Goodlife Foods company. We learnt that they are an independent company, with a consideration for ethical concerns. They make donations (1p per pack) to the World Land Trust to support forest habitats and one of their products is fairtrade, which is something they're considering extending to other products. We took away some free products from the the meeting: Chicken-style BBQ Bakes with a mini nacho crumb and Mediterranean Savoury Cheesecakes with Monterey Jack Cheese and Cream Cheese. These products aren't listed on their website, so I'm not sure if they're new or discontinued, but I'm looking forward to trying them.

Protein requirements for humans are 40g-50g per day. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) is among many organisations to suggest that in the West we now consume considerably more protein than is considered necessary or optimal for health. A typical UK protein intake is 60-80g of protein a day. According to the Healthy Planet Eating Report published in 2010 (based on research carried out at Oxford University) meat eaters get more protein than is recommended, vegans get less than is recommended, whereas pescatarians and vegetarians’ diets are in line with protein recommendations. We therefore shouldn't be too concerned about whether or not we are getting enough protein as the vast majority of us will have a perfectly adequate intake. However, it's important to note that not all protein sources provide the same 'quality' of protein. I'll therefore give a quick biology lesson to explain what protein is and how different proteins differ.

Proteins are basically long chains of amino acids. Different proteins are made up of different combinations of amino acids. Living organisms require 20 different amino acids to make the proteins necessary for survival. The human body can make some of these amino acids itself but the others have to be obtained from food. Consequently, the 'quality' of dietary protein depends largely upon which amino acids it contains. A protein can be considered to be higher quality if it contains a higher proportion of the eight 'essential' amino acids that have to be obtained from food. Proteins that contain all the essential amino acids are said to be 'complete' or 'first class' proteins.

Plant proteins are less complex than animal proteins which means they generally contain fewer essential amino acids. Vegans may therefore benefit from combining different plant protein sources, for example, by eating baked beans on toast, or a bean and nut salad, or a lentil soup served with bread. Of all the vegan proteins, soya is one of the few which is 'complete' – so this should be an important part of any vegan diet.

A numerical measure of protein nutritional quality is given by the Protein Digestibility-Corrected Amino Acid Scoring (PDCAAS) method. This takes into account the essential amino acid profile of a food, its digestibility, and its ability to supply essential amino acids in amounts required by humans. Egg white, chicken and Quorn pieces all have the optimum score of 1. Soya protein is one of the highest quality plant proteins, with a score of 0.94.

Below I've listed the top eight vegetarian protein sources and have given an indication of protein concentration and quality for each. The protein contents were obtained direct from food package labels. For some of the more general products like cheese and soya burgers, I gave an average of the labels I could find, since different products will vary slightly.

1. Quorn
For example: Quorn mince (15g/100g), Quorn pieces (14g/100g) Quorn sausages (7g per sausage)
The mycoprotein found in Quorn products was discovered by scientists looking for a new protein source back in the 1960s, when they were looking for a solution to predicted global food shortages. Although the mycoprotein itself is vegan, all Quorn products contain a small amount of egg white, and most also contain milk ingredients, so they are not vegan. Quorn is a complete protein since it contains all eight essential amino acids. The PDCAAS for mycoprotein is 0.91, fractionally behind beef at 0.92. Because of the egg albumen in Quorn pieces, the PDCAAS for these is 1.

2. Dairy
For example: Milk (4g/100ml), cheese (21g/100g), yoghurt (6g/100g)
These products are known as 'first class' protein foods because they contain all eight essential amino acids. The PDCAAS for casein, the protein found in milk, is 1. Milk is also a good source of calcium, vitamin A, vitamin B12 and vitamin D.

3. Eggs
One egg provides about 7g of protein. Like dairy products, eggs contain all the essential amino acids. The amino acid profile of egg protein is considered to be optimum and therefore the PDCAAS is 1. Eggs also contain vitamin A, vitamin D and vitamin B12. There is no longer a recommended limit on the amount of eggs you should consume per week, since it was discovered that consuming saturated fat causes cholesterol to accumulate in our bodies (not consuming cholesterol, which is found in eggs).

4. Soya products
For example: Tofu (17g/100g), soya burgers (10g/burger), soya sausages (8g per sausage), soya milk (3g/100ml)
Soya protein is one of the few plant proteins that contains all of the essential amino acids. It has a high PDCAAS of 0.94. Soya products are great for vegetarians and vegans, as they provide high quality plant protein and are generally low in fat.

5. Nuts
For example: Hazelnuts (17g/100g), cashews (20g/100g), walnuts (15g/100g), peanuts (14g/100g), peanut butter (24g/100g)
These do not contain all eight essential amino acids but can be complemented by other foods. Nuts are also good sources of vitamins E, vitamin B₂, folate, fibre, and important minerals.

6. Pulses
For example: Baked beans (19g per standard-size can of Heinz), chickpeas (7g/100g), lentils (5g/100g), Houmous (7g/100g)
These contain a higher proportion of protein than most other plant foods and they are low in fat. Their PDCAAS is usually between 0.5 and 0.7. As well as being high in protein they are also a great source of fibre, vitamins and minerals. They can also count as one of your five-a-day! However they are deficient in the essential amino acid methionine so do not provide 'complete' protein.

7. Grains/cereals
For example: Bread (4g per slice), pasta (12g/100g), cous cous (15g/100g), oats (11g/100g), rice (8g/100g), Flapjack (6g/100g)
The proteins found in grains and cereals tend to be deficient in the essential amino acid Lycine. The PDCAAS for these products tends to be between 0.4 and 0.6. However, most people tend to eat a lot of bread, pasta and cereal products, so we generally obtain a lot of protein from these sources.

8. Seeds
For example: Pumpkin seeds (33g/100g), seasame seeds (18g/100g), sunflower seeds (20g/100g), linseeds (22g/100g)
Seeds are also good source of vitamin E and contain a range of other useful vitamins and minerals.

Like many people I use to think that sushi traditionally always contained raw fish. However, I now know this not to be the case. The term 'sushi' refers to a Japanese dish consisting of cooked vinegared rice which is commonly topped with other ingredients, or put into rolls. Sushi therefore doesn't have to contain fish, and many of the traditional Japanese varieties are vegetarian. You may have tried veggie sushi from supermarkets or coffee shops - but the sushi from Yo! Sushi tastes so much better, because it is freshly prepared.

As well as offering some great vegetarian sushi, Yo! Sushi also serve a range of hot Japanese dishes, many of which are vegetarian. All of the vegetarian items are marked with a 'V' on the menu, including the desserts. If you're still not tempted to visit - here's a list of Yo! Sushi's vegetarian dishes (mine and Ben's favourites are indicated with a *)

Cucumber Maki

• Avocado Maki - Rice rolls filled with avocado and Japanese mayonnaise, wrapped in nori (seaweed).
• Cucumber Maki* - Rice rolls filled with Cucumber and sesame seeds, wrapped in nori. A trip to Yo! Sushi just wouldn't be complete without at least one plate of these!
• Vegetable Futomaki - Large rice roll filled with Cucumber, pickled radish, tamago, avocado and carrot, wrapped in nori.
• Inari Mini ISO - ISO means 'inside out' because the is rice on outside of the seaweed (nori). This variety contains inari (fried soya bean), tamago, cucumber and shichimi powder (Japanese chilli)
• Tamago Nigiri* - Two pieces of rice, each with a tamago (sweet omlette) topping. These are great, and something I have on every visit to Yo! Sushi.
• Inari Pocket - A pocket made from inari (fried soya bean), filled with rice, tamago, cucumber and picked radish.
• Kaiso Gunkan - Su-miso marinated kaiso (Japanese seaweed) and nori.
• Vegetable Hand Roll* - A seaweed (nori) cone filled with rice, Inari (fried soya bean), cucumber and tamago, with mayonnaise. The seaweed around these rolls is lovely and crispy. Ben and I love these!


Vegetable Hand Roll

• Miso Soup -A light soy bean broth with seaweed, tofu and spring onion (unlimited refills)
• Pumpkin Korroke* - Crispy Japanese breaded pumpkin croquettes with a fruity sauce. I think that these are really tasty - but then I have always loved deep-fried foods!
• Vegetable Gyoza* - Vegetable dumplings with a soy and vinegar sauce.
• Vegetable Firecracker Rice* - Spicy sushi rice with Asian vegetables.
• Vegetable Yakisoba* - Pan fried Japanese noodles in a mildly spiced tangy sauce with vegetables. This is Ben's favourite dish and I love these too.
• Vegetable Tempura* - Lotus root, tender stem broccoli, red onion, carrot and aubergine fried in a crispy and light batter with tempura sauce. You can't go wrong with vegetable tempura. It's delicious and the portion size is quite generous compared to the other dishes.
• Edamame beans - Salted blanched soy beans.
• Aubergine Salad - Aubergine with harusame dressing (garlic, sesame, ginger).
• Crunchy Tofu - Crunchy tofu with su-miso sauce (mustard-vinegar miso sauce).

Vegetable Tempura

Vegetarian Desserts

• Dorayaki* - Japanese pancake with custard filling and raspberry sauce. This is the dessert I usually choose. The Japanese pancake is very cake-like and the sauce is delicious.
• Fresh Fruit salad - Freshly sliced pineapple, honeydew melon, grapes and strawberry
• Mochi - Glutinous rice cake filled with crushed sweetened red bean paste
• Chocolate Mochi* - Glutinous rice cake filled with dark chocolate ganache. This is Ben's favourite Yo! Sushi dessert.

Since each dish is fairly small, I'm guessing an average adult would eat between 4 and 6 plates in one meal. The plates are colour-coded according to price. Fortunately many of the vegetarian dishes are on green plates which are the cheapest (£1.70). Lots of cold sushi dishes travel around the restaurant on the conveyor belt, but you usually have to order the hot meals from the waiter/waitress. You can also order the cold dishes if you can't see them on the conveyor belt. This system works well for me, as I can keep eating until I feel full, and however hungry I am, I can always eat just the right amount!

Tamago Nigiri

Dessert Menu

I've now analysed the entries and I can announce that the most popular Vegetarian Society approved product was Marmite! Dorset cereals, Warburtons breads and Innocent Veg pots were other popular favourites!

Just combine all the ingredients and blend until smooth!

Ingredients:

• 1 small banana (soft, very ripe bananas are best)
• 4 chunks (about 1.5 cm cubes) of frozen mango - frozen isn't essential, but it does make the smoothie nice and icy cold)
• 3 tablespoons of yoghurt (natural, vanilla, banana, or mango work best)
• 150 ml Copella apple juice (or equivalent)
• 50 ml water

If you don't already have a smoothie maker, I can highly recommend the Kenwood Smoothie 2GO. It's really easy to clean compared to other blender's I've used, it's a neat size (500 ml) and the smoothie can be stored in the blender cup after blending (the machine comes with 2 x 500ml cups with lids). I must have used mine well over 100 times, and it's still going strong!