Veganuary is an opportunity to try a vegan diet for one whole month. If you have thought about adapting towards a plant-based diet but haven’t fully committed yet, January is the perfect time to take up the challenge. Anyone can sign up to Veganuary, but if you are a little hesitant that you may miss your favourite meals, we have the ultimate guide to help you navigate your way through a plant-based diet after the festive season.
What is Veganuary?
Veganuary is a non-profit organisation which was launched in 2014 as a way to encourage people to try a plant-based diet for one month. The campaign received positive feedback, and following the latest 2021 instalment saw more than 500,000 people take a pledge to go vegan during January. But the pledge aims to be more than just for one month. During the year, Veganuary supports people and businesses to adapt to a vegan diet after showing the lifestyle isn’t as restrictive as people may first think.
Turning towards a vegan lifestyle is not a new concept, but was certainly given the spotlight when the Veganuary challenge became mainstream. Before this, there was (and still is) World Vegan Day which highlights the benefits towards adapting to plant-based alternatives.
At Mindful Chef, our mission is to make healthy eating easier, without sacrificing on flavour. We make this possible for those who choose a vegan lifestyle through our vegan recipe boxes.
The Benefits of Eating a Vegan Diet
Choosing to accept the challenge of Veganuary can provide benefits both for your health and the environment. Studies have shown that eating vegan recipes can significantly improve your health by:
- Providing a lower rate of developing diabetes
- Reduces heart disease
- Reduces the risk of obesity
Continuous studies have also shown that reducing your meat intake can reduce the risk of strokes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Taking the environment into consideration, Veganuary benefits wildlife and land. In a published study released in 2018, they informed the reader that maintaining a high level of western diets, high in animal products, could cause a spike in food-related climate change. This takes water pollution and greenhouse gases into consideration. The article released a figure which could see an increase in climate change of 90% by 2050 if current levels stay the same. The impact on the environment is one of the reasons the Golden Globe awards decided to only produce an all plant-based menu in 2019.
As well as supporting Veganuary, we are proud to be a B Corp business who wants to have a positive impact with everything we do. This determination is the reason we:
- Aim to be Net Zero by 2030
- Continuously looking for more sustainable ways to make our packaging
- Support our wider community through our charity partners such as our ‘One Feed Two’ campaign
- Strive for zero food waste
- Support British farmers
Veganuary Recipes to Try at Home
Initially the thought of reducing / removing meat, dairy and other animal by-products may seem a challenge. We want to make this process easy and delicious by providing alternative healthy recipes to your favourite dishes. From walnut stuffed mushrooms, potato gratin & red cabbage, to sweet potato & ginger röstis.There is a meal waiting for everyone’s taste buds.
A dish perfect for Veganuary is our veggie stir-fry with quinoa & peanut satay sauce. Using a fibre-rich British quinoa base, this vegan dish will have you fall in love with a veg-stuffed stir-fry coated in a moreish homemade satay sauce. The deep roasted peanut butter, lime and chilli dance around your mouth to provide an explosion of flavour with every mouth full. To serve, red pepper, tenderstem, edamame and spring onions are incorporated into the quinoa base.
- Cook time: 25 mins
- Allergens: Peanuts, Soya
- Cuisine: Asian
- Key ingredient: Folate-rich edamame beans
Nutritional Information
- Calories: 488
- Protein: 20g
- Carbs: 53g
- Fat: 24g
Ingredients to Cook a Vegan Stir-fry
- 1 red chilli
- 1 handful of fresh coriander
- 100g fresh edamame beans (Soya)
- 2 garlic clove
- 4cm fresh ginger
- 2 x lime
- 2 spring onion
- 30g deep roast peanut butter (Peanuts)
- 1 red pepper
- 80g quinoa
- 1 tbsp tamari (Soya)
- 180g tenderstem broccoli
Cooking Instructions for the Perfect Veganuary Meal
- Boil a kettle. Rinse the quinoa, then place in a saucepan with 500ml salted boiling water. Simmer for 13-14 mins, then drain and rinse under hot water.
- Finely chop or crush the garlic. Peel the ginger and finely chop. Thinly slice the spring onions. Roughly chop the coriander. Dice the pepper into 2cm cubes. Cut the tenderstem into bite-sized pieces.
- Make the satay sauce. Halve 1 lime. Finely chop the chilli (remove the seeds for reduced heat). In a bowl, mix the peanut butter, juice from 1 lime, half the chilli, a pinch of salt and 2 tbsp water.
- Heat a large frying pan with 4tsp oil on a medium-high heat. Add the garlic, ginger, spring onion and three-quarters of the coriander. Cook for 30 seconds, until softening.
- Add the pepper and tenderstem to the pan, then cook for 4 mins, stirring often, until the veggies start to soften. Add the tamari and edamame, then cook for a further minute, adding a splash of water if too dry. Pour half the satay sauce into the pan and stir through the veggies.
- Halve the remaining lime. Serve the quinoa topped with the veggies. Drizzle with the remaining satay sauce and garnish with the remaining coriander, chilli and lime juice (to taste).
More from Mindful Chef
Take the Veganuary challenge in January 2022 with the help of Mindful Chef. Discover more than 1,000 healthy, delicious recipes that are available to choose from that you can make each day of the week. To help with your Veganuary journey we have a selection of plant based recipes to choose from. Swapping to a vegan diet is easy and you don’t have to sacrifice on flavours!
To start off Veganuary with success, choose our healthy recipe boxes which provide an easy to follow recipe card with fresh, responsibly sourced ingredients. Simply choose your dishes, pick a delivery date and we take care of the rest! The recipe boxes get delivered straight to your door and can be the convenient way to try a vegan diet with no food waste!