Our Food Philosophy: Vegan Eating

There was once a time when salads were met with scoffs and dietary requirements such as veganism were rarely catered for on the high-street. No more.

Veggie and vegan are not dirty words in the modern-kitchen. In fact it’s quite the opposite, with food-trends leaning towards “clean” eating, wellness and a rising consumer conciouness around the provenance of their meals.

At Sodexo Prestige & Events, we are proud to build menus around a wide variety of dietary requirements and source our food from local providers, artisnal and ethically-concious brands - ensuring our chefs work with the freshest produce and our guests enjoy quality, delicious, guilt-free food… well, unless you’re counting calories.

A recent event at Brighton’s American Express Community Stadium exemplifies just how exciting vegan and gluten free options can be. And, how good they are for you too! The stadium hosted an educational conference aimed at those suffering with MS; teaching attendees how to eat in order to help manage and overcome their MS. As part of the dietary recommendations being made by speakers, the organisers requested that the entire day's menu was vegan and gluten free.

Delighting all that attended, Sodexo Prestige & Events served two delicious, vegan and gluten free main courses…the recipes of which you’ll find below:

Courgette, chickpea & aubergine tagine

Prep and cooking time: 1 – 1.5 hours
Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 x Large Sweet Potato, cut into bite size pieces
2 x Aubergine, diced
2 x Courgette, diced
2 x Large Onions
6 x Cloves Garlic
2 x Tsp Ground Coriander
4 x Tsp Cumin
4 x Tsp Paprika
2 x Tins Chopped Tomatoes
100g Chickpeas
100g Dried Apricots
A handful of Fresh Coriander, chopped

1. Finely dice the onion and garlic, then sauté in a pan with cumin, paprika and ground coriander
2. Add sweet potato to pan and cook until potato begins to soften
3. Add diced aubergine and courgette, continue to cook until you see colour on the aubergine and courgette
4. Add the chopped tomatoes, chickpeas and dried apricots and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and then cook for 45 minutes to an hour.
5. Season to taste and finish with fresh chopped coriander before serving.

Serve with rice or couscous or accompanying dish of choice.

Woodland Mushroom & Red Lentil Shepherd’s Pie

For the Lentil Mixture

500g Woodland Mushroom
200g Red Lentils
1 x Celery
2 x Onions
4 x Cloves of Garlic
2 x Carrot (Diced)
1 x Tbsp Tomato Puree
1 x Tin of chopped tomato
Fresh Bay leaf
Fresh Thyme
Fresh Parsley

Mashed Potato to cover – for vegan option, make with olive oil.

1. Cook lentils in a pan of salted water until tender
2. Heat olive oil in pan and gently fry the chopped onion, garlic, carrot and celery along with the thyme and bay leaf for 5-10 minutes until softened
3. Add the tomato puree, chopped tomatoes and mushrooms. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes until the vegetables are tender and the sauce has reduced. Stir in the red lentils. Finish mixture with freshly chopped parsley.
4. Spoon mixture into a pie dish and top with vegan mashed potatoes and bake the pie for 25-30 minutes or until the potato is golden brown.

For more information on Sodexo Prestige Venues & Events’ food philosophies click here