More Veggies Week day 1: Red Cabbage Salad

Breakfast: Vegan crepes with almond butter

Lunch: Spicy black bean soup and a cinnamon vegan cupcake

Dinner: Mashed potatoes and mushrooms gravy with steamed asparagus, spinach and red cabbage salad

Now, don't let the words "red cabbage" throw you off here. I get it, honestly; I was cynical too. But with just a simple but brilliant dressing this is actually a fantastic addition to any meal. I have to credit Putin for the dressing here, and I love it.

This is an absolute no-brainer if you're looking for a quick and easy side dish to go with dinner.

You'll need:
(Feeds 4)

1/2 red cabbage
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp sugar
pinch salt
pinch pepper
a squeeze of lemon juice

Method:

Stir together the oil, vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper and lemon juice
Chop the red cabbage thinly
Toss the cabbage in the dressing and serve as a side dish

Red cabbage is a lot more nutritionally dense than green cabbage, and is a good source of Vitamins A - mostly in the form of beta-carotene - C, K and Potassium, which is important for maintaining blood pressure. It's also rich in polyphenols, which have antioxidant and anti-cancer properties. Hooray!

Not-so-Fun fact: overdoses of red cabbage cause massive lack of co-ordination of muscle movements in terriers, pugs and beagles. Keep your dogs away from it!

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Carrot cake super smoothie

Breakfast: Carrot cake super smoothie

Lunch: Chunky hummus sandwich and black bean soup

Dinner: The best vegan spaghetti bolognese ever

I wish I was one of those people who could get up and think "I'd really like a spinach / garlic / celery smoothie". I really do. But the reality is that I am most definitely not.

I'm not even close, in fact. Putin, with all good intentions, bought a bottle of organic carrot juice 2 weeks ago, and despite a couple of optimistic glasses full with dinner, we still haven't got through it because we've realised we both hate the taste of carrot juice on its own. And vegan though I may be, I'm not a culinary masochist.

This, then, is a way for me to get through a huge bottle of carrot juice in a manner I find delicious, AND a way for me to get away from the sweet fruit smoothies of the summer morning times and get something a bit more veggie in there. It's "super" because of the inclusion of goji berries and flax, as well as the cinnamon, which, as everyone knows, it amazing.

This really does taste like carrot cake and so you really don't feel like you're being that healthy at all. And it's really filling too! Perfect!

You'll need:
(Feeds 2)

1 banana
1 cup carrot juice
1 1/3 cup vanilla almond milk
1 tbsp flax seeds
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1 tsp goji berries
ice

Method:

Place everything in a blender and whizz until smooth

The goji berries in this are there for their iron and amino acid content, and because Putin finally took the plunge and bought an (expensive) bag of them last week. These are in no way necessary though, and can be replaced with raisins or left out altogether. The same goes for the flax seeds - I just put them in everything because they're so damn good for you!

As winter is fast approaching (ugh!) you might want to make this a hot smoothie instead. To do that, just warm the almond milk in a pan before blending. This makes a really good breakfast drink if you're struggling to get out of your front door and into the snow!

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