Katy Beskow – Food for Thought
There has never been a better time to have a plant-based diet. Gone are the days when vegans were misconstrued as protein-deficient hippies who somehow survived on a diet of limp leaves and tarmac-looking tofu. Nowadays, the options are seemingly endless, and the high-street is bursting with a miscellany of vegan products, restaurants, “butchers” and even “cheesemongers“.
Veganuary, the annual challenge that encourages people to follow a vegan lifestyle for the month of January, is expected to have two million participants by the end of this month, and high-street chains are rising to meet the demand. Already this month, Wagamama has launched a vegan fish-and-chips, Pizza Express is launching a plant-based garlic butter, Krispy Kreme sells a vegan-glazed doughnut, McDonald’s has launched its McPlant burger in all UK restaurants, and Burger King has become the first food chain to offer vegan nuggets. Up and down the high street, it seems everyone is hopping aboard the meat-free-gravy train.
But pushing veganism forward and beyond the realms of finger-licking junk food are a cohort of chefs – some new, and some old – who hope to prove that at-home vegan cooking is a far cry from all-bark and no-bite.
Introducing the charming Katy Beskow. A hugely-popular chef, writer and cookery school teacher who reached acclaim after starting a recipe blog called “Little Miss Meat Free” in 2013. Since then, she has written seven cookbooks and also teaches cooking classes to thousands of people in the UK. A torchbearer for cheap and quick vegan food, Beskow has attracted a legion of loyal followers who swear by her hassle-free recipes.
Beskow grew up on the coast of East Yorkshire in Beverley. Her first memories of food consist of sitting on the seafront with a newspaper cone of piping-hot chips and a flask of tea. At around ten years old, she revelled in the company of her pets – her goldfish particularly – and she swiftly decided that vegetarianism was the only option for her. When she moved to south London for University to study physiotherapy, Beskow decided to swap her “cheese-laden” vegetarian diet for veganism.
“I remember stumbling across Tooting market, and it was so vibrant and colourful, bursting with fruits and vegetables,” she tells me. “I started buying from the market and using more lentils and chickpeas in my recipes. [Becoming vegan] revolutionised the way I thought about food and cooking. For me, it’s undoubtedly more environmental, ethical and it’s a more sustainable way to live. Factory-farming didn’t sit right with me, and being a Yorkshire lass it was something I was very used to seeing first-hand.”
When Beskow committed to veganism, fifteen years ago, the options we now enjoy today were few-and-far-between. “I used to get taken the mick out of because I would have to trek to a health food shop for some awful cheese, and it was only “hippy” places that served vegan food […] I also remember asking a café if they had any soya milk and they looked at me as if I had three heads! I had to go around with a bottle of soya milk for a while, but I hope the years of me asking made a difference.”
“It was a strange time back then but it’s incredible what has happened recently. There’s so much choice, even going on the options on Deliveroo, still surprises me. It’s now very hard to be a thin vegan!”
Beskow’s debut book Fifteen Minute Vegan was released in 2017. She explains that the idea was to only offer recipes with ingredients that were readily available in supermarkets and ones that didn’t lead you on a wild goose chase to a health store in search of some flax seeds. With 100 straightforward recipes and tips, Beskow’s first book offers a digestible introduction to the world of vegan cooking.
Through Fifteen Minute Vegan and also her stream of other books – including Fifteen Minute Vegan Comfort Food, Fifteen Minute Vegan On A Budget, Five Ingredient Vegan, Vegan Fakeaway and Easy Vegan Bible – Beskow disproves the notion that going vegan can be expensive.
“The cost of vegan food remains a massive misconception,” she explains. “If you’re making a shepherd’s pie with green lentils, it will give you the same texture, be packed with veg, and it is remarkably cheaper. Of course, if you buy lots of processed vegan food or vegan ice cream, that will add up, but it’s the same story with meat. If you stick with the basics and fill up your cupboard with the right ingredients, you can cook from scratch, in bulk and save a lot of money.”
Her latest book Vegan Roasting Pan offers 70 oven-to-table recipes that can be cooked in just one tin. “I wrote this book during lockdown when we were all working from home,” she recalls, “I wanted recipes where I could bung something in a tin, get on with my day and have a meal ready to go. Unlike Fifteen Minute Vegan, where you are actively involved, this is extra easy.”
From sticky maple aubergine with crushed peanuts, watermelon niçoise and oven-fried nuggets, low and slow rice pudding and blackberry and peach tart, Vegan Roasting Pan offers a range of flavour-packed recipes for those looking to try or maintain a plant-based lifestyle.
For her last ever supper, Beskow picks a starter course of roasted pumpkin and sage soup with vegan Crème Fraiche, a main course of butternut squash and apricot tagine with tabbouleh, flatbread and hummus and a pudding of a lemon mousse. To drink, she picks an Aperol Spritz.
Does she have any tips for those looking to reduce their intake of meat and dairy? “I would start with changing your milk, yoghurt and butter. It’s very easy to replace cows milk with plant-based milk, they don’t curdle in coffee like they used to,” she advises. “Or try having a meat-free Monday. Once you get out of the mindset of “meat and two veg”, going vegan can be an incredibly rewarding lifestyle, one that offers far more than just sad-looking lentils!”
You can find out more about Veganuary here.
Katy Beskow’s recipe for Gratin Dauphinoise (serves 4)
Classic and surprisingly simple, these sliced potatoes are cooked in a creamy sauce, with lingering flavours of thyme, garlic and nutmeg. The perfect side dish for squash au vin (page 54) or as a sophisticated alternative to mashed potatoes with vegan sausages.
Ingredients
3 baking potatoes, peeled and very thinly sliced
200ml (generous ¾ cup) soya single (light) cream
200ml (generous ¾ cup) unsweetened soya milk
½ tsp fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
A pinch of grated nutmeg
A generous pinch of sea salt and black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.
Blot the potato slices with kitchen paper or a clean tea (dish) towel to remove the excess moisture. Arrange the slices over 3 layers in a deep roasting dish.
In a jug (pitcher), whisk together the soya cream, soya milk, thyme, garlic and nutmeg.
Pour the creamy sauce generously over the layered potatoes and cover loosely with foil. Bake in the oven for 1¼ hours.
Carefully remove and discard the foil, then return to the oven for a further 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and season generously with salt and pepper before serving.
EASY TIP: Use fresh thyme in this recipe for the best flavour and fragrance. Simply drag your thumb and finger down the length of the thyme sprig to easily remove the leaves.