We are over the halfway point of our escapade in Crete. Today, we are leaving Ierapetra and heading to a new destination called Matala, where we are staying for 2 nights before moving on again. We’ve been lucky as apparently Matala is a bit of a hippie (this is how it’s being described) destination and it has quite a few promising vegan food options, something that has been fairly sparse so far.
Don’t get me wrong, we have been eating well but we’ve eaten in more than we’ve eaten out and with the exception of one really good pizza joint, the food hasn’t been that impressive. There is only so much fava dip you can eat on repeat. I have been happy to cook the rest of the time, but with minimal pantry ingredients that I have at my disposal and also the fact that I AM ON HOLIDAY, we are looking forward to trying out some new places. While it has been so hot here that, despite my best intentions, I have only just managed to run twice so far, I know that autumn weather has moved into other parts of Europe so I have a perfectly cozy recipe for plant bolognese sauce for you today. In fact, I froze three double portions of this sauce before we left as I figured that it may come in handy when we land in cold and wet Bristol after two weeks of heat and sunshine and it will take me a day or two to get my bearings and shake off the post-holiday blues 😉 . This bolognese takes a while to cook down but it’s really quite simple to make and it never fails to make my dinner guests happy. In fact, they can hardly believe it’s vegan thanks to the genius of soy mince. If you cannot find it or dislike it, you can also replace it with cooked small, firm lentils (like Beluga or Puy varieties), but please do not fall for the misinformation about soy that is passionately being spread online by the very worried meat industry, as more and more people turn away from eating animals. In fact, consuming non-GMO soy has positive effects on our bodies, including protection against certain cancers (gynaecological cancers, breast and prostate cancer) stronger bones and offering relief from menopausal symptoms.
fresh thyme or parsley, to garnish toasted walnuts, very finely chopped (optional) 500 g / 18 oz dry tagliatelle (GF if required), cooked
