Experiments in vegan cooking: hummus and couscous

I’ve been vaguely moving towards a more vegan diet over the last few years. Mostly stimulated by the recognition of how our diets are impacting the climate. Partly over concerns about animal welfare and the ethics of whether we should eat animals at all. A small part motivated by the health benefits of a primarily vegan diet. I tried to do it cold turkey one year and failed miserably. I definitely learned for me, making small changes here and there will eventually lead to sustainable, long-term change.

I’m especially interested in the morals and ethics of animal welfare. Coming from a veterinary background, and having gone full circle from being a vegetarian as a teenager for many years, to eating meat locally produced to high welfare standards and now moving towards veganism, I find it interesting to note the science is still progressing on basic questions about our understanding of animals. Do insects feel pain? How evolved are bovine social interactions? What metrics do we use to assess animal intelligence and how accurate are they? These are all interesting and evolving questions, for which we do not currently have all the answers. The more I learn about animal intelligence, interactions, relationships and welfare, the more strongly I feel we shouldn’t be farming and eating them at all.

To that end, I’ve been experimenting with easy, sustainable vegan meals. I found this incredible couscous recipe via Ottolenghi’s TikTok. I’ve found TikTok to be a real source of inspiration for vegan recipes, there are so many creative people on there. I had an ancient mason jar of couscous in the cupboard, having sat there for many years, which is what stimulated this search. This herby, flavourful recipe is exactly what I like - maximum taste-bang for minimum hassle-buck. The problem I’ve found with some vegan recipes, is they require what feels like a complete overhaul of your kitchen cupboards. I like recipes that mostly rely on kitchen staples. I don’t mind buying the odd new ingredient, especially if it’s something I’ve seen pop up multiple times in different recipes, but I don’t want to invest in expensive, unusual ingredients until I’m sure I’ll like the results and ideally eat it regularly enough to use up the entire jar, can or container. I hate buying a new foodstuff, only to use half a teaspoon of the contents and then have no further use for the remainder. Food waste is such a big environmental topic in it’s own right, anything you can do to proactively avoid food waste is always a bonus.

My second new staple is another Ottolenghi, TikTok-discovered recipe, this time for how to make hummus. I had no idea how easy hummus was to make at home, I feel like I’ve unlocked a new cooking level. I’ve made the basic recipe multiple times now and my last attempt included caramalised onions. I wasn’t massively impressed with the onions, they added too much sweetness in my opinion, but I’m excited to try other flavours. I’ve always wanted to make wild garlic pesto and I’m thinking adding this to hummus might be a game changer!

I'm currently trialing freezing uncooked canned chickpeas and the remains of my caramelised onion hummus. I'll report back on the success or failure of this project. Recipes that can be made in bulk and frozen are always a bonus for me, it makes the cooking process so much more efficient and allows me the joy of eating tasty, homemade food on days and weeks when I don't have time to cook from scratch. The added bonus? It minimises food waste. Keep your fingers crossed for this experiment!