James May: Oh Cook! (2020) s02e04 Episode Script
Vegan
1
Viewers, welcome back to Oh Cook!
And, today, we can
look forward to better sleep,
greater stamina, clearer-headedness,
floating stools and thunderous chuffs.
Yes, we are going vegan.
Coming up, things get smoky.
- [beeping]
- Is that a smoke alarm?
Sorry, we can't stop
for that sort of nonsense.
The crew gets salty.
Smells like the beginnings
of a shepherd's pie being made.
It's got no lamb in it.
You can't call it shepherd's pie.
[James] Anybody else?
And I add some spice.
Ooh!
- Yes, here it comes.
- [laughs]
[exhales] Forget that it's vegan.
It's nice.
♪
Right, we're going to start
where your local pub
would start with veganism,
with the vegan burger,
and I want to say straight from the start
that we're not trying
to replicate meat here
because that seems entirely pointless.
We are embracing the idea
of a burger, but we're
making it entirely
with plant-based things,
and it is going to taste like that
and indeed look like that.
It is a burger in concept, in format,
but it is not trying to be meat.
It starts, inevitably,
with a onion,
which I'm going to chop into a few bits,
and I have in the dish
next to me some portobello mushrooms
that have been roughly chopped, and we're
going to zizz these in the zizzer.
Beautiful. Now we're going
to add some mushrooms.
What if,
in 200 years' time,
people say,
"Do you know what they used to do
in the 20th and 21st centuries?
They used to eat cows."
It's possible.
I'm going to put in a little bit
of the parsley now because
it may as well be in there
doing its work from the start.
Not a lot because, if you put
too much parsley in things,
they end up tasting of parsley.
Spoon.
I think that's looking quite good.
Right, I should talk to you
about the other ingredients.
We've got shredded beetroot,
pickled beetroot.
That is, uh, chili-pickled beetroot
because that gives it a bit
of heat and excitement.
Kidney beans, strained, drained.
This is a vegan stuffing mix
with apple and herbs.
This is nutritional yeast,
which adds cheesiness
and depth to the flavor, but is inert,
so it isn't going to make
your burger expand
to be the size of your head.
There are no top secret occult ingredients
that only vegans know about,
you know.
It's not like that anymore.
Add two tablespoons of olive oil
to a pan and gently fry
your blitzed-up onion and mushroom mix.
This is going to form the basis
of something that looks like
a patty.
I'm gonna give that a minute more.
I'm gonna do a bit of preliminary mixing
whilst that just finishes off.
Kidney beans can go into this mix.
As you put the beans in,
if you don't want them to be too dominant,
just give them a bit
of a squash between your hands
like that, to break them up.
There goes the stuffing mix.
There goes this interesting
nutritional yeast.
Turn that off.
Let it cool for a minute or so,
so that I don't burn my hands.
Once cooled, add your
chopped onion and mushroom mix
into a bowl and lightly mash.
I don't want to turn that into,
basically, Ardennes pâté,
so I'm going to take a fork,
and I'm going to stir it together a bit,
and then do a final bit of mashing.
I'm going to assume a bit
of pepper will enliven it.
And I'm going to assume
that I need to put some salt in,
and more salt than I imagine, because
Dan on sound,
who knows about this
sort of thing, says "more salt."
So, there you are, there's more salt.
Now, the consistency of that
is about right, and I know
because, if I pick a bit up
and squash it, it stays together.
Do you know what? That is bloody tasty.
Because we've used
dried stuffing mix in there,
we should just let it stand
for about ten minutes,
so that
the moisture from the beans
and the beetroot
can be absorbed by the stuffing mix
and everything will cook
properly in the pan.
So, ten minutes of just standing.
[director] Cut.
- We've just
- Oh, I thought we were
- just gonna stand there
for ten minutes.
- [laughs]
Right, I'm going to have a slight tidy up
'cause that will please Nikki immensely.
Um, I'm also going to pour myself
a glass of vegan wine.
"What is vegan wine?" you might ask
because wine is obviously not made
with pork chops or anything.
The reason this is vegan wine
is that no fish filings
were used to clarify it.
It says on the label,
"suitable for vegans."
I'm gonna have some of that,
mainly because I will need
a splash of it whilst frying the burgers,
but I'd also better test it
to make sure it's okay as well.
Mmm, yes, slightly peasanty
with a high note
of abandoned games kit.
Take the bun you're going to use
to serve your burger.
These are brioche buns.
Think about the size of them.
You don't want to make a burger that
sits in the middle, and you don't want one
that sticks out of the side too much
because that's messy.
Keeping that to one side as a reference,
we will take some
burger mix
I reckon about that much
and carefully form it
into a burger.
Just sticking out.
I think that's about right.
I reckon about six minutes a side.
I'm gonna give it an initial flip.
Ah, look at that.
Let's put the other one in.
Should've put the other one in earlier.
I'm gonna turn it down a bit.
Gonna chuck those on that thing.
The, uh, the griller is already on.
A light toasting,
really not much more
than warming them up.
I'm gonna revise my view
on the cooking of this.
This should be done on a low heat,
not a medium-low heat.
[director] James,
you've killed the Amazon exec
- with the smoker.
- Sorry. Go out.
[coughs]
[James] If you're gonna
turn up on the shoot,
could you try and just
sit in the background
- and be quiet?
- [laughter]
[James] Unlike the rest of the crew.
Next, gather your salad leaves of choice
and thinly slice a tomato.
That side looks perfect. Look at that.
That's what it should look like.
I did the first side a little too quickly,
but, hey.
I'm gonna get Nikki
out of the cupboard now.
[knocks on door]
- Hello, madam. Your, um
- Hello.
your vegan burger is almost ready.
Vegan burgers.
I thought I'd bring you out
a little early because
- Well, they smell nice.
- They do smell nice,
and they look pretty good as well.
[Nikki] Mmm, they look great.
It's on a toasted bun.
We're not putting any butter on them,
for obvious reasons.
Look at that ratio
of burger to bun.
It just sticks out,
and that is absolute perfection
- isn't it?
- [laughs] Brilliant.
[James] To make this
a true taste test,
we're going to make one naked burger
and one with all the usual
burger-y gubbins.
There's the inside.
- [Nikki] It looks tasty.
- [James] Doesn't look anything like beef,
but it does look pretty tasty, doesn't it?
So, I was gonna suggest we should have
the classic yellow burger mustard
by French's on the bottom piece.
Vegan mayonnaise on the top half.
[Nikki] Yes.
With a bit of, um, rocket
directly on there.
I think we're ready to bite this one.
- Okay. Mm.
- Sorry, you have that one
'cause I've touched this.
- [James] Is it any good?
- Surprisingly good. In fact,
I think I like it better
than a beef burger.
That is a mighty tasty burger.
[Nikki] Mmm.
I think the condiments enhance it.
And it's still got a bit of texture.
[James] You can taste apple, definitely.
- Yeah.
- The onion,
little bit of chili,
beetroot is quite dominant.
It's a very, very complicated,
multi-layered experience.
- It is, it is.
- And it's actually really
filling.
- [Nikki] Very.
- And it's nourishing.
I like it.
[Nikki] It doesn't taste healthy,
although it is.
No, it still tastes like
you're being a bit bad having a burger.
- That's a very good point.
- Yeah.
You don't sort of feel
righteous eating this.
"Oh, it's vegan." It's a burger.
But it's just really, really good.
It is, it is genuinely nice.
Forget that it's vegan.
It's nice. That's what matters.
I think it's better than nice.
I think it's delicious.
Cut. We'll keep eating it.
Right, our next recipe
is going to cause a debate.
I can feel it approaching.
It's like a runaway train
coming down the rails towards me
because it is a vegan shepherd's pie,
or, more correctly,
a vegetable, mushroom,
and lentil shepherd's pie.
It's got no lamb in it.
You can't call it shepherd's pie.
Okay. Anybody else?
Seriously, is that it?
- [laughter]
- [director] Well, it's quite a big "it."
- It's quite a big "it," though, isn't it?
- Well, yes,
okay. Most people would say
the definition of a shepherd's pie
is that it's made with lamb,
and a cottage pie
is made with beef, of course,
but I think, in the modern world,
where I live, obviously,
we can think of shepherd's pie
as a format.
It is something sort of a bit like mince,
or something mashed up,
with a potato topping, cooked
in an oven dish,
something like this metal one.
What's wrong with that?
And, I'm gonna add,
if we're not gonna call it shepherd's pie,
- what do we call it?
- [director] Why don't we take
the shepherd theme
and call it a meadow pie?
- [laughter]
- Meadow pie?
- [laughter]
- [stammers]
You see, I think you have to call it,
until somebody comes up
with a better name,
- shepherd's pie.
- [laughter]
- 'Cause that's what it is.
- [director] Okay.
[James] Heat two tablespoons of olive oil,
then add a chopped stick
of celery, plus a diced large carrot
and parsnip.
And that is going to cook on a low heat
to soften.
While that happens,
roughly chop 250 grams
of mushrooms and add them
to the pan,
followed by two cloves of crushed garlic.
A generous
pinch of salt.
I have to say,
it's looking pretty good.
Smells nice.
So far, to be honest,
this smells like the beginnings
of a shepherd's pie being made.
And that's because
it is one.
Right, I'm gonna lower the heat a bit,
and I'm gonna crack on.
I'm gonna add that magical
balsamic vinegar
and the all-important
tomato puree.
These last three ingredients
can go in together.
The vegan red wine.
That's going to cool the pan down
and deglaze it, of course.
There goes the warmed-up
delicious vegetable stock,
and, finally, the lentils.
The lentils have come
from a can of lentils,
so, you know, I haven't had to soak them
or anything like that.
Turn the heat up a bit 'cause I've put
all that juice in there.
Just let that simmer away
for about ten minutes.
Oh, the rosemary.
I'm not gonna put it all in, so let's
say put about half of that,
if I drag that backwards.
I'm gonna add
because I would do this
if I was making a conventional
shepherd's pie
some chipotle chili flakes,
just to give it a little bit of a kick.
Just a bit about
a half a teaspoonful I think will do it.
There you go.
And I've also been thinking, um
I think part of the problem
with calling this
a vegan shepherd's pie is
the emphasis on the words
and our preconceptions
about the structure of that phrase.
It's not a vegan shepherd's pie.
It's a vegan shepherd's pie,
i.e. someone who is a shepherd
and would normally make one
with lamb, but who keeps
his sheep only for their wool
and their sheep's milk,
with which he makes delicious cheese,
but he wants a pie.
He can't put his sheep in it
because he's a vegan,
so it's a vegan shepherd's pie.
[director] A vegan shepherd
wouldn't drink the milk
from the sheep, though, would he?
No, he makes it to sell,
otherwise he'd starve.
Anyway, um, I'm gonna get Nikki out.
- [knocks on door]
- [Nikki] Hello?
[James] Hello,
I'm ready for my pie topping,
my shepherd's pie topping.
[Nikki] I am bringing them
this very second.
Which is potato. Roger.
[James] We're using a mix of
Maris Piper and sweet potatoes
for our pie.
Bring the white potatoes to the boil
in a pan of salted water,
then simmer for five minutes.
Add the sweet potatoes
and cook for ten to 15 minutes
more until tender.
That looks pretty good.
That looks very appetizing.
[Nikki] That looks great. Can I taste it?
[James] Yes, of course you can.
- Mmm.
- It's all right, isn't it?
That's lovely.
There's quite a lot of chili in that.
How much chili did you put in it?
About half a teaspoon.
Is it
- It's nice.
- Good.
- Okay.
- Okay,
- we'll add that to our recipe.
- Potato ricer.
Um
Ooh, what a machine.
This is industrial spec.
Do I put the butter in the thing?
No, don't put the butter in it.
You do that first,
- then you put the butter in.
- Then how do I?
- With a spoon.
- Okay.
[James] So, I put one of those in there.
- Two in. All right.
- Do you want three?
Ow, they're hot.
[James] It's ejaculating on my shirt.
[laughter]
What a word.
- Well, it's the correct word.
- [laughs]
[James] Add 50 grams
of vegan block butter to the mash
and season generously
with salt and pepper.
Just let that buttery whatever it is
melt down a bit.
Um, yes, sorry, I was gonna
give you a glass of the red,
- wasn't I?
- [Nikki] What is it?
[James] It's a vegan Spanish
Syrah and Tempranillo.
- Hmm.
- And it's-it's pretty good, actually.
Cheers.
[James] Spoon your mash over the pie mix,
completely covering it,
then rough up the surface
of the mash with a fork.
Sprinkle over 50 grams of
grated vegan hard cheese before
placing it in the oven at 200 degrees.
That's a temperature, not an angle.
What's happening? Are we making peas?
I've made peas.
- You've done the peas?
- Yeah.
I'm glad you did that.
That's a bit too advanced for this show.
We're only on series two.
We should try this, of course,
but I think we should
test it on our vegan,
who is Lily, sitting in the back.
[Nikki] Definitely.
[James] Would you like to be
the test pilot
for the vegan shepherd's
- pie?
- [Lily] You know what?
Yeah, I will.
[James] Yowzers.
Would you like a middle bit
or a slightly crusty corner piece?
[Lily] I want the crusty corner.
- [James] Crusty corner piece.
- [Lily] Please.
[James] Correct decision.
[Lily] Thank you.
[James] Ah
Would you like a glass
of red wine with that?
Shall I check with my boss? [chuckling]
[James] I think,
technically, I'm your boss,
- so you can have one if you want.
- Fine, fine.
- I would love a glass of red wine.
- [James] Okay.
[blows]
[James] Be honest.
Mmm.
- Mmm.
- Mmm?
- It's really nice.
- [James] Is it?
I can confirm, everyone, it's delish.
- Is this my lunch now?
- Yeah.
- You can take that away.
- Can I take it with me?
[James] Absolutely. That's yours.
[Lily] Thanks, James.
So, there you go. A vegan has spoken,
and our vegan shepherd's pie
Veg-herd pie.
Veg-herd pie?
That's not a bad one, actually.
[Nikki] Veg-herd pie.
- Veg-herd pie.
- [Nikki] Veg-herd.
- Veg-herd.
- [crew member] No.
- No?
- [crew member] Sheptable.
- Sheptable.
- [Nikki] Pardon?
Sheptable pie.
Shep What?
- Shentil.
- Lent-herds's.
[laughter]
[Nikki] That sounds like
you've just had too much wine now.
[director] Do you, uh,
do you want to try it yourself?
[James] Yes.
I think that's pretty good.
That's more than pretty good, actually.
On a cold winter's night,
sitting in a shed
in your garden, or something like that,
with a big bowl of that
and a glass of something,
that would be fantastic.
I just got a massive chili hit as well.
- Ooh! [inhales sharply]
- [laughs]
Yes, here it comes.
[exhales slowly]
It's fantastic.
And, now, viewers, we are going to make
and I have to look at the ingredients
to get the title right, vegetable
chili hoisin tofu stir-fry.
It begins with making
a little marinade for the tofu
because tofu, as we know,
doesn't really taste of anything,
but it is very nutritious.
Add one tablespoon of sesame oil,
one and a half tablespoons
of light soy sauce,
and a teaspoon of caster sugar to a bowl
and mix.
Then we put all the tofu in here
and give it a shaky-shaky-shaky about
so that it's all coated.
It's not really a marinade.
It's a coating.
I wonder if I can do a little toss.
Yes, I can.
Okay, there's coated tofu.
Now, we make the sauce
that is going to go on
the end of the stir-fry.
Pour two tablespoons of veg stock
and one tablespoon each
of hoisin sauce and light soy sauce
into a bowl.
Then, add a teaspoon
of dark soy sauce,
rice wine vinegar and chili sauce.
And I'll give that another stir later on
when we're ready to use it.
That's the bit that goes in last.
Right, here are the vegetable ingredients.
We've got a nice lovely yellow pepper,
an onion,
some spring onions,
a nice big chili, tomato, garlic,
and ginger.
And we're going to establish here
a thing called the wok clock,
and I learned this from my new best friend
Jeremy Pang at School of Wok,
who, um, is an expert on all this stuff.
He's from Hong Kong,
and he can stir-fry anything.
He can stir-fry
his own underpants successfully.
You take something circular,
like a plate or this board,
and you arrange
the ingredients in the order
you're going to use them.
That's why it's called a clock.
You work around the clock clockwise,
and the reason
this is important is because,
in stir-frying,
everything happens extremely quickly,
and you have to be ready to put things in.
You know, obviously an onion
will take a little bit
longer than that bit of chili,
the big onion will take a bit longer
than the pieces of spring onion,
and so on and so on.
But, first, of course, we have to
chop them up, and I'm going to use
and this was a present from
Jeremy Pang from School of Wok,
my genuine Chinese,
look at this,
my genuine Chinese chopper.
I'd love to do my usual joke
about branding, but I can't
actually read what it says
'cause it's in Chinese.
[James] With the chopper of your choice,
thinly slice a two centimeter
piece of ginger,
followed by two gloves of garlic.
Next up to the board,
two spring onions and one
plump red chili, which Nikki insists
should both be cut on the diagonal.
Chop a ripe tomato
into wedges,
and then slice one small onion
and half a yellow pepper.
What a fantastic tool this is.
I wasn't talking about me then.
I was talking about the Chinese chopper.
[laughter]
So, the wok clock.
Starting at the top will be the onion,
then it will go the spring onion,
then the garlic
and the ginger.
And then the chili.
And then the pepper.
And then the tommy-toms.
Do you have to wok around the clock?
Hey, hey, hey. Yes, you do, actually.
Onions in twelve o'clock position.
And now, everything's going
to get very fast-paced.
I hope you're not gonna stop and do any,
"Oh, I need to change
the batteries in the camera,"
or, "Can I just dive in and get that?"
because this is going to happen
in a matter of minutes.
Gary, can you dive in and get that?
Hmm.
[James] Now, I could quite easily,
oh, cock this up.
I still get very nervous.
It's a bit like when you're going
to use a spray gun to paint something.
You have to take [inhales]
a couple of breaths.
Probably a drink would do it,
wouldn't it? What have we got?
Oh, sorry.
Hi.
A glass of white with stir-fry
sounds about right.
- Would-would we agree?
- [Tom] Is it vegan?
Hmm.
"Suitable for" Oh, thank God for that.
I thought I was gonna have a panic.
On goes the heat.
- Test the wok.
- [sizzling]
That's not hot enough
because the water is sizzling.
When it's correct, it will form
into little balls and dance around,
almost as if it's mercury.
It's almost there.
- [crackling]
- Not quite.
See the smoke coming off?
Don't worry about that.
That's a good sign.
Tiny bit more.
I think that's it.
Okay, in goes the tofu,
and this is slightly unnatural
in wok cooking.
You shove it in, and you don't touch it
because it's got to cook on one side,
and then I'm going
to attempt to do a wok toss,
which is a difficult thing,
and it's particularly difficult
if you're doing it on television.
Does get a bit smoky.
Here comes the wok toss.
Forwards, up and over.
A few bits came out,
but let's not worry about it.
Phew!
Right, I think that's okay for now,
so I'm decanting the tofu stroke "toffu"
onto there.
Don't put the wok on the flame
for a moment 'cause I'm just
gonna make sure I am mentally prepared.
Okay.
Backwards and forward, stir it about.
The onions break up.
That's I'm really only going
to do these for a few minutes.
Right, I'm going to add the spring onions
in the middle.
Wok backwards and forwards,
spatula round and round.
It's looking good, and it's
and it's smelling right
so I'll push those over to one slightly,
slightly bias the heat.
I'm just gonna give the garlic
and the ginger a bit of a blast.
Whoa. The handle of that spatula
has got very hot.
So, pushing that up there
and biasing the heat
slightly towards this side of the wok.
Right, stir those together very quickly.
Wok backwards and forwards,
spatula round and round.
Again, push those to the sides.
- I'm gonna give the
- [beeping]
Is that a smoke alarm? Never mind.
We've got to keep going. I'm sorry.
We can't stop for that sort of nonsense.
Could somebody just go
and press the button?
[beeping continues]
[Nikki] Shall I put
the extractor fan on for a minute?
I put my finger on
the metal bit of the wok. [blows]
Edit.
I'm sweating, I'm panicking.
Tommy-tom-toms.
These really just need
to be warmed through.
Okay, I'm gonna do a slight
what Jeremy calls
"the tummy and the head,"
i.e. backwards and forwards with one,
round and round with the other.
That's looking quite good.
There's a few little charred bits
which will give it flavor,
but on the whole, it's undercooked.
Let's get the tofu back in,
in the middle, to reheat it.
I think we're ready.
I'm just gonna reduce
the heat very slightly.
I'm now ready to add the sauce.
Done.
[sniffs] It smells great.
We've-we've got smoke,
I've got slightly charred bits,
I've got ginger,
I've got garlic, hoisin sauce,
uh, tofu, what, everything.
[sniffing]
It does smell like a really nice
Chinese takeaway, actually,
and there's nothing wrong with that.
[Tom] Okay, do the last remark,
and then we have to go and
shoot it on the lazy Susan straightaway.
Okay. Um, well, it happens quickly.
That's one of the reasons it's so good.
You're not gonna
waste your time doing this.
Um, there's not much time
for drinking during a stir-fry
because you've got
the action is very fast-paced,
and you have to mentally
prepare yourself for it,
but it's very satisfying if you get it
even roughly right, and I think that's
I don't like to blow my own trumpet,
that's more than roughly right.
That's sort of "seven out of ten" right.
You tuck in and tell me what you think.
[Nikki] Okay, if I'm perfectly honest,
I don't really like tofu.
What? You don't like tofu?
Why didn't you say that before I made it?
I'd have done it with mushrooms,
or chicken.
No, not
I don't like tofu either. It's rubbish.
[Nikki laughs]
[James] We're standing here
complaining about this a bit,
but we're actually tucking in, aren't we?
I know. It's kind of It's moreish.
[James] Mmm. Good, crispy
[Nikki] Lovely crispy onions. Nice sauce.
[James] Tofu can be thought of
as an aircraft carrier
for other flavors.
Of itself, it is meaningless,
like eternity, or a vacuum.
But if you use it merely
as a means of supporting
an interesting sauce, then you'll be okay.
I'm now going to make a Buddha bowl,
which is very on-trend.
Here is the bowl that I'm going
to make my Buddha bowl in.
I'd love to be able to say
that this actually has
something to do with the Buddha.
We could make something up
about how maybe
the Buddha wandered the world
and took a bowl with him,
and people made donations of food to him
so he could continue thinking
and not worry about
having to source food,
but there doesn't seem to be
any truth in that sort of thing.
It's called a Buddha bowl simply
because it's a balanced meal
in one bowl, and it represents
a certain amount of enlightenment.
The rule of the Buddha bowl is
that it should contain
a grain of some sort,
so we have the couscous.
It should contain protein;
we have chickpeas and avocado,
which does contain a certain
amount of protein.
It should contain vegetables.
We've got the tomatoes and the lettuce.
And it should have something
which is generally referred to
as "sprinkles."
And our sprinkles are pomegranate seeds
and a dressing; the dressing is here.
Right, I'm going to begin
by chopping the carrot,
but before I do that,
I'm going to pour myself a drink,
as usual, and since we are
on the road to enlightenment,
it's going to be water.
And I'm not saying, "Ha-ha, it's water,
it's really a gin and tonic,"
it's going to be water.
Don't cut this shot or cut away
to anything else
so that people know that
that is simply tap water.
Mmm. I saw a patch on that pecorino
we were drinking earlier.
Let us cut this carrot into little disks.
I know some people have
a class-based objection to this
and say, "Oh, carrots should be
cut into batons,"
but they work better as disks
when you do what I'm about to do,
which is coat them and then roast them.
To make your coating,
mix two tablespoons of olive oil
with one teaspoon of cumin seeds.
Add to it a teaspoon of agave syrup
and a tablespoon of harissa paste.
Let us now add to that our carrot disks.
The chickpeas go in there as well.
Very nice.
Now I'm going to spread those out
on the baking tray
and shove it in the oven.
And whilst they roast, we will get on with
the other elements of the bowl.
Roast your carrots
and chickpea mix for 15 minutes
at 200 degrees,
or until they begin to brown.
Let's make, in this bowl, the dressing,
which will have in it the yog,
tahini paste.
To that we are going to add
some crushed garlic
and a bit of lemon juice.
Squeezy, squeezy, squeezy.
Next, peel and slice half an avocado,
cut six cherry tomatoes into two,
and shred a handful of lettuce.
Then bring your roasted carrots
and chickpeas out of the oven,
and allow them to cool.
This is where I have to be quite careful
because I have to make it look nice.
Shredded lettuce.
Let's have Let's, uh
Okay, there's
I've used about half of that.
The couscous has been made
in accordance
with the instructions on the packet,
but it's also been lightly toasted.
I'm gonna put this in an
interesting looking dollop.
I will sprinkle the pomegranate bits.
They make it look rather lovely.
And then we'll finish off
with a few mint leaves
over the top.
Right, that is zen and
enlightened and peaceful.
I'm not just saying that sarcastically.
I think it really is.
[knocking]
[Nikki] Hello?
- Nikki.
- Yes.
I have a bowl for you.
Well, I've got something for you, too.
I come bearing a fig.
- Oh. From the garden?
- Yes.
How excellent. Thank you very much.
And there it is,
my balanced and enlightened
Buddha bowl.
We've made four things, all vegan,
because this is the vegan episode.
- But actually, what we've made
is four delicious things.
- That's true, yeah.
And we can ignore the fact
for the moment that they
didn't have any meat or animal fat
or dairy products in them.
The fact is it's food,
and food has to be tasty.
- This food is fresh
- I really like this.
This is lovely and fresh.
- safe and clean.
- Mmm.
Well, I think the important thing
we've learned from this
is if you want to go vegan,
or even if you just want
to try it occasionally,
don't get hung up on that idea
that you have to try
and turn plants into meat,
or something a bit like meat.
They are plants, fruit,
vegetables, grains, whatever.
They're perfectly nice as they are.
And all, everything
that we've made has been,
- actually, quite delicious.
- It has.
Actually, so far, it's possibly been
our most successful episode.
I would happily eat all those recipes.
Are you gonna taste some?
Or you gonna eat your fig?
I'm gonna have a bit of fika first.
Your figs are lovely.
That doesn't sound quite right, does it?
[laughter]
♪
Viewers, welcome back to Oh Cook!
And, today, we can
look forward to better sleep,
greater stamina, clearer-headedness,
floating stools and thunderous chuffs.
Yes, we are going vegan.
Coming up, things get smoky.
- [beeping]
- Is that a smoke alarm?
Sorry, we can't stop
for that sort of nonsense.
The crew gets salty.
Smells like the beginnings
of a shepherd's pie being made.
It's got no lamb in it.
You can't call it shepherd's pie.
[James] Anybody else?
And I add some spice.
Ooh!
- Yes, here it comes.
- [laughs]
[exhales] Forget that it's vegan.
It's nice.
♪
Right, we're going to start
where your local pub
would start with veganism,
with the vegan burger,
and I want to say straight from the start
that we're not trying
to replicate meat here
because that seems entirely pointless.
We are embracing the idea
of a burger, but we're
making it entirely
with plant-based things,
and it is going to taste like that
and indeed look like that.
It is a burger in concept, in format,
but it is not trying to be meat.
It starts, inevitably,
with a onion,
which I'm going to chop into a few bits,
and I have in the dish
next to me some portobello mushrooms
that have been roughly chopped, and we're
going to zizz these in the zizzer.
Beautiful. Now we're going
to add some mushrooms.
What if,
in 200 years' time,
people say,
"Do you know what they used to do
in the 20th and 21st centuries?
They used to eat cows."
It's possible.
I'm going to put in a little bit
of the parsley now because
it may as well be in there
doing its work from the start.
Not a lot because, if you put
too much parsley in things,
they end up tasting of parsley.
Spoon.
I think that's looking quite good.
Right, I should talk to you
about the other ingredients.
We've got shredded beetroot,
pickled beetroot.
That is, uh, chili-pickled beetroot
because that gives it a bit
of heat and excitement.
Kidney beans, strained, drained.
This is a vegan stuffing mix
with apple and herbs.
This is nutritional yeast,
which adds cheesiness
and depth to the flavor, but is inert,
so it isn't going to make
your burger expand
to be the size of your head.
There are no top secret occult ingredients
that only vegans know about,
you know.
It's not like that anymore.
Add two tablespoons of olive oil
to a pan and gently fry
your blitzed-up onion and mushroom mix.
This is going to form the basis
of something that looks like
a patty.
I'm gonna give that a minute more.
I'm gonna do a bit of preliminary mixing
whilst that just finishes off.
Kidney beans can go into this mix.
As you put the beans in,
if you don't want them to be too dominant,
just give them a bit
of a squash between your hands
like that, to break them up.
There goes the stuffing mix.
There goes this interesting
nutritional yeast.
Turn that off.
Let it cool for a minute or so,
so that I don't burn my hands.
Once cooled, add your
chopped onion and mushroom mix
into a bowl and lightly mash.
I don't want to turn that into,
basically, Ardennes pâté,
so I'm going to take a fork,
and I'm going to stir it together a bit,
and then do a final bit of mashing.
I'm going to assume a bit
of pepper will enliven it.
And I'm going to assume
that I need to put some salt in,
and more salt than I imagine, because
Dan on sound,
who knows about this
sort of thing, says "more salt."
So, there you are, there's more salt.
Now, the consistency of that
is about right, and I know
because, if I pick a bit up
and squash it, it stays together.
Do you know what? That is bloody tasty.
Because we've used
dried stuffing mix in there,
we should just let it stand
for about ten minutes,
so that
the moisture from the beans
and the beetroot
can be absorbed by the stuffing mix
and everything will cook
properly in the pan.
So, ten minutes of just standing.
[director] Cut.
- We've just
- Oh, I thought we were
- just gonna stand there
for ten minutes.
- [laughs]
Right, I'm going to have a slight tidy up
'cause that will please Nikki immensely.
Um, I'm also going to pour myself
a glass of vegan wine.
"What is vegan wine?" you might ask
because wine is obviously not made
with pork chops or anything.
The reason this is vegan wine
is that no fish filings
were used to clarify it.
It says on the label,
"suitable for vegans."
I'm gonna have some of that,
mainly because I will need
a splash of it whilst frying the burgers,
but I'd also better test it
to make sure it's okay as well.
Mmm, yes, slightly peasanty
with a high note
of abandoned games kit.
Take the bun you're going to use
to serve your burger.
These are brioche buns.
Think about the size of them.
You don't want to make a burger that
sits in the middle, and you don't want one
that sticks out of the side too much
because that's messy.
Keeping that to one side as a reference,
we will take some
burger mix
I reckon about that much
and carefully form it
into a burger.
Just sticking out.
I think that's about right.
I reckon about six minutes a side.
I'm gonna give it an initial flip.
Ah, look at that.
Let's put the other one in.
Should've put the other one in earlier.
I'm gonna turn it down a bit.
Gonna chuck those on that thing.
The, uh, the griller is already on.
A light toasting,
really not much more
than warming them up.
I'm gonna revise my view
on the cooking of this.
This should be done on a low heat,
not a medium-low heat.
[director] James,
you've killed the Amazon exec
- with the smoker.
- Sorry. Go out.
[coughs]
[James] If you're gonna
turn up on the shoot,
could you try and just
sit in the background
- and be quiet?
- [laughter]
[James] Unlike the rest of the crew.
Next, gather your salad leaves of choice
and thinly slice a tomato.
That side looks perfect. Look at that.
That's what it should look like.
I did the first side a little too quickly,
but, hey.
I'm gonna get Nikki
out of the cupboard now.
[knocks on door]
- Hello, madam. Your, um
- Hello.
your vegan burger is almost ready.
Vegan burgers.
I thought I'd bring you out
a little early because
- Well, they smell nice.
- They do smell nice,
and they look pretty good as well.
[Nikki] Mmm, they look great.
It's on a toasted bun.
We're not putting any butter on them,
for obvious reasons.
Look at that ratio
of burger to bun.
It just sticks out,
and that is absolute perfection
- isn't it?
- [laughs] Brilliant.
[James] To make this
a true taste test,
we're going to make one naked burger
and one with all the usual
burger-y gubbins.
There's the inside.
- [Nikki] It looks tasty.
- [James] Doesn't look anything like beef,
but it does look pretty tasty, doesn't it?
So, I was gonna suggest we should have
the classic yellow burger mustard
by French's on the bottom piece.
Vegan mayonnaise on the top half.
[Nikki] Yes.
With a bit of, um, rocket
directly on there.
I think we're ready to bite this one.
- Okay. Mm.
- Sorry, you have that one
'cause I've touched this.
- [James] Is it any good?
- Surprisingly good. In fact,
I think I like it better
than a beef burger.
That is a mighty tasty burger.
[Nikki] Mmm.
I think the condiments enhance it.
And it's still got a bit of texture.
[James] You can taste apple, definitely.
- Yeah.
- The onion,
little bit of chili,
beetroot is quite dominant.
It's a very, very complicated,
multi-layered experience.
- It is, it is.
- And it's actually really
filling.
- [Nikki] Very.
- And it's nourishing.
I like it.
[Nikki] It doesn't taste healthy,
although it is.
No, it still tastes like
you're being a bit bad having a burger.
- That's a very good point.
- Yeah.
You don't sort of feel
righteous eating this.
"Oh, it's vegan." It's a burger.
But it's just really, really good.
It is, it is genuinely nice.
Forget that it's vegan.
It's nice. That's what matters.
I think it's better than nice.
I think it's delicious.
Cut. We'll keep eating it.
Right, our next recipe
is going to cause a debate.
I can feel it approaching.
It's like a runaway train
coming down the rails towards me
because it is a vegan shepherd's pie,
or, more correctly,
a vegetable, mushroom,
and lentil shepherd's pie.
It's got no lamb in it.
You can't call it shepherd's pie.
Okay. Anybody else?
Seriously, is that it?
- [laughter]
- [director] Well, it's quite a big "it."
- It's quite a big "it," though, isn't it?
- Well, yes,
okay. Most people would say
the definition of a shepherd's pie
is that it's made with lamb,
and a cottage pie
is made with beef, of course,
but I think, in the modern world,
where I live, obviously,
we can think of shepherd's pie
as a format.
It is something sort of a bit like mince,
or something mashed up,
with a potato topping, cooked
in an oven dish,
something like this metal one.
What's wrong with that?
And, I'm gonna add,
if we're not gonna call it shepherd's pie,
- what do we call it?
- [director] Why don't we take
the shepherd theme
and call it a meadow pie?
- [laughter]
- Meadow pie?
- [laughter]
- [stammers]
You see, I think you have to call it,
until somebody comes up
with a better name,
- shepherd's pie.
- [laughter]
- 'Cause that's what it is.
- [director] Okay.
[James] Heat two tablespoons of olive oil,
then add a chopped stick
of celery, plus a diced large carrot
and parsnip.
And that is going to cook on a low heat
to soften.
While that happens,
roughly chop 250 grams
of mushrooms and add them
to the pan,
followed by two cloves of crushed garlic.
A generous
pinch of salt.
I have to say,
it's looking pretty good.
Smells nice.
So far, to be honest,
this smells like the beginnings
of a shepherd's pie being made.
And that's because
it is one.
Right, I'm gonna lower the heat a bit,
and I'm gonna crack on.
I'm gonna add that magical
balsamic vinegar
and the all-important
tomato puree.
These last three ingredients
can go in together.
The vegan red wine.
That's going to cool the pan down
and deglaze it, of course.
There goes the warmed-up
delicious vegetable stock,
and, finally, the lentils.
The lentils have come
from a can of lentils,
so, you know, I haven't had to soak them
or anything like that.
Turn the heat up a bit 'cause I've put
all that juice in there.
Just let that simmer away
for about ten minutes.
Oh, the rosemary.
I'm not gonna put it all in, so let's
say put about half of that,
if I drag that backwards.
I'm gonna add
because I would do this
if I was making a conventional
shepherd's pie
some chipotle chili flakes,
just to give it a little bit of a kick.
Just a bit about
a half a teaspoonful I think will do it.
There you go.
And I've also been thinking, um
I think part of the problem
with calling this
a vegan shepherd's pie is
the emphasis on the words
and our preconceptions
about the structure of that phrase.
It's not a vegan shepherd's pie.
It's a vegan shepherd's pie,
i.e. someone who is a shepherd
and would normally make one
with lamb, but who keeps
his sheep only for their wool
and their sheep's milk,
with which he makes delicious cheese,
but he wants a pie.
He can't put his sheep in it
because he's a vegan,
so it's a vegan shepherd's pie.
[director] A vegan shepherd
wouldn't drink the milk
from the sheep, though, would he?
No, he makes it to sell,
otherwise he'd starve.
Anyway, um, I'm gonna get Nikki out.
- [knocks on door]
- [Nikki] Hello?
[James] Hello,
I'm ready for my pie topping,
my shepherd's pie topping.
[Nikki] I am bringing them
this very second.
Which is potato. Roger.
[James] We're using a mix of
Maris Piper and sweet potatoes
for our pie.
Bring the white potatoes to the boil
in a pan of salted water,
then simmer for five minutes.
Add the sweet potatoes
and cook for ten to 15 minutes
more until tender.
That looks pretty good.
That looks very appetizing.
[Nikki] That looks great. Can I taste it?
[James] Yes, of course you can.
- Mmm.
- It's all right, isn't it?
That's lovely.
There's quite a lot of chili in that.
How much chili did you put in it?
About half a teaspoon.
Is it
- It's nice.
- Good.
- Okay.
- Okay,
- we'll add that to our recipe.
- Potato ricer.
Um
Ooh, what a machine.
This is industrial spec.
Do I put the butter in the thing?
No, don't put the butter in it.
You do that first,
- then you put the butter in.
- Then how do I?
- With a spoon.
- Okay.
[James] So, I put one of those in there.
- Two in. All right.
- Do you want three?
Ow, they're hot.
[James] It's ejaculating on my shirt.
[laughter]
What a word.
- Well, it's the correct word.
- [laughs]
[James] Add 50 grams
of vegan block butter to the mash
and season generously
with salt and pepper.
Just let that buttery whatever it is
melt down a bit.
Um, yes, sorry, I was gonna
give you a glass of the red,
- wasn't I?
- [Nikki] What is it?
[James] It's a vegan Spanish
Syrah and Tempranillo.
- Hmm.
- And it's-it's pretty good, actually.
Cheers.
[James] Spoon your mash over the pie mix,
completely covering it,
then rough up the surface
of the mash with a fork.
Sprinkle over 50 grams of
grated vegan hard cheese before
placing it in the oven at 200 degrees.
That's a temperature, not an angle.
What's happening? Are we making peas?
I've made peas.
- You've done the peas?
- Yeah.
I'm glad you did that.
That's a bit too advanced for this show.
We're only on series two.
We should try this, of course,
but I think we should
test it on our vegan,
who is Lily, sitting in the back.
[Nikki] Definitely.
[James] Would you like to be
the test pilot
for the vegan shepherd's
- pie?
- [Lily] You know what?
Yeah, I will.
[James] Yowzers.
Would you like a middle bit
or a slightly crusty corner piece?
[Lily] I want the crusty corner.
- [James] Crusty corner piece.
- [Lily] Please.
[James] Correct decision.
[Lily] Thank you.
[James] Ah
Would you like a glass
of red wine with that?
Shall I check with my boss? [chuckling]
[James] I think,
technically, I'm your boss,
- so you can have one if you want.
- Fine, fine.
- I would love a glass of red wine.
- [James] Okay.
[blows]
[James] Be honest.
Mmm.
- Mmm.
- Mmm?
- It's really nice.
- [James] Is it?
I can confirm, everyone, it's delish.
- Is this my lunch now?
- Yeah.
- You can take that away.
- Can I take it with me?
[James] Absolutely. That's yours.
[Lily] Thanks, James.
So, there you go. A vegan has spoken,
and our vegan shepherd's pie
Veg-herd pie.
Veg-herd pie?
That's not a bad one, actually.
[Nikki] Veg-herd pie.
- Veg-herd pie.
- [Nikki] Veg-herd.
- Veg-herd.
- [crew member] No.
- No?
- [crew member] Sheptable.
- Sheptable.
- [Nikki] Pardon?
Sheptable pie.
Shep What?
- Shentil.
- Lent-herds's.
[laughter]
[Nikki] That sounds like
you've just had too much wine now.
[director] Do you, uh,
do you want to try it yourself?
[James] Yes.
I think that's pretty good.
That's more than pretty good, actually.
On a cold winter's night,
sitting in a shed
in your garden, or something like that,
with a big bowl of that
and a glass of something,
that would be fantastic.
I just got a massive chili hit as well.
- Ooh! [inhales sharply]
- [laughs]
Yes, here it comes.
[exhales slowly]
It's fantastic.
And, now, viewers, we are going to make
and I have to look at the ingredients
to get the title right, vegetable
chili hoisin tofu stir-fry.
It begins with making
a little marinade for the tofu
because tofu, as we know,
doesn't really taste of anything,
but it is very nutritious.
Add one tablespoon of sesame oil,
one and a half tablespoons
of light soy sauce,
and a teaspoon of caster sugar to a bowl
and mix.
Then we put all the tofu in here
and give it a shaky-shaky-shaky about
so that it's all coated.
It's not really a marinade.
It's a coating.
I wonder if I can do a little toss.
Yes, I can.
Okay, there's coated tofu.
Now, we make the sauce
that is going to go on
the end of the stir-fry.
Pour two tablespoons of veg stock
and one tablespoon each
of hoisin sauce and light soy sauce
into a bowl.
Then, add a teaspoon
of dark soy sauce,
rice wine vinegar and chili sauce.
And I'll give that another stir later on
when we're ready to use it.
That's the bit that goes in last.
Right, here are the vegetable ingredients.
We've got a nice lovely yellow pepper,
an onion,
some spring onions,
a nice big chili, tomato, garlic,
and ginger.
And we're going to establish here
a thing called the wok clock,
and I learned this from my new best friend
Jeremy Pang at School of Wok,
who, um, is an expert on all this stuff.
He's from Hong Kong,
and he can stir-fry anything.
He can stir-fry
his own underpants successfully.
You take something circular,
like a plate or this board,
and you arrange
the ingredients in the order
you're going to use them.
That's why it's called a clock.
You work around the clock clockwise,
and the reason
this is important is because,
in stir-frying,
everything happens extremely quickly,
and you have to be ready to put things in.
You know, obviously an onion
will take a little bit
longer than that bit of chili,
the big onion will take a bit longer
than the pieces of spring onion,
and so on and so on.
But, first, of course, we have to
chop them up, and I'm going to use
and this was a present from
Jeremy Pang from School of Wok,
my genuine Chinese,
look at this,
my genuine Chinese chopper.
I'd love to do my usual joke
about branding, but I can't
actually read what it says
'cause it's in Chinese.
[James] With the chopper of your choice,
thinly slice a two centimeter
piece of ginger,
followed by two gloves of garlic.
Next up to the board,
two spring onions and one
plump red chili, which Nikki insists
should both be cut on the diagonal.
Chop a ripe tomato
into wedges,
and then slice one small onion
and half a yellow pepper.
What a fantastic tool this is.
I wasn't talking about me then.
I was talking about the Chinese chopper.
[laughter]
So, the wok clock.
Starting at the top will be the onion,
then it will go the spring onion,
then the garlic
and the ginger.
And then the chili.
And then the pepper.
And then the tommy-toms.
Do you have to wok around the clock?
Hey, hey, hey. Yes, you do, actually.
Onions in twelve o'clock position.
And now, everything's going
to get very fast-paced.
I hope you're not gonna stop and do any,
"Oh, I need to change
the batteries in the camera,"
or, "Can I just dive in and get that?"
because this is going to happen
in a matter of minutes.
Gary, can you dive in and get that?
Hmm.
[James] Now, I could quite easily,
oh, cock this up.
I still get very nervous.
It's a bit like when you're going
to use a spray gun to paint something.
You have to take [inhales]
a couple of breaths.
Probably a drink would do it,
wouldn't it? What have we got?
Oh, sorry.
Hi.
A glass of white with stir-fry
sounds about right.
- Would-would we agree?
- [Tom] Is it vegan?
Hmm.
"Suitable for" Oh, thank God for that.
I thought I was gonna have a panic.
On goes the heat.
- Test the wok.
- [sizzling]
That's not hot enough
because the water is sizzling.
When it's correct, it will form
into little balls and dance around,
almost as if it's mercury.
It's almost there.
- [crackling]
- Not quite.
See the smoke coming off?
Don't worry about that.
That's a good sign.
Tiny bit more.
I think that's it.
Okay, in goes the tofu,
and this is slightly unnatural
in wok cooking.
You shove it in, and you don't touch it
because it's got to cook on one side,
and then I'm going
to attempt to do a wok toss,
which is a difficult thing,
and it's particularly difficult
if you're doing it on television.
Does get a bit smoky.
Here comes the wok toss.
Forwards, up and over.
A few bits came out,
but let's not worry about it.
Phew!
Right, I think that's okay for now,
so I'm decanting the tofu stroke "toffu"
onto there.
Don't put the wok on the flame
for a moment 'cause I'm just
gonna make sure I am mentally prepared.
Okay.
Backwards and forward, stir it about.
The onions break up.
That's I'm really only going
to do these for a few minutes.
Right, I'm going to add the spring onions
in the middle.
Wok backwards and forwards,
spatula round and round.
It's looking good, and it's
and it's smelling right
so I'll push those over to one slightly,
slightly bias the heat.
I'm just gonna give the garlic
and the ginger a bit of a blast.
Whoa. The handle of that spatula
has got very hot.
So, pushing that up there
and biasing the heat
slightly towards this side of the wok.
Right, stir those together very quickly.
Wok backwards and forwards,
spatula round and round.
Again, push those to the sides.
- I'm gonna give the
- [beeping]
Is that a smoke alarm? Never mind.
We've got to keep going. I'm sorry.
We can't stop for that sort of nonsense.
Could somebody just go
and press the button?
[beeping continues]
[Nikki] Shall I put
the extractor fan on for a minute?
I put my finger on
the metal bit of the wok. [blows]
Edit.
I'm sweating, I'm panicking.
Tommy-tom-toms.
These really just need
to be warmed through.
Okay, I'm gonna do a slight
what Jeremy calls
"the tummy and the head,"
i.e. backwards and forwards with one,
round and round with the other.
That's looking quite good.
There's a few little charred bits
which will give it flavor,
but on the whole, it's undercooked.
Let's get the tofu back in,
in the middle, to reheat it.
I think we're ready.
I'm just gonna reduce
the heat very slightly.
I'm now ready to add the sauce.
Done.
[sniffs] It smells great.
We've-we've got smoke,
I've got slightly charred bits,
I've got ginger,
I've got garlic, hoisin sauce,
uh, tofu, what, everything.
[sniffing]
It does smell like a really nice
Chinese takeaway, actually,
and there's nothing wrong with that.
[Tom] Okay, do the last remark,
and then we have to go and
shoot it on the lazy Susan straightaway.
Okay. Um, well, it happens quickly.
That's one of the reasons it's so good.
You're not gonna
waste your time doing this.
Um, there's not much time
for drinking during a stir-fry
because you've got
the action is very fast-paced,
and you have to mentally
prepare yourself for it,
but it's very satisfying if you get it
even roughly right, and I think that's
I don't like to blow my own trumpet,
that's more than roughly right.
That's sort of "seven out of ten" right.
You tuck in and tell me what you think.
[Nikki] Okay, if I'm perfectly honest,
I don't really like tofu.
What? You don't like tofu?
Why didn't you say that before I made it?
I'd have done it with mushrooms,
or chicken.
No, not
I don't like tofu either. It's rubbish.
[Nikki laughs]
[James] We're standing here
complaining about this a bit,
but we're actually tucking in, aren't we?
I know. It's kind of It's moreish.
[James] Mmm. Good, crispy
[Nikki] Lovely crispy onions. Nice sauce.
[James] Tofu can be thought of
as an aircraft carrier
for other flavors.
Of itself, it is meaningless,
like eternity, or a vacuum.
But if you use it merely
as a means of supporting
an interesting sauce, then you'll be okay.
I'm now going to make a Buddha bowl,
which is very on-trend.
Here is the bowl that I'm going
to make my Buddha bowl in.
I'd love to be able to say
that this actually has
something to do with the Buddha.
We could make something up
about how maybe
the Buddha wandered the world
and took a bowl with him,
and people made donations of food to him
so he could continue thinking
and not worry about
having to source food,
but there doesn't seem to be
any truth in that sort of thing.
It's called a Buddha bowl simply
because it's a balanced meal
in one bowl, and it represents
a certain amount of enlightenment.
The rule of the Buddha bowl is
that it should contain
a grain of some sort,
so we have the couscous.
It should contain protein;
we have chickpeas and avocado,
which does contain a certain
amount of protein.
It should contain vegetables.
We've got the tomatoes and the lettuce.
And it should have something
which is generally referred to
as "sprinkles."
And our sprinkles are pomegranate seeds
and a dressing; the dressing is here.
Right, I'm going to begin
by chopping the carrot,
but before I do that,
I'm going to pour myself a drink,
as usual, and since we are
on the road to enlightenment,
it's going to be water.
And I'm not saying, "Ha-ha, it's water,
it's really a gin and tonic,"
it's going to be water.
Don't cut this shot or cut away
to anything else
so that people know that
that is simply tap water.
Mmm. I saw a patch on that pecorino
we were drinking earlier.
Let us cut this carrot into little disks.
I know some people have
a class-based objection to this
and say, "Oh, carrots should be
cut into batons,"
but they work better as disks
when you do what I'm about to do,
which is coat them and then roast them.
To make your coating,
mix two tablespoons of olive oil
with one teaspoon of cumin seeds.
Add to it a teaspoon of agave syrup
and a tablespoon of harissa paste.
Let us now add to that our carrot disks.
The chickpeas go in there as well.
Very nice.
Now I'm going to spread those out
on the baking tray
and shove it in the oven.
And whilst they roast, we will get on with
the other elements of the bowl.
Roast your carrots
and chickpea mix for 15 minutes
at 200 degrees,
or until they begin to brown.
Let's make, in this bowl, the dressing,
which will have in it the yog,
tahini paste.
To that we are going to add
some crushed garlic
and a bit of lemon juice.
Squeezy, squeezy, squeezy.
Next, peel and slice half an avocado,
cut six cherry tomatoes into two,
and shred a handful of lettuce.
Then bring your roasted carrots
and chickpeas out of the oven,
and allow them to cool.
This is where I have to be quite careful
because I have to make it look nice.
Shredded lettuce.
Let's have Let's, uh
Okay, there's
I've used about half of that.
The couscous has been made
in accordance
with the instructions on the packet,
but it's also been lightly toasted.
I'm gonna put this in an
interesting looking dollop.
I will sprinkle the pomegranate bits.
They make it look rather lovely.
And then we'll finish off
with a few mint leaves
over the top.
Right, that is zen and
enlightened and peaceful.
I'm not just saying that sarcastically.
I think it really is.
[knocking]
[Nikki] Hello?
- Nikki.
- Yes.
I have a bowl for you.
Well, I've got something for you, too.
I come bearing a fig.
- Oh. From the garden?
- Yes.
How excellent. Thank you very much.
And there it is,
my balanced and enlightened
Buddha bowl.
We've made four things, all vegan,
because this is the vegan episode.
- But actually, what we've made
is four delicious things.
- That's true, yeah.
And we can ignore the fact
for the moment that they
didn't have any meat or animal fat
or dairy products in them.
The fact is it's food,
and food has to be tasty.
- This food is fresh
- I really like this.
This is lovely and fresh.
- safe and clean.
- Mmm.
Well, I think the important thing
we've learned from this
is if you want to go vegan,
or even if you just want
to try it occasionally,
don't get hung up on that idea
that you have to try
and turn plants into meat,
or something a bit like meat.
They are plants, fruit,
vegetables, grains, whatever.
They're perfectly nice as they are.
And all, everything
that we've made has been,
- actually, quite delicious.
- It has.
Actually, so far, it's possibly been
our most successful episode.
I would happily eat all those recipes.
Are you gonna taste some?
Or you gonna eat your fig?
I'm gonna have a bit of fika first.
Your figs are lovely.
That doesn't sound quite right, does it?
[laughter]
♪