I know it’s been a while. I was really busy with the last month of my bachelors, doing a research project which consumed most of my time. I also moved back in with my parents, because I am taking a gap year next year and I don’t want to pay my rent while traveling. This led to me not cooking as much, so I also didn’t have any recipes I wanted to share with you.

However, I treated myself to a holiday to Glasgow, where my sister is living temporarily. Because I love exploring local foods, I thought I would share my vegan meals here, starting with ready meals I found at the local Waitrose. In Holland, vegan ready meals are pretty sparse, so when I saw a selection here at the supermarket, I just had to get some. Seeing that I was with my sister, I got the opportunity to try more flavours and get a second opinion from a non-vegan ;).

Waitrose three bean chili (vegan)

The first meal we tried was this vegan three bean chili with couscous. It looks like it has quite a bit of veggies in there, and it is pretty low in fat. I also really like that the couscous and chili are in two different compartments, so the two can be eaten separately first and you can judge the flavour better. Just pop this thing in the microwave for 3-5 minutes, stirring and adding some water to the couscous half way through.

This is wat it looks like when in comes out of the microwave, the good thing about chilies is that they are very well microwavable (seeing that the are already quite mushy before they go in). The couscous gives a nice chew, because it is nice and pearly and coarse. The chili has some heat to it, but it does not leave my mouth burning, it also has recognizable veggies and beans in it, which gives it nice texture.

Overall my sister and I really enjoyed this one, so I would give it a 7.5/10

Clive creamy mushroom pie (vegan)

The second meal we tried was a vegan mushroom pie, which had to be heated in the oven (for better texture), so it took a bit longer to prepare, which can be a bit of a con when you are in a hurry. It needs around 25 minutes in the oven when it is chilled, and even longer when it is frozen.

It looks like this when it comes out of the oven, it looks pretty smooth and not really flaky like you might expect pastry to be. It has a slit for steam to escape and some herbs sprinkled over the top.

When you cut into it, the creamy mushroom filling is exposed, and you can dig in! It actually has really nice firm (whole wheat) pastry, which complements the creamy mushroom filling well. The filling is also nicely flavoured with some herbs. It does feel a bit more indulgent and less healthy than the chili, but if you don’t have this every day, you will be fine.

My sister enjoyed this one even more, so we would give it an 8.5/10