Here's a spicy, zingy Indian style sprouted bean salad which has been my default lunch option for a few weeks, because it ticks all my boxes for a great lunch. It's simple to make (once you've got the sprouts), it's ridiculously tasty with the combination of seeds, spices, lemon and chilli, plus it's got a big tick next to all the major nutrients we need. All this alongside it being completely vegan, it really couldn't be more versatile and all satisfying.

Indian Sprouted Bean Salad with Avocado

Gavin Wren Recipes, Salads, Vegan, Vegetarian

Here’s a spicy, Indian style sprouted bean salad which has been my default lunch option for the last few weeks, because it ticks all my ‘great lunch’ boxes. It’s simple to make (once you’ve got the sprouts), ridiculously tasty with the combination of seeds, spices, lemon and chilli, plus it’s got a big tick next to all the major nutrients we need. Alongside it being completely vegan, it really couldn’t be more versatile and all satisfying.

Social Sprouts

Sprouts say one thing to me. Brussels. I’m not talking about the cosmopolitan city, lying a mere 121 minutes away from London St Pancras, rather the bitter green orbs of distaste which I was deigned not to like well before one had ever crossed the threshold of my trap. Society seemed constructed for little children who Don’t Like Sprouts. Perhaps it’s their bitter flavour, or perhaps there’s an entire social… come and read more…

Mango season is the time to make a Mango Lassi, the traditional Indian yoghurt drink which is as refreshing as the morning dew and perfect for a hot summers day. I’ve included the option to make this dairy free as well!

Mango Lassi – Dairy Free

Gavin Wren Drinks, Recipes

There is an abundance of mangoes in the world as the fruit comes into season across South Asia, flooding the streets of London with it’s sweet, sweet flesh. When life throws you lemons, you make lemonade. When life throws you mangoes, you make mango lassi.

Mangolia.

Mango season is firmly upon us. This is massive news in my swathe of East London, the entire area goes mango crazy for a few months, seeing shops transform themselves from DVD stores, perfume shops or clothes retailers into mango traders. Any shop whose mango range numbers less than 6 different boxes is passed over as amateur as the street buzzes with people sniffing, prodding and squeezing the mangolian landscape whilst weighing up prices between vendors. My naive innocence of the way of the mango was highlighted last year when I asked to buy just one. The vendor chuckled, explaining I needed… come and read more…

The divine pairing of butternut squash and cinnamon sit so beautifully together in the amazing plant based, vegetarian and vegan recipe, it would be easy to assume that God himself had blessed us with their co-operation. A tray of simple cinnamon roasted squash, mixed up with a mash of garlicky lentils, is incredibly simple and simply incredible. It creates the perfect foundation for a meat free meal or a simple vegetable side dish.

Cinnamon Roasted Squash with Lentils

Gavin Wren Recipes, Side dishes, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian

The divine pairing of butternut squash and cinnamon sit so beautifully together, it would be easy to assume that God himself had blessed us with their co-operation. A tray of simple cinnamon roasted squash, mixed up with a mash of garlicky lentils, is incredibly simple and simply incredible. The discovery of this pairing hallowed a eureka moment for me, they sit so perfectly that this recipe needs no more than a hungry mouth and a willing fork to accompany it.

Discrete Divinity.

There are pairings in the world which fit together so perfectly, it were as if God or some other mystical being set them as a challenge for us in life, to see if we could discover these secret little puzzles. Like the easter eggs hidden by the developers in computer games, the little puzzles, rewards, cheats or shortcuts, buried within the fabric of the game… come and read more…

Once you've learned how to sprout mung beans you'll be converted to these incredibly nutritious legumes, being crammed with protein, carbohydrate, low fat and high in nutrients, vitamins and minerals. They're fantastic to have in salads and there's a lovely pleasure in seeing them grow as you sprout them over a few days!

How To Sprout Mung Beans

Gavin Wren Basic Ingredients, Recipes, Salads, Vegan

Over the last month I’ve become infatuated with creating hearty, delicious salads for my lunches, based on delightful sprouted mung beans. Salads needs to be wholesome and filling, I have little truck for a bowl of leaves and a dressing, I want something substantial. They need are a good base, a nutritionally sturdy underpinning, hence my love of legumes as the base for my salads this summer. Once I knew how to sprout mung beans, I became a convert to them!

Leguminous Lunch.

I began the summer using tins of chickpeas, kidney or black eyed beans, yet quickly became tired of the tinned burden when shopping, not to mention the space they take up on my shelf. I needed something fresh, healthy and less tinned.

I’ve been using Mung beans for years in curries and occasional salads, since being introduced to them via some Indian recipes and an… come and read more…

Ice cold and ready for summer, this dairy free banana milkshake with peanut butter is also vegan, perfect for a hot day and anyone's diet, it's a summer drink that will keep you cool and your tastebuds tantalised. Made with any non-dairy milk, frozen banana, a smattering of peanut butter and topped with crushed pecans, it's even more delicious than it looks.

Dairy Free Banana Milkshake with Peanut Butter, Shame and Sharing Life Experiences

Gavin Wren Dairy free baking, Drinks, Vegan

What’s more important in life? Honest, open connection to other people or a dairy free banana milkshake recipe mixed with peanut butter and topped with pecans? The answer lies in their similarities, as you’ll see…

I’m lost. Really, I don’t know what I’m doing. I hit two hundred blog posts just over a month ago, I’m about to hit three years of blogging and I’m reaching a creative hiatus. I promised myself at the beginning that blogging will be what I want it to be. I swore never to cling to a certain subject or style, simply because that’s what I did last week; it’s the creative freedom which brought me to blogging, so creative freedom is what I must defend if I’m to continue to thrive in my blogging.

To be frank, I enjoy writing about life the most. Food may feature, because there is something utterly compelling about… come and read more…

Today I'm sharing what might be the very first recipe that I ever wrote down. An easy baking recipe for ginger biscuits which I have now modified to include spelt. These spelt ginger biscuits are so simple that a five year old could make them (and probably has, judging by the writing).

Spelt Ginger Biscuits

Gavin Wren Baking, Recipes, Spelt & ancient grains

Today I’m sharing what could be the very first recipe that I ever wrote down. It’s an easy baking recipe for ginger biscuits which I have now modified to include spelt. The resultant spelt ginger biscuits are so simple that a five year old could make them (and probably has, judging by the writing).

Emancipation.

My parents are clearing their home, having finally taken the decision to sell the house that my brother and I grew up in, after years of my parents living in it alone. Well, I say alone. It has mostly been just the two of them, aside from my occasional sojourns there, when I have been between flats, relationships, or both.

This residential emancipation is divulging a trove of souvenirs and relics, not only from my parent’s lives, but also from mine, my brother’s and those who went before us. Having lived there for… come and read more…