National Vegetarian Week 2014 & The Vegetarian Society Mobile Recipe App

It’s National Vegetarian Week! So if you’ve been thinking about transitioning towards a more veggie-centred lifestyle, how about challenging yourself to go veggie this week?

And if you’re already on board, why not invite your partner, friends, work colleagues, parents or siblings to join you?

National Vegetarian Week banner
If you’re not sure where to start, there are lots of brilliant resources available online. The Vegetarian Society has even created a 7-day meal plan, with recipes and shopping list! On the menu this week are meals including Aubergine Lasagne, Bombay Dosa with Chickpea Sauce and Thai-style Stir Fry. They all sound totally scrumptious!

NationalVegetarianWeekChallenge

If you’re intrigued to try more recipes from The Vegetarian Society, they’ve just launched this awesome mobile app. It’s FREE to download and compatible with both Apple and Android phones.

This is the first time I’ve ever downloaded an app onto my phone and it was so much easier than I expected! I did have to reset my Google Play password (as I’d totally forgotten what it was!) but, after that, it was simply a case of clicking ‘install’. The VegSoc symbol then magically appeared in my apps folder 😀

recipe app300px
The app currently has 733 recipes, of which around 365 are 100% plant-based (i.e. vegan). You can filter the recipes a number of ways…
– Meal type – Starter, Main, Dessert, Soup, Side Dish, Snack, Drink, Cake, Sauce, Party Food, Breakfast, Packed Lunch
– Diet – Vegan, Egg Free, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Wheat Free, Nut Free, Low Fat
– Preparation type – Simple, Moderate, Gourmet, Caterers
– Occasions – Christmas, Easter, BBQ, Picnic, Halloween, Burns Night, Valentines Day, Celebrations, Pancake Day
– Cuisines – African, American, Chinese, Caribbean, French, Greek, Indian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Mexican, Thai, British, Turkish

recipes home 150

Once you’ve selected your filters, you’ll see a summary of your results. When a recipe catches your eye, you simply tap on it to find out more. There are three tabs – Overview, Ingredients and Method. If you like the sound of the recipe, you press ‘Save’ to store it in your own binder. (Overseas friends… just to let you know this is a UK app, so the recipe ingredients are measured in  grams).

I love the fact that many of the recipes give a preparation and cooking time on the Overview tab. This is so useful, as it helps me to decide which recipes are suitable for busy weekday nights, and those which are better saved for the weekend.

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A lot of the recipes are accompanied by a photo but, since I’m one of those people that tends to make their food selections on photo rather than text, I’d personally love to see a photo for each recipe. There could be some great ones I’m missing just because there’s no photo!

recipe view 150px

Overall, I’m really impressed with this app and how easy it is to use. Clearly a lot of work has gone into it!

There are many recipes that I’m looking forward to trying, including this Vegetable and Chickpea Korma with Spicy Rice

Chickpea-and-Cashew-Korma

and this Avocado and Lime Salad

Avocado and Lime Salad

Doesn’t it look refreshing?

If you haven’t got a smart phone, or prefer to view your recipes on a larger screen, you can also access the recipe database via this link.

The Vegetarian Society has stacks of resources available online if you’d like to find out more about plant-based eating. There are guides that you can download in PDF format for free, including….

Going veggie…
Going veggie…for the taste
Going veggie…for the animals
Going veggie…for the environment
Going veggie…for health and wellbeing
Healthy eating for vegetarians
Why it’s green to go vegetarian
Meat-free made easy
Young veggie guide
Veggie Kids’ Kitchen
Veggie guide for teens and parents

You can also order individual guides and packs of resources to be sent to you in hard copy, free of charge.

So who fancies taking up the challenge?  I’m definitely on board 😉
If you try any new veggie recipes this week, I’d love to hear what you think of them. If you have any recommendations, please do share the recipe links in the comment section below.

Have a great week everyone! xx

17 thoughts on “National Vegetarian Week 2014 & The Vegetarian Society Mobile Recipe App

  1. Sharon! I’m so glad you shared this post – I love when people spread the word about a vegetarian lifestyle. I am copying the link to my twitter and facebook now!

  2. This looks like an awesome app! That korma looks delicious- I always order that in Indian restaurants but I have never tried making it myself! I just made a veggie burger inspired by one that I had in a cafe recently and it turned out so yummy! It’s made from lentils and chickpeas mainly and I made a quick 15-minute mango chutney to go on top…yummy! I’m saving the recipe for an e-book though. Thanks for letting us know about this cool app! I’m excited to check out the recipes.

    1. It is a cool app… just wish the ingredients were in cups as well as grams, so that my overseas friends could use it too!
      You should definitely try making a korma. It’s so easy! (even easier if you cheat & used a shop bought paste like I do 😉 ) I much prefer to make my own as I sub the dairy cream for coconut milk. Here’s my fave recipe (but you can basically use any veggies you like): http://bitofthegoodstuff.com/?p=3453
      Love the sound of your veggie burger! Have you ever tried making an Indian-spiced burger? (I use a tandoori spice mix) They go so well with home-made mango chutney ♥ Baked onion bhajis are lush too: http://bitofthegoodstuff.com/?p=6183 Gosh I’m craving Indian food now lol!

  3. Some fantastic Vegeterian recipes! They look yummy, colorful and sound just brilliant – i am without a doubt going to be adding these to my cookbook and thanks so much for the truly tasty post! x

    1. It’s an absolute pleasure Lucinda ♥ The Vegetarian Society app has so many tasty-looking recipes. I’m really looking forward to trying them out! If you try any yourself, and would recommend them to others, please do let me know,
      Have a wonderful weekend xx

  4. Just do it; no one needs to eat meat. Unless you’re a lion or something. And you’ll reduce pressure on a stressed planet by being veggie. Make a difference. And feel good! T.

  5. The app looks great! Thanks for the heads-up!

    I made a fab similar salad on Sunday that I would like to share: large bunch of mint leaves, large bunch of flat parsley, mixed lettuce, half a small jar of sundried tomatoes, some cherry tomatoes, cucumber ribbons, toasted pine nuts, lime juice, balsamic vinegar and olive oil…. one of Jamie Oliver’s salads in his 30 minute cookbook. It’s started trend through my friends and family! Happy sunny day to everyone!

    1. Oh wow that salad sounds totally lush! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe! ♥ I’m going to make it this weekend 😀 xx

  6. Happy National Vegetarian Week, Sharon! These recipes from The Vegetarian Society look and sound heavenly scrumptious including the Bombay Dosa with Chickpea Sauce (miam miam!) What an impressive app and nice that there are 365 vegan recipes! Kudos to The Vegetarian Society for making a difference! Go Veggie! xx

    1. Thanks Rika! ♥ I was instantly drawn to the Bombay Dosa recipe too! It sounds really yummy. I make chapattis all the time, but have never made dosas. Really looking forward to giving them a try! The recipe’s been posted here: http://www.nationalvegetarianweek.org/recipes/bombaydosa I’ve got all the ingredients apart from the curry sauce. I might just make my own with some curry paste and coconut milk 😉

  7. Thank you for posting about this, if I hadn’t seen your post last week I would never have known! I wish I’d had a moment to write about it too – spreading the word is so important, people don’t realise that eating veggie is actually better for them if they don’t go down a totally wheat based veggie diet – pasta, pasta, pasta!!

    I’ve just downloaded the app, can’t wait to have a look at some of these delicious recipes xo

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