Happy Pear new vegan cookbook

The ever-popular Happy Pear twins, aka David and Stephen Flynn, are back with another vegan cookbook.

Entitled The Happy Pear Vegan Cooking For Everyone it contains over 200 recipes but it's more than a simple cookbook; it’s also packed with information and tips to make vegan cooking easier. Each of the ten chapters explains principles of flavour and texture so readers can learn essential steps and techniques to then create their own spin on dishes.

How to go vegan

If you’re thinking of going vegan, or just want to have a couple of meat-free days a week it can be tricky to know where to start so we asked David and Stephen for their top tips.

Here are a few simple steps you can incorporate easily into your life:

Swap meat for beans in any dish to create a vegan version that is still high in fibre. Beans and legumes have the highest amounts of fibre of any wholefoods.
Replace white pasta with brown pasta. It is much higher in fibre and so much better for your digestive system.
Similarly, replace white rice or noodles with brown rice for the same reasons.
If you don’t like a lot of vegetables, try to start with eating more fruit. There are loads of beautiful fruits available in Ireland during the summer like raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries and European fruits like melons and nectarines.
When baking, you can replace an egg by simply make a ‘vegan’ egg by using one tablespoon of ground flax to three tablespoons of water. Mix in a cup and leave to sit for 5 minutes and it functions like an egg in vegan baking.