Philip Meyer, Regional Head Chef of our south region at Avery Healthcare, has been recognised at the Vegetarian for Life Awards for creating inventive, commercially viable vegan dishes.
Vegetarian for Life (VfL) hosted its Awards for Excellence in Vegetarian and Vegan Care Catering in the Jubilee Room at the Houses of Parliament. Care home and hospital caterers, as well as suppliers and advocates, came together to celebrate innovation in vegetarian and vegan care meals.
Philip Meyer impressed the judges with his culinary creativity, earning the award for Most Innovative Vegan Recipe. His winning dishes included a butternut squash and minted pea roll, alongside a white chocolate and raspberry mousse. You can find the recipes for both dishes below.
The ceremony featured high-profile presenters, including actors Peter Egan and Paul Higgins, campaigner Heather Mills, and vegan rights advocate Jordi Casamitjana. Award sponsor Neil Duncan-Jordan MP also addressed the importance of vegetarian and vegan choices in care settings. Attendees took part in workshops focused on making plant-based meals a regular and inclusive feature in care settings.
Showcasing innovation and dedication across the sector, the VfL Awards affirm that vegetarian and vegan options must be accessible in every care setting.
Find Philips recipes below:
Oriental Butternut squash and minted pea roll recipe (Serves 4)
Ingredients:
- Butternut squash 750g
- Garden peas 500g
- Dry white wine 0.5lts
- Sticky rice 300g
- Seaweed 4 sheets
- Vegeset 200gr
- Olive oil 1tsp
- Mint Sauce 1tsp
- Peel, deseed and cut the butternut squash into 5mm dice pieces. Roast in a small amount of olive oil until soft, place in a pan with a little dash of white wine and add half of the vegeset spread on a piece of parchment paper and leave to cool.
- Place the peas into a pan of boiling salted water, cook until tender, and drain well. Blend with a tsp of mint sauce and set aside.
- Place the rice in a pan, add the white wine with the ratio of 1.5 rice to 1.0 liquid, cook until all the liquid has been absorbed and set aside.
- Place the seaweed on a sheet of foil, spread the sticky rice to cover the seaweed, then the butternut squash and finally the minted pea puree.
- Roll the seaweed from one side to the other until you have a cylinder shape. Cut this into 2cm pieces.
Vegan white chocolate & Raspberry mousse served with a pumpkin seed shortbread & a kiwi puree (Serves 4)
Ingredients:
- Vegan white chocolate 150g
- Fresh raspberries 300g
- Pumpkin seeds 30g
- Plain flour 50g
- Vegan margarine 25g
- Fresh kiwi 4
- Elmlea Plant cream 200ml
- Casted sugar 2tbls
- Vegeset 200g
- Start off with whisking the Auqafaba until it forms a soft peak, then carefully fold in the melted and cooled white chocolate and set aside.
- For the raspberry mouse, gently cook the raspberries in a pan with a bit of sugar, add the vegeset and put it in a blender until smooth.
- Whip up the remainder of the Auqafaba until it forms soft peaks and carefully fold into the raspberry mixture and set aside.
- Line a round cake tin with clingfilm and pour half of the white chocolate mousse mixture to cover the base roughly one inch thick, place in the fridge for a few minutes.
- When set, pour the raspberry mixture on the white chocolate mousse and return to the fridge. Then, place the remaining white chocolate mousse in the fridge until completely set, roughly 2 hours.
- For the short bread, combine the margarine, sugar and flour together to form a soft dough, being careful not to over mix. Carefully roll out on a floured surface and with a round cutter, cut out with a thickness of mm.
- Place on a baking sheet, brush with a bit of water and sprinkle over the pumpkin seeds, making sure you gently push them into place.
- Bake in an oven for 15-20 minutes at 160°C, when cooked, take out and cool in the tray.
- To make the kiwi puree, start off by peeling and roughly cutting into chunks, place in a pan and cook with a bit of sugar. When tender, place in a blender and blend until smooth.
- With a blow torch, heat the mousse tin for a few seconds and decant onto a board, cut into wedges, and place on a serving plate. Sweep the kiwi puree to one side, and finish off with the pumpkin seed shortbread.
