Embrace your inner veggie lover with these 3 tasty vegan recipes

Wanna switch to the veggie world? Or a “seasoned” vegan  already? (Sorry, we couldn’t help ourselves)! Swapping your skin care routine to a natural and vegan one is pretty straightforward. I mean, it’s as easy shopping here.  But the thought of eating veggies day and night without getting bored might seem intimidating, if you’re not already there. Fear not, as always, we're here to help.

Building on our journal post, “How a good diet can boost your skincare routine”, here you can find 3 tasty, fresh and easy to make vegan dishes which are packed with nature's powerful skin foods. Tuck in and embrace your inner veggie lover with these amazing recipes: 

Veggie stuffed tomatoes (4 diners)

Ingredients: 

• 3 onions

• 3 garlic cloves

• 3 green peppers 

• 1 red pepper 

• 500 grams of chopped tomato. 

• 8-10 vine tomatoes

• 150 grams of grated vegan cheese 

• 2 full spoons of extra virgin olive oil

• 2 full spoons of white wine

• Salt 

• Black pepper 

Preparation:

1. First of all wash the vegetables and dice them finely. Put the 2 full spoons of extra virgin olive oil into a sauce pan and once it’s hot, add the onions and the garlic and let them cook for around 4 or 5 minutes. After this time, add the green and red peppers and cook it for 10-15 more minutes till the peppers are soft. 

2. When all the veggies are cooked, we add the chopped tomatoes, the salt, black pepper and the 2 full spoons of wine and we leave to cook on a slow heat for 15 more minutes. 

3. We then wash the vine tomatoes and cut a small “cap” from each tomato and then we empty them with a spoon. Once all of them are empty we need to fill them with the veggies till they are full. 

4. To finish with our recipe we preheat the oven to 180 ºC. When it’s hot we introduce the stuffed tomatoes and oven them for 30 minutes. After this time we add the grated vegan cheese on top and we oven them for 10 more minutes. 

SERVE, AND ENJOY. 

Comments: Tomatoes are really rich in antioxidants including vitamin C; eating tomatoes may help reduce the amount of cell-damaging free-radicals in the body which are helpful allies in  reducing the damage caused by the UV radiation from the sun. Vic C can  also help avoid the appearance of wrinkles by boosting collagen production and revive dull skin.

Citrus salad (4 diners)

Ingredients: 

• Spinach leaves

• Brazil nuts 

• 1 avocado

• 1 Orange 

• ½ Grapefruit 

• 20 Cherry tomatoes

• Fresh mint

Dressing:

• 1 small spoon of lemon juice

• 3 big spoons of extra virgin olive oil

• 1 spoon of balsamic vinegar 

• Salt and pepper (to taste)

Preparation:

Wash, dry, chop, serve, dress, eat.

Comments: Oranges, grapefruits and tomatoes are a great source of vitamin C. Taking vitamin C orally can enhance the protection from the sun’s harmful UV rays and give a luminous aspect to your skin. In addition, vit C also increases collagen production making your skin look tighter. 

Avocado: Avocados have high amounts of healthy fats and are excellent sources of vitamin E and C. All these nutrients work together to prevent skin damage and are essential to keep skin flexible, elastic and moisturised. If you’re a Netflix lover, you may have seen that the ethical supply of Avocados has been brought into question recently. As always, you can ask questions of your grocery store to see if they know where your avocados are sourced. Buy fair trade if available, and if you’re in Europe, consider buying closer to home, with countries like Spain growing alternatives to those shipped from further afield.

Brazil nuts: These type nuts are really rich in selenium and zinc. These two minerals are widely used to keep your skin nourished and glowing. These nutrients also protect cells from damage and infections reducing UV damage and reducing the appearance of ageing signs. Little known fact alert… the world’s largest exporter of Brazil nuts is…. Bolivia. Everyday is a school day, right?

Veggie burger (4 diners)

Ingredients: 

• 400 grams of already cooked chickpeas

• 100 grams of cooked rice 

• ½ Onion

• 2 garlic cloves

• 5 full spoons of breadcrumbs

• Parsley and coriander (to taste). 

• 1 big spoon of extra virgin olive oil 

• Salt and black pepper (to taste)

Preparation:

1. First of all we chop the garlic, the onion, the parsley and the coriander. Once this is done we need to add all the ingredients (apart from the breadcrumbs) into a big bowl and we crush all the ingredients with a blender or by hand till we obtain a consistent paste. 

2. We then add the breadcrumbs and we mix it all. We let stand for 15-20 minutes in the fridge. If the burger “meat”  is too runny to then give it shape, you can add a little extra breadcrumbs. 

3. Once the mass is ready we now can give shape to our chickpea patties and cook them in a saucepan or over griddle, with a bit of extra virgin olive oil. 

Comments: 

Chickpeas are rich in magnesium. This helps reduce the fine lines and wrinkles on the skin. It also helps in balancing out the fatty acids in the body which increases the elasticity of the skin. This will allow to reduce the appearance of premature wrinkles and smooth fine lines. 

Extra virgin olive oil is a vitamin E rich ingredient which is essential for skin health. Its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties make this oil a fantastic protector against sun damage and will also help increase the moisturising retention capacity of the skin.  

Over to you!

So there you have it! three fantastic vegan dishes to help you, and your skin, wherever you are on your journey to becoming a veggie lover. Veggies are not only tasty but can also help keep our body, mind and skin healthy.

If you want to learn more about the benefits of a good diet and the impact eating well can have on your skin check out our dedicated post “How a good diet can boost your skincare routine”.