The two challenges for me as a vegan are my B12 and iron levels. I’ll save the B12 conversation for another time and talk about iron.
There are two types of iron – haem and non-haem; the latter is iron not found in animal tissue and is found in many plant foods.
In a healthy diet, you have to make sure that you’re getting all the nutrients you need. Sometimes I can get busy and plain old slack and last week my annual blood test came back showing that my ‘biochemistry is beautiful’, but I was a little low on iron.
Luckily, for this annoying vegan, I have a sister who is an annoying dietitian who supports my plant-based diet on the understanding that I keep it balanced. She reminded me that I need to up my legumes and leafy greens, oats, quinoa, and tofu.
So I rolled out my old favourite, ‘oh-no-the-invite-says-bring-a-plate-to-share’ last-minute salad that is full of iron.
The ingredients are very simple.
chickpeas
raw oats
red onion
capsicum
cumin
balsamic vinegar
rocket
tomato
parsley
sesame seeds
lemon or lime juice
Amounts? I don’t know – I just grab it as I go, but I usually use a tin of chickpeas. The method is very easy – I make layers.
Whenever I’m making a salad with onion, I make sure I pickle it first. I slice it up and let it soak in a little bit of vinegar while I’m getting the other ingredients organised.
The second ingredient I prepare is the tomato and once it is sliced up I’ll stir it into the onion.
The rest of it is really easy: you just layer it all into a bowl. I add the parsley, thinly sliced capsicum, chickpeas (keep the juice – aquafaba – you can use it to make a lot of tasty things – ask Dr Google).
Then I add cumin, raw oats – about one-quarter of the amount of chickpeas – and sesame seeds.
Last but definitely not least is the citrus juice. In this instance, it serves two purposes: it makes the salad taste super yummy, and it also assists the iron absorption*.
I then put some rocket into a large bowl and dump the whole salad on top and toss the lot.
If I am feeling extra cordon bleu, I’ll drizzle (see what I did there?) some sesame oil and sprinkle some nooch** over the top and toss again.
If you really want to bump up the iron on this, make a meal of it by adding some cooked quinoa and very lightly steamed broccoli.
Too easy. Try it, you’ll love it!
Signed, The Annoying Vegan
* Inhibitors of iron absorption include tannins so limit your coffee and tea when eating your iron-rich foods.
** Nutritional yeast – The Goddesses’ gift to vegans.
Lismore incumbent – Janelle Saffin MP
With just a few days until we head to the polls, The Echo asked the candidates for the seat of Lismore one last bunch of questions.
Lismore candidate Adam Guise
With just a few days until we head to the polls, The Echo asked the candidates for the seat of Lismore one last bunch of questions.
Lismore candidate Matthew Bertalli
With just a few days until we head to the polls, The Echo asked the candidates for the seat of Lismore one last bunch of questions.
Lismore candidate Vanessa Rosayro
With just a few days until we head to the polls, The Echo asked the candidates for the seat of Lismore one last bunch of questions.
Election 2023 – Lismore: Vanessa Rosayro AJP
Vanessa Rosayro, is running for the Seat of Lismore in the election at the end of next month. A dedicated vegan and animal advocate, Rosayro says the Animal Justice Party is about more than just loving animals.
Getting annoyed with NSW Farmers naming ‘rights’
The Annoying Vegan has become more annoyed today with what they see as the NSW Farmers getting on their high horse about the use of the words ‘meat’ and ‘milk’.
The annoying vegan – Iron salad
The two challenges for me as a vegan are my B12 and iron levels. I’ll save the B12 conversation for another time and talk about iron. There are two types of iron – haem and non-haem; the latter is iron not found in animal tissue and is found in many plant foods.
Eating vegan is no longer like Mac Vs PC
Remember back in the bad old days when you used either a PC or Mac? Those were your choices, and never the twain could meet. They were so many miles apart in operations that they were like different countries with different languages and appearances
Byron Bay Tempeh
There’s a reason everyone wants to live in the Northern Rivers, and a big part of that is the fresh food that’s made locally and the sustainable principles that many businesses make sure are underpinning that food.
Making no bones about the yumminess of No Bones
There’s nothing worse than an annoying vegan telling you about some ‘great vegan place’ they went to eat. So I am NOT going to do that – BUT, I am going to tell you about an amazing place I ate at recently. A place that sold food. Very yummy food. No Bones food.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
