Vegan in Paris / Pastries, Japanese Food & Nostalgia

Fun fact: my vegan journey began when I was living in France for a year, and over the weekend I had the opportunity to return to the scene of the crime! 

My friend and fellow blogger, Elisabeth (Red Violet Blog) invited me to a vegan Japanese cookery workshop, and so I made a weekend of it, arriving Thursday evening and staying until Sunday. Waves of nostalgia hit as I retraced some of the steps I'd taken with my family when we visited Paris for the first time back in 2004, and a second time in 2011. I was particularly dying to visit Montmartre and oh boy, it did not disappoint. Pure beautiful vibes, exactly as etched in my memory. Easily my favourite part of the entire city. It's no exaggeration to say that Paris will always have a special place in my heart.

What made this trip so vastly different from our family vacation though was that - now as an adult - I chose all the places I visited, stayed in a residential area as opposed to a hotel, and did a heck of a lot more walking through the busy streets. I packed so much into the weekend, it's actually borderline OTT. I had an amazing time with my friend (and her cat, Sésame!) and met some lovely people along the way. 

Naturally, I created a hit list of vegan places to visit. I hope you enjoy this week's video as much as I enjoyed editing it. And if you're planning a Paris trip, scroll down for my top picks of vegan places worth checking out.

1. Le Faitout - vegan bar and bistro. We enjoyed stunning French (vegan) cheese & desserts. Go for the live music too. It's a whole vibe.

2. Jah Jah by Le Tricycle - vegan restaurant serving hearty Ital food.

3. VG Pâtisserie - do not leave Paris without visiting this pastry shop. I'm serious. 

4. Hank Burger - one of a few chains (including Hank Pizza) serving up scrumptious vegan fast food.



5. Ara Chocolat - if you've got a chocolate-covered heart, be sure to stop by this cute, family-run artisan chocolate shop. As soon as you walk in, you'll be hit by the most intoxicating chocolate scent. I could have spent an hour in there.

6. Le Potager du Marais - my final restaurant stop of the trip. Go here for veganised classic French dishes. The customer service is also on-point.

And a couple of other pics worth sharing...

Apple-Miso turnovers made by Elisabeth. Can you say delicious! Find the recipe here.

Chef Miho serving up bite-size mont blancs. If you're ever in Nagoya (Japan), stop by her restaurant Grains!

Curried Avocado Pasta

This week, sink your fork into this no-fuss pasta dish. I made this on a whim one day after work, when I wanted something quick and hearty. Do give it a try, and don't forget to tag @vegannigerian on Instagram or Twitter if you share it online! Full recipe and video below!

You might also like this recipe: Creamy Avocado Pasta

Ingredients
(Serves 1-2)
- 200g spaghetti
- Water
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 red onion, chopped
- Handful green peas
- Handful sweetcorn
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1 ripe avocado
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 tbsp ground cashews (optional)








Boil the spaghetti in a large pot of lightly salted boiling water until cooked.

Heat the sunflower oil in a large frying pan and add the onion. Sauté for a couple of minutes, then add the peas and sweetcorn. Add curry and chilli powder, stir in the mashed avocado and splash of lemon juice. Add the cooked spaghetti to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Serve hot with a generous sprinkling of ground cashews.

Efo Riro with Mushrooms & Aubergine

In a bid to eat more greens, I made a batch of efo riro (spinach stew) over the weekend, piling in loads of mushrooms and aubergine to give it a lift. When it comes to 'veganising' Nigerian dishes, I've come to realise that it's often not enough to simply remove the meat. Mushrooms and aubergines are a great substitute if you're after something that's hearty and chunky.



This recipe is a much-needed update on my original efo riro recipe from 2013. Wow, I've come a long way with the photography and general presentation hehe. Hope you enjoy making and eating this!

Ingredients
(serves 4)
200ml red stew mix (blend of red bell pepper, tomatoes, onion and scotch bonnet)
2 tbsp palm oil or coconut oil
800g chopped spinach
1 aubergine (chopped)
250g mushrooms (chopped)
Salt, to taste

Bring the red stew and palm oil to a boil. Add the chopped spinach and chopped aubergine. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add the mushrooms and simmer for another 5 minutes. Season with salt.

Vegan in Sheffield

Lovely moments captured from a weekend trip I took to Sheffield a few weeks ago. Loads of vegan food options, fun times and great company.

If you haven't subscribed to my YouTube channel yet, what are ya doing? It's all good vibes over there :)

Vegan in Thailand

Summer vacation in Thailand (Bangkok and Pattaya) and you KNOW I went ready to eat everything vegan in sight! ;) Check out parts 1 and 2 of my travel vlog below:

Summer Vegan BBQ Party

I'm just catching up on updating my blog posts, and so much has happened since the end of July.

First up, this epic vegan barbecue organised by pal and fellow YouTuber DunguBook (follow him for some stellar vegan bodybuilding & nutrition tips, motivation, and more) at The Aeronaut pub in Acton, London. Some may say that a successful vegan barbecue can only be the stuff of dreams, but this party was a massive testament to the contrary. His barbecue from last year (read all about that here) was already impressive enough, but this year was off the scale.

There aren't enough words to describe everything that was amazing about it, so I'll let the short video below do the talking. You'll also notice in the clip that I had a stall at the party, selling some of my vegan cupcake creations - honoured to have been given the platform and thrilled to have met so many wonderful people and hear all their feedback!