Life Health Foods Teams Up With Foodie Fave Ganesh Raj For World Vegetarian Month

New Zealand’s original plant-based brand collective, Life Health Foods - best known for LISA’S, Bean Supreme, and Naked Cuisine - has collaborated with foodie-favourite and celebrated restaurateur Ganesh Raj to create delicious plant-based recipes and encourage Kiwis to celebrate World Vegetarian Month by getting in their kitchens and cooking up a storm.

Combatting three of the most common barriers to plant-based eating – price, taste, and nutrition – each recipe offers simple and budget-friendly meals that are also full of all the good stuff!

With more than 1 in 3 Kiwis actively wanting to reduce their meat consumption according to a recent Life Health Foods and Food Frontier Colmar Brunton study, World Vegetarian Month has grown in popularity in recent years to become a notable occasion on the plant-based calendar, with many people using the month as an opportunity to give plant-based eating a try.

Health was cited as the main factor for those reducing meat intake – and a new study by Food Frontier, which looked at plant-based meat alternatives such as meat-free mince, beefless burgers and vege sausages, found that when compared to similar conventional meat products, had:

• lower total fat;
• half to five times less saturated fat;
• higher Health Star Ratings in 5 of 6 product categories, and the same for the 6th category (mince);
• lower or comparable kilojoules and sodium;
• higher or comparable protein.

Life Health Foods is committed to making plant-based eating affordable, easy and nutritious. Several of its plant-based products exceeded averages found within the survey, including two that feature in Ganesh’s recipes; Alternative Meat Co Sausages – 4 stars (plant based average 3.7); and Bean Supreme Beetroot Burgers – 5 stars (plant based average 3.7).

With more and more Kiwis seeking plant-based alternatives for a variety of reasons, culinary preferences have not changed - hence the demand for plant-based alternatives akin to conventional meat products. These alternatives offer customers their all-time favourite foods in convenient and familiar formats like mince and sausages, without the adverse health and environmental impacts. Aside from meat alternatives, traditional vegetarian products such as tofu are also on the rise in popularity, with supermarket tofu sales having grown 51.2% over the past year.

Ganesh’s recipes not only use these meat-alternative products, but also offer the same (if not better!) flavours, traditionally found in meaty dishes. Working closely with Life Health Foods to design his three recipes, Ganesh wanted to highlight how easy, flavoursome, and healthy plant-based meals can be.

“Delicious and hearty meals don’t need to cost the earth, or your pocket, nor take a huge amount of time to create, which is why I’ve developed these three recipes for Kiwis to give a go.”

Ganesh, The Tasting Shed owner and co-host of Eat Well For Less NZ, added, “Plant-based eating plays a big part on my family’s menu. I want to show all Kiwis how simple it can be to experiment with your food and create exciting flavours so that mealtime isn’t boring in any household.”

Life Health Foods International Marketing Manager, Mark Roper added, “At Life Health Foods, we want to encourage Kiwis to discover how quick and simple plant-based eating can be. We’re encouraging everyone to add more meat alternatives to their diets, not only for World Vegetarian Month, but for every month going forward.”

Using a range of readily-available fresh ingredients and full-flavoured products from Alternative Meat Co., Vegie Delights and Bean Supreme, whether you are vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian, or a meat and two veg lover, these meals are bound to reignite your taste buds:

· Potato Rosti Stack:

The perfect nutritious brunch idea, the Potato Rosti Stack comes with poached egg, smashed avocado, basil and jalapeno salsa, featuring the Bean Supreme Beetroot Burger.

· Chilli Dog:

Indulge with this full-flavoured fully loaded chilli dog, featuring the Alternative Meat Co. Sausage and Vegie Delights Mince.

· Mapo Tofu:

Instead of a takeaway this weekend, why not try this Chinese-inspired dish that oozes with flavour using the Bean Supreme Firm Tofu and Vegie Delights Savoury Mince, and comes in at just $5 per serve.

Full recipes can be found here.

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