5 MINUTES WITH AN EVERYDAY VEGAN: Eni from Croatia

Eni is 21 years old and she is a veggie lover. We have asked her about her vegan life and cooking tips.

I’ve been born and raised on small island called Lošinj situated in the small Mediterranean country Croatia. Currently I’m living on my own while studying at a Biotechnology and medical research college. I spend my free time running and writing recipes for my blog called plantbasedweb and posting pictures on my instagram page @plantbased_andhealthy.

How did you become vegan?

I became vegan practically overnight almost 2 years ago when I accidentally stumbled upon one of the Freele’s video. That same night I watched the documentary Earthlings and Forks Over Knives. And that was it, guess something just clicked in me and I felt that it was the right thing to do. It was honestly the best decision I have ever made and since then I have never looked back.

What is the most common question you have to answer about veganism and how do you answer it?

The most common question about a vegan diet that I get asked is of course where I get my protein and minerals from. I even encountered some nutritionist in my college telling me that it is not possible to eat vegan and be healthy. I usually answer by telling them that all plants have protein and not to mention legumes and beans and oats and tofu and so on that are packed with all macro nutrients and important minerals. I try to educate them a little bit about that topic depending on how much they are interested in it.

What is your Favourite Snack?

It is definitely oat-banana cookies. You just mix your oats, mashed bananas, cinnamon and little bit of maple syrup and bake it for 15 minutes and you are done. Easy to make and still delicious and nutritious 🙂

Perfect Breakfast?

Depending on my mood that day. Sometimes I’m feeling oatmealy and I get creative by adding berries, banana, peaches, peanut butter, chocolate and so on… But sometimes I feel nicecreamy (nicecream is what I like to call banana ice cream – aka blended frozen bananas). The thing I like about nicecreams is you can make all sorts of different flavours such as chocolate nicecream, coconut nicecream, lime nicecream… and you can always get creative with your toppings to.

Favourite Vegan Place

Unfortunately where I live there are no vegan places. The closest vegan place is in the capital city of Croatia which is a few hours ride from my city, so I don’t go there very often. That’s a shame because there’s one vegan fast food restaurant called Green Point I adore.

Favourite Vegan Product

I guess it’s nutritional yeast (vegan crack as I call it) and almond-coconut milk from Alpro.

Tips on vegan cooking

– If you are trying to cut out the oil you can use soy sauce instead of oil for sauteing your veggies.

– Also if you are pasta lover, as I am, next time you are making a pasta dish cook pasta 1 minute less than the package instructions and cook it the rest of the way in the pan with sauce. I like to make a lot of sauce so I can just freeze leftovers in ice cub trays. The cubes can be reheated in a pan when you need a quick sauce.

Do you track your blood?

I track my blood results every year just because of my worried parents. The last blood result was great and everything came back as it should.

Do you take any supplements?

I don’t take any supplements yet, but I think I will start taking some B12 shoots next year. I’m still researching about that.

Here is one of my favourite and easy raw dessert recipes from my blog, It’s called: Raw Cheesecake Paradise

Ingredients

Crust

• 1/2 cup raw almonds
• 1/2 cup of oats
• 3 or 4 soft medjool dates, pitted ( soaked in warm water 30 minutes before )
• 1 tbsp maple syrup (or any other kind of syrup)
• pinch of salt

Filling

• 1½ cups cashews, presoaked
• 9 tbsp maple syrup (or any other  kind of syrup)
• 5 tbsp coconut oil, liquified
• few tbsp of lime juice
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup of mixed berries
• pinch of salt
• splash of coconut milk

Instructions

• Throw the ingredients for the crust into your food processor. Process it until well processed ( it must obtain a sticky mixture ). Test the crust by spooning out a small amount of mixture and rolling it in your hands ( If the ingredients hold together, your crust is perfect )
• Spread the mixture into the pan and press it to evenly arrange.

Congrats, your crust is done!

• Drain the cashews and place them in the food processor along with the rest of the filling ingredients. Add as little plant-based milk as necessary to facilitate blending. (Try to add as little  as possible – mixture must be smooth and creamy)
• Pour mixture on top of crust.
• You are officially done with your perfect raw and cruelty free cheesecake. Store in the freezer and take out 30 minutes before serving

“Didn’t I tell you this will be easy?!”

Get more inspiration from Eni on her Instagram page @plantbased_andhealthy