Marks and Spencer Vegan Meal Deal - New M&S Vegan Sandwich

As soon as I saw news on instagram of M&S having quite a few vegan options in their food to go range and which you can get as part of their meal deal, I just had to try it. There's lots of drink , which are obviously vegan and a few snack options but they have always lacked mains. New to the range are things like the M&S sweet potato nourish bowl, a cauliflower trio pot but the key items of interest for me were the two new vegan sandwiches - one, a supergreens with edamame and pea crush on linseed and chiabread and this rainbow veg one with chilli squash and pumpkin seeds on soft red pepper bread. Both contain no mayo, no dairy and are 100% plant based.

I also picked up one of the cauliflower trio snack pots, apple wedges with peanut butter and a carrot juice shot with turmeric and a cold pressed apple, beetroot and celery juice. The meal deal currently is £4 , which is reasonable value.

This rainbow veg sandwich certainly looks colourful and with roasted red and yellow peppers, courgette, red onions, avocado and spinach along with the butternut crush makes this one of your five a day and the whole thing is only 311 calories.

It's a great mix of flavour, colours and textures and just a delicious sandwich in its own right, regardless of it being plantbased. I love the roasted red pepper bread and could happily eat this on its own - it's soft with a lovely gentle meditteranean flavour with a hint of sundried tomato tanginess.

With no dairy or eggs, the butternut paste makes for a lovely plant based spread and is soft, fresh tasting and perfectly spiked with a bit of very mild chilli heat. The peppers are roasted to perfection and are soft and juicy which provide a nice contrast to the cool, creamy avocado.

Spinach adds freshness and a bit of leafy crunch and the pumpkin seeds actually work really nicely in the sandwich, again providing a nice textural counterpoint and amazingly they don't fall out or scatter everywhere.

M&S have created a sandwich masterpiece here. With so many different things going on, they all work well individually but also work together in harmony for a very well balanced sandwich.  Forgot dry boring old vegan sandwiches, this is one of the best pre-made sandwiches I've seen that's 100% plant based.

Vegan Snacks - Marks and Spencer Vegan Cranberry and Strawberry Bar with Cacao Nibs

One of the things I've found surprisingly simple as I start my move to a more plant based journey is just how easy it is to treat yourself. I made a little trip to Wholefoods Market and found loads of great, little products, which I relished trying and got excited to. Going plant based doesn't have to mean deprivation, it's just about finding things that really excite you

These were just a few nice little drinks and snacks that I picked up - dairy free milkshakes are easy to whip up but this cacao orange drink by Rebel Kitchen is really sweet and a great little pick me up and actually really quite low in sugars. The Daily Cultures tea is just normal green tea but with good bacteria in - unlike bacteria used in dairy cultures, it's unaffected by boiling water or stomach acid. Other finds which I'll talk about in later posts are delicious ginger and turmeric oaty biscuits by Rude Health and really delicious alternatives to crisps.

But healthy and plant based doesn't have to mean trips to the health food store, I was delighted to find these cranberry and strawberry chunky bars with cocoa nibs in Marks and Spencers of all places. Now often a lot of supermarkets have vegan products but don't label them as such but this clearly and proudly states suitable for vegetarians and vegans on the back.

Initially I thought this might be an M&S take on a Nakd bar but it's a really different kind of bar. It's much bigger (hence the chunky name) and whilst 45g vs a 35g Nakd bar might not sound a lot, in size it is a lot bigger as it's made up of less heavy ingredients with no nuts so not as squat and dense as a Nakd bar.

They're a lot less firm and very sticky, it takes a little skill to peel it away from the wrapper and it's a lot softer and chewier. It's made up predominantly of dried apricot and dried cranberries with a ittle dried apple, strawberry puree and some oatflakes, soy beans and cocoa nibs for added texture, bite and a bit of crunch.

It's extremely moist and really full on fruity flavoured. The cocoa nibs don't really add a chocolatey flavour but more temper the natural sweetness. The soy beans although small in percentage of ingredients do add an unexpected texture and are maybe a little hard but help stop this being a purely squidgey eat.

It's really nice to see M&S offer a tasty, convenient vegan snack bar made up of only natural ingredients. It's a little high in (natural) sugars and could do with more oats or nuts to reduce the dried fruit sugars but overall a really tasty bar and one I bought quite a lot of