In the wilderness of the London grab-and-go lunchtime race, there was once a widely available wrap in a high street lunch chain that ticked all my boxes: nice, filling and vegan. Its makers still have plenty of decent plant-based options on their menu, so I won’t be naming and shaming them. I miss this particular wrap, though. It had chickpeas for protein, curry sauce to add flavour and fat, and crispy peppers and greens to round it out. But its moment in the sun was brief, and in its place today is a different wrap where hummus is the main ingredient, alongside some veg and shredded carrot. I say this as someone who thinks hummus is the spice of life: hummus is a condiment, not a meal.
There has never been a better time to be a vegan in the UK. We’re long past the point where going vegan over concerns for animals, your health or the planet requires subsisting on falafel and veggie burgers. But at the same time, there are also lots of vegan dishes that have clearly been put on the menu just to tick a box. Dining out can still feel like a roll of the dice: is it going to be a flavourful salad with crispy chickpeas, wild rice, seeds and some incredible mystery dressing, followed by a juicy coconut cake? Or will it be mushroom risotto again, and a sad sorbet?
