![Image of Nigella in pink jumper](/assets/uploads/latest/public-full-size/pinkjumperportrait-61bb6958f323f.jpg)
The first and most important thing to say to all of you is, of course: Happy and Healthy New Year! And I couldn’t wish it more emphatically. And yet we begin 2022 not quite as rosily — to say the least — as we had hoped. But there is enough doom and gloom out there without my adding to it, so what I thought I’d do here is to draw your attention, and in some cases, remind you of the recipes I turn to gladly for comfort, and which make me feel cosily contained in the cocooning embrace of home.
![Image of Nigella's Soupy Rice](/assets/uploads/latest/public-full-size/soupyrice-613f6a848156a-61bb6a0e8ee3d.jpg)
I have to start off with that beige-but-not-bland bowl of blissful succour: Soupy Rice with Celeriac and Chestnuts. Although it’s not, as written, vegan, it is oh-so-easily veganisable: simply use olive oil in place of butter, and vegetable (or mushroom) stock in place of the chicken broth; and actually, I have to tell you that I often use a vegan chicken-style stock powder. The Moroccan Vegetable Pot is already vegan — not that every recipe I’m listing here is, but I know that many of you will be going in for Veganuary, and I would like to do my bit, too — and it warms both body and soul; I’m always grateful to have a batch of it in the fridge.
![Image of Nigella's Moroccan Vegetable Pot](/assets/uploads/latest/public-full-size/moroccanvegpot-5a14475a7fb73-61bb6a336f40b.jpg)
This January, too, I have plans to make vats of Split Pea Soup with Ginger and Lime, as I adore its heartiness and zing! It, too, is vegan, and with it I want slice after slice of my Old-Fashioned Sandwich Loaf. I admit I want butter spread — and thickly — on mine, but of course you do not have to follow suit. And to make the sandwich loaf vegan is easy: replace the sour milk with plant-based yogurt, and the butter with vegetable shortening, such as Trex/Crisco.
![Image of Nigella's Split Pea Soup](/assets/uploads/latest/public-full-size/splitpeasoup-5ea80366450de-61bb6a573f8d7.jpg)
![Image of Nigella's Old Fashioned Sandwich Loaf](/assets/uploads/latest/public-full-size/old-fashioned-sandwich-loaf-5f-61bb6a7597c7c.jpg)
On the 1st of January last year, I debuted my Vegan Spag Bol, and I want — with apologies to all Italians — to sing its praises here again! And this, along with three of the other recipes I’ve already mentioned, will be cropping up as Recipe of the Day in January, too.
![Image of Nigella's Vegan Spag Bol](/assets/uploads/latest/public-full-size/veganspagbol-5fe0c3c878923-61bb6a95b4302.jpg)
And now for pud! Although it was a proudly posted Recipe of the Day in December, I have no hesitation in alerting you to the Luscious Vegan Gingerbread here now. I make it on repeat throughout winter, and we still have quite a lot of that to come. And I can’t contemplate the dark skies ahead without the happy anticipation of several warm and gooey bowlfuls of Sticky Toffee Pudding!
![Image of Nigella's Luscious Vegan Gingerbread](/assets/uploads/latest/public-full-size/lusciousvegangingerbread-5fc00-61bb6ad557180.jpg)
![Image of Nigella's Sticky Toffee Pudding](/assets/uploads/latest/public-full-size/stickytoffeepudding-5a14481434-61bb6af2cadb3.jpg)