Melanie moved from Devon in England to Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada with her husband and son. Upon making the move, Melanie became vegan and decided to start her own website, A Virtual Vegan. The response to it has been overwhelmingly positive, and it has been a wonderful experience for her.
Meatless Movement recently had the opportunity to chat with her.
She told Meatless Movement that she is incredibly fortunate to have the chance to publish her own cookbook, Vegan Comfort Cooking. The response to it has been remarkable, demonstrating the high quality of her work and the relevance of the content. It is a testament to her passion and dedication that the book has been so well received by the community.
After years of creating recipes and posting them on her website, she is still amazed by the amount of people that visit her website and use her cookbook every day. Seeing all the photos and comments from people who have tried her recipes brings her immense joy and she is incredibly thankful for the support she has received.
Melanie is absolutely delighted with the success of A Virtual Vegan, and the fact that she is able to share her recipes with so many people. Her enthusiasm for the project is palpable, and she is seriously thrilled that it has grown to the extent it has. She is passionate about cooking and loves the opportunity to share her recipes with the world.
Please tell us more about yourself
Vegan and LOVE comfort food? 😋You need a copy of my cookbook
Mel McDonald/A Virtual Vegan
I’m Melanie McDonald, the founder of the popular recipe website A Virtual Vegan and best-selling author of Vegan Comfort Cooking.
I have lived on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada since 2013, but am originally from Devon, England.
My website started off as a hobby and I had absolutely no idea it would snowball into what it is today. Looking back though, I had always loved creating recipes, writing and photography, so it was an all round natural fit. Once I’d found my stride and learned the basics, it was like I finally found my purpose in life. Being able to give up my day job to work on A Virtual Vegan full-time and publish a cookbook has been a dream come true!
How long have you been vegan and what is the reason?
I’ve been vegan since 2015. It was a pretty sudden, out of nowhere decision after a day at the Saanich Fair on Vancouver Island. I was petting a beautiful, really friendly cow in a ring, then heard over the loudspeaker that it was to be auctioned off and would be processed into steaks and roasts all ready for the buyer to collect later. The reality suddenly hit me and I turned to my husband and told him that I would never eat meat again.
When we got home, I started researching veganism and was horrified when I learned how milk and eggs are produced and the cruelty that happens, even on free-range or organic farms. From that day, I stopped buying/eating animal products and have been vegan ever since.
What is your favourite vegan dish to eat?
Being vegan here in BC is pretty easy and I’m really luck to live in a particularly vegan friendly area. When eating out most restaurants, cafes and pubs have vegan options.
My favourite all vegan place to grab a bite to eat is Chickpea in Vancouver. I could live on their Falafel platter. Their falafel, chickpea fries and hummus are divine, but to be honest, you can’t really go wrong with anything on the menu!
I also love the food at The Lotus Pond, Meet, Fern Cafe & Bakery, Virtuous Pie, The Acorn and if I’m wanting fancy Nightshade is my go-to.
At Fern I love the Big Bad Breakfast Sandwich. At The Lotus Pond my go-tos are the Szechaun Ginger B, Vegan Ham & Pepper Fried Rice, Spicy Salted Oyster Mushrooms, and Turnip Cakes. At Virtuous Pie I LOVE the garlic knots and the Superfunghi Pizza which involves cashew Mozzarella, herbed Potato Cream, truffle almond ricotta, mushroom, and piles of fresh arugula.
If I had to choose my own favourite recipes from my website I would probably have to go for my Vegan Ham, Vegan Parmesan Cheese, Vegan Spanakopita, and Vegan French Toast. They are the ones that I make myself over and over.
What advice would you give to someone considering veganism?
Find a handful of meat-free recipes that you know your family will enjoy and put them into your meal rotation while you’re using up the meat products you already have at home in the fridge and freezer. Keep the favourites going and introduce a new one every so often too. When grocery shopping make easy swaps like vegan ground beef instead of ground beef, and vegan sausages instead of pork sausages. Lots of little changes can have a positive impact!
I feel so good knowing that my diet is in line with my values and that through this way of living I am treating animals and our planet with compassion, love, and respect. It makes my heart happy!
Mel McDonald/A Virtual Vegan
A major change in your diet can be an upheaval in your life and can take some time to get used to. You need to find new foods and new ways of shopping, new recipes, learn new cooking skills and prepping techniques etc. It can easily become overwhelming when life is already so busy, so don’t forget to be gentle with yourself! Do it gradually, don’t make too many changes at once and make it fun!
If you later decide to become fully vegan, don’t completely change your style of eating. When people do this it very quickly becomes difficult to sustain and they ultimately end up falling off the wagon.
I always suggest people eat the foods they enjoyed before, but vegan versions of it, and then it’s not such a shock to the system. If you loved shepherds pie, make a vegan shepherd’s pie, if you enjoyed mac and cheese, make vegan mac and cheese, if you like a giant sandwich for lunch, have a giant sandwich for lunch. Eat lots of vegan cake! Eat whatever you need to make it fun, enjoyable and sustainable. Then once you get used to that, if you decide you want to eat a slightly healthier vegan diet, you can move towards it gradually.
I would also advise against trying to veganize favourite recipes because it usually goes wrong and it’s easy to become disheartened and think all vegan food sucks. My recommendation is to find already vegan recipes for your favourite things, and make sure they have good reviews. With a quick Google search you can find a vegan recipe for pretty much anything. By doing this, all the hard work has been done for you and you can be pretty confident that the recipe will turn out well first time round.
Most important choices involve compromise and veganism is in many ways all about compromise.
Mel McDonald/A Virtual Vegan
That’s often the case when eating out with family and friends. It’s unfair to expect them to eat at a vegan restaurant every single time so we just make sure to go to a place that has at least a couple of vegan options on the menu for me to choose from and occasionally we all go to a vegan place. Planning in advance makes it easier. Most restaurants and cafes have their menus online.
It’s been very rare that I’ve had problems finding vegan food when out and about and it usually happens in new places that I’m not familiar with. The Happy Cow App is a lifesaver in those situations. It allows you to find vegan, vegetarian, or vegan-friendly places that are nearby, wherever you are in the world.
My recipes are well-tested, very reliable, with an emphasis on flavour
What started as a hobby has grown into a full blown business that reaches millions of people every year and my work has been featured in publications such as Buzzfeed, Parade Magazine, BBC, NBC and Food Network
Mel McDonald/A Virtual Vegan
I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to build a career out of doing what I love. It makes me incredibly happy to know I’m making a difference for the animals and helping make people’s vegan transition easier and much tastier!
Mel McDonald/A Virtual Vegan she/her
all images courtesy of Mel McDonald / A Virtual Vegan