Vegetarian Beatle Sir Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney's son James kicks off UK tour in Liverpool

I wrote this review for my newspaper and website Liverpool ECHO and Post. As the McCartney family have such strong links to the vegetarian community, it seemed appropriate to pop it on my blog too. Hope you enjoy:

BEING a Beatles baby can’t be easy – especially when you’re stood on stage as your audience gazes around the room hoping to see your famous father.

James McCartney, son of Sir Paul, kicked off his first UK tour in Liverpool, the birthplace of The Beatles, last night.

Looking like a younger, blonder version of his old man with a blue guitar slung round his neck, McCartney Jr. casually performed his set for the small but eager crowd.

He opened by dedicating his first song, New York City, to his Liverpool family and although his dad wasn’t backstage, his rock photographer uncle Mike was.

The 32-year-old also dedicated a song, called My Friend, to George Harrison whose birthday it would have been yesterday and paid homage to Sir Paul with his performance of I Love You, Dad.

The 14-strong setlist mingled angry, powerful rock numbers with soft, peaceful ballads. Simple lyrics and memorable melodies meant fragments of previously unheard songs stuck in the mind after just one play.

McCartney ploughed through his set, quickly introducing songs, singing them and moving onto the next. It wasn’t until a 50-something rocker yelled: “Go on, Jim lad” that McCartney cracked a smile and seemed suddenly more confident and at ease.

Although the multi-instrumentalist has played music all his life, he shied away from the limelight until last October when he played a handful of secret shows hiding behind the name “Light” in a bid to avoid his dad’s shadow.

At times he seemed uncomfortable and lacked the showmanship of his doe-eyed dad – but the audience warmed to him and roared their applause as he closed the concert with the words: “You are a heavenly audience. You’ve been the best audience in the whole wide world.”

Quinoa recipes

Quinoa, herb and pomegranate salad

Quinoa rice pilau with dill and roasted tomatoes

Here's some more but I'll add to this soon...

Winter Olympics: Gold and silver medalist Hannah Teter on being a vegetarian and posing for Sports Illustrated

Loads of my Google alerts are about American snowboarder Hannah Teter at the moment. I'm not interested in snowboarding so I haven't explored them much but she said something really positive about turning veggie last year.

She said: "I started that last year and feel stronger mentally and physically, and springier." (Read the whole interview with People Magazine.) I sometimes wonder how different I'd feel if I ate meat and fish: would I be fatter/ thinner, more alert, have healthier skin, hair etc...?

Having been a vegetarian for so long I have nothing to compare how I feel with. I guess I need to read the book I blogged on yesterday about the life-long vegetarian who started eating meat for health reasons.

Anyway...back to Hannah Teter. She eats loads of Quinoa. Quinoa is weird but really good for you.

Check out the blog post I've written on Quiona recipes. If you send your recipes and pics to jokelly2@googlemail.com I'll add them to the blog too.

Going slightly off on a tangent (but it's still connected), I found a piece written today about how vegetarian diets don't limit athletic excellence.

Sarah Gross writes: "Vegetarian diets are growing in popularity among athletes, for numerous reasons.

" One study by the Yale Medical Journal found that vegetarians are often more capable of maintaining athletic endurance than their meat-eating counterparts."

It's really worth a read. You'll find it here.

BOOK: The Butcher and the Vegetarian by Tara Austen Weaver

A Google alert popped up in my email saying: "A vegetarian goes over to the dark (meat) side."

I was intrigued.

The link led to a (slightly boring) Q&A with Tara Austen Weaver who gave up being a vegetarian when her holistic doctor suggeted she eat meat for health reasons. (Read the Q&A here)

She had been a veggie all her life. In her book she describes what it was like beginning to eat meat. This includes enjoying barbecued bacon and "meat hangovers"

The blurb on the book reads: "One Woman's Romp through a World of Men, Meat and Moral Crisis." This put me off. It makes it sound like some kind of Sex in the City meets the Bible meets a cook book.

Maybe it's just me. I hate it when people connect vegetarianism with morality. It's a personal choice about diet not some kind of religious superiority to those who eat meat.

I haven't read the book so I won't judge it. It might be fantastic...just with a rubbish blurb. Either way it'd be interesting to read about the effects of eating meat on the body and mind of a life-long vegetarian.

Check out Tara's website and blog.

McDonald's hope veggie burger and coffee will spur growth in Germany

McDonald's in Germany is apparently re-introducing the veggie burger to attract more women customers.

They think fresh food is more likely to bring in the female fast food lovers.

It will be made from potatoes, peppers and carrots. Although the Veggie Deluxe fills a guilty hole, I always liked the Quorn Premiere far more but according to a website I've found (Makeupyourownmind) there wasn't enough demand for it.

The website claims "The site has been set up for you to find out anything you would like to know about McDonald’s food, business, people and practices."

People ask questions and get them answered. Here's the answers on the Quorn Premiere and the Veggie Deluxe.

I haven't had a McDonald's for ages but the last thing I had involved chickpeas and an odd sauce. It helped ease a hangover but I won't be rushing back for another.

The Spicy Veggie Deli sandwich was good but didn't satisfy burger-cravings even though it was probably as laden with sugar and fat. (After a quick bit of research, I learn it contains 555 calories and 21g of fat - find out what the nutritional value of your McDonald's favourites here.)

My message has to be..

...BRING BACK THE QUORN PREMIERE!!!

I'm a Celebrity...king of the jungle celebrity chef Gino D'Acampo's vegetarian Eggs with Mediterranean Vegetables in Tomato Sauce recipe so good

As I've said before, I'm no cook. However, I'm trying at the moment because I'm doing that "low carb" diet again so bunging noodles in the microwave just won't cut it.

I found this brill recipe in Gino D'Acampo's book Fantastico! (£8.31 on Amazon)

It's called Eggs with Mediterranean Vegetables in Tomato Sauce (not exactly inventive) and is super easy, especially with my cheeky cheap cheat.

Instead of messing with all the fresh vegetables (because I was busy not lazy...honest) I got a tin of organic vegetables, which worked great. (I'm sure fresh veg is nicer and healthier though.) Anyway...enough chatting..here's the recipe from Gino's website.

But first...here are pictures of my attempt. Doesn't look too bad? It was really filling and super tasty. I recommed it.

Eggs with Mediterranean Vegetables in Tomato Sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
3 medium courgettes, roughly chopped
1 large yellow pepper, roughly chopped
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
5 fresh basil leaves
50g pitted Kalamata olives
4 medium eggs
70g freshly grated Cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper

Preparation:
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and fry the onion, courgettes and pepper until soft and browned, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper, add in the tomatoes, basil and olives. Cook, uncovered, over a medium heat for about 10 minutes or until the water from the tomatoes is well reduced.

Meanwhile, preheat the grill. Make four slight hollows in the tomato mixture and very gently break one egg into each. Sprinkle over the cheese and cook under the grill for about 10 minutes or until the eggs are set as you like them.

Serve immediately with warm crusty bread. (Not so great on the low carb diet but nevermind.)

Enjoy x