The Vegan Dinosaur is a weekly cooked vegan meal plan service, established by a 26-year-old Saudi entrepreneur Mansour Barri.
“My goal is to show people that vegan food is not boring, it is actually delicious,” Barri told Arab News.
“We try to use whole foods in our dishes as much as possible, such as homemade peanut butter and plant-based milks. In addition, we love to experiment with mock meats such as seitan, which tastes exactly like meat when seasoned correctly, and we will be adding homemade tofu and tempeh to our menu soon.”
Barri became a vegetarian when he was studying in Ireland three years ago. “The reason behind this choice was because I had anxiety and panic attack issues at the time. When I spoke to a friend about this, he suggested a plant-based diet.
“After some research, it appeared much healthier than the regular food I was eating at the time. After that conversation, I became a pescatarian for a year, and then shifted to vegetarianism and now to veganism. Since then, my life has changed a lot; I became more aware of my body and its needs, my mind is clearer and I became more aware of the environment and its issues.”
When he returned to Jeddah, he faced problems eating since there were not many vegan options available.
“I tried to subscribe to different meal prep food providers, their vegan options were not that nutritious nor tasty. Therefore, I started cooking for myself; sometimes I would bring food to work or cook for my friends.”
The feedback he received encouraged him to start his own business. “This encouraged me and had me experimenting with different recipes. I tried to combine different foods from different cultures such Italian, Indian, Thai, West African and Portuguese. I also tried to ‘veganize’ some of the meat recipes, such as the pasta bolognese, and turn it vegan by adding lentils instead of meat.”
Barri said the number of vegans has increased in the Kingdom over recent years.
“I believe there has been a huge shift in the Saudi perspective, especially among the new generation regarding the environment and environmental awareness.
“The vegan diet provides the full amount of protein, and the nine essential amino acids that the body needs. This can be done by combining grains such as brown rice, quinoa and buckwheat with beans such as black beans, red kidney beans and different types of lentils.
“The body needs only 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight. Eating two servings of rice, two servings of beans and one serving of oats is more than enough to meet the daily required amount of protein that the body needs.”
The healthy vegan diet contains plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds, “and because of that, they tend to be higher in vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and fiber, and are also low in cholesterol and saturated fats.”
Customers can reach out on Instagram (@the.vegan.dinosaur) for orders. Their current weekly plan includes two meals and two snacks a day, and can be delivered anywhere in Jeddah.