In 2016, childhood friends from Sheffield Henry Firth and Ian Theasby joined forces with a mission to put more plants on plates. What began as a simple idea has grown into BOSH! – the world’s biggest plant-based social media brand.
The duo are the creative minds behind six Sunday Times Bestselling cookbooks, including BOSH!: Simple Recipes. Amazing Food. All Plants, the UK’s best-selling plant-based cookbook of all time. They also fronted the ITV’s first ever plant-based cookery series, Living on the Veg, and have launched their own BOSH! product range, now available in all major supermarkets.
- What motivates you to eat meat free?
We eat meat free because it’s the simplest and most effective way for us, both personally and as a business, to have a positive impact on the planet. We’ve also found huge personal health benefits. Our energy levels are more consistent, we feel lighter and more agile, and we sleep well and wake up refreshed. It’s a win for the planet and a win for our bodies.
- What items are always in your fridge?
BOSH! Nooch, BOSH! cakes, BOSH! chilled meals and BOSH! pizzas, of course.
- It’s Meat Free Monday and you’ve got a friend coming round – what are you going to cook for them?
Monday is the perfect day to do something good for your body and start the week in the right way. If a friend was coming round, we’d activate our ‘chop, toss, roast technique’, a super simple, time-efficient way to get healthy food on the table.
We’d take a block of firm tofu, cut it into cubes, and throw it in a bowl with cherry tomatoes and chunks of sweet potato. Then we’d spray over a little olive oil, add a nutritional yeast-based seasoning, maybe something smoky or BBQ inspired, and season with salt and pepper.
Toss it all together, roast it for 25-30 minutes until the sweet potato is tender, and serve with a side of salad, kimchi, hummus and mixed seeds. It’s colourful, packed with plant points, fibre, protein and flavour – the perfect Monday meal.
- What was the last thing you ate?
The last thing was a reformulated version of our BOSH! Creamy Mac & Greens ready meal. We’d been testing ways to get more nutritional yeast into the recipe and can confirm the tweak worked beautifully. It was delicious.
- If you had to choose only one country’s cuisine to eat forever, which would you choose?
Italy would be right at the top of the list – pasta, lasagne, pizza, fresh tomatoes, basil … Italian food has it all.
- Sweet or savoury?
Savoury all the way.
- Pizza or pasta?
Pizza.
- Tofu or beans?
Beans – you can never have too many.
- Mild or spicy?
Spicy, always!
- What advice would you give to people wanting to give meat free a try?
Just give it a go, but remember to think about your nutrition.
When we first went plant-based over ten years ago, there wasn’t nearly as much information out there as there is now, so we made a few mistakes early on. It’s important not to just rely on packaged goods – fill your basket with whole foods like vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts and seeds.
Do a bit of research and get creative in the kitchen. Going meat free isn’t restrictive, it’s actually the opposite. When you close the door on meat, you open the door to a world of colourful, varied and delicious food.
And if you ever need inspiration, head to bosh.tv or find us across social media, we’ve got hundreds of free recipes to get you started.
Try Henry and Ian’s recipes for Quick ‘n’ Easy Pad Thai, Garlicky Butter Beans and Hummus Pasta, and follow them at bosh.tv for more recipes and inspiration.