There's a lot more to vegan food than taking meat and dairy off the menu. Some of the most interesting flavours and combinations come from ingredients that have been part of cooking traditions around the world for centuries.
Think of the spices and pulses used in Indian cooking, the chickpeas and tahini found in Middle Eastern dishes, or the countless ways vegetables, grains and herbs are brought together in Mediterranean food. None of these ingredients needs to imitate something else to be worth eating.
World Vegan Day falls on 1 November and has its roots here in Britain. It was established by The Vegan Society in 1994 to mark the organisation's 50th anniversary and has since become an annual celebration of vegan living.
For us at Masons Kitchen, it's an occasion with a particularly nice connection to our own food family.
Alongside Masons Kitchen, we have a sister brand dedicated to plant-based food: London Vegan Kitchen. Its products are also available through the Masons Kitchen menu, giving our customers access to a dedicated vegan range alongside our wider catering selections.
It's something we're pleased to be able to offer because catering for a workplace means catering for different people, preferences and dietary requirements, often within the same order.
And while providing vegan options is important for those who need them, there's no reason those choices should only appeal to people following a vegan diet.
A good lunch is a good lunch, whatever ingredients happen to be in it.
That's particularly true when food is being shared. At an office meeting or team lunch, people are generally more interested in what looks delicious than in whether a particular dish was originally intended for someone with a different dietary preference.
It's also why variety matters. Different flavours, textures and ingredients make a selection more interesting for everyone, rather than leaving one person with a separate option while the rest of the table enjoys something else.
Vegan cooking has plenty of room for creativity, too. Roasting can bring out the sweetness of vegetables, herbs and spices can completely change the character of familiar ingredients, and pulses and grains can add substance and texture.
Sometimes the most enjoyable part is discovering a combination you wouldn't normally have chosen.
With World Vegan Day arriving at the beginning of November, it's a good opportunity to explore something different, whether you're vegan, occasionally choose plant-based food or simply fancy a change from your usual lunch.
And with London Vegan Kitchen's range available through Masons Kitchen, there's plenty of opportunity to do just that.