Is the margin on the recipes page before or after VAT?

Like for like. Your menu prices include VAT, and the cost you type for an ingredient is what you paid with VAT inside it, so the margin on Menu → Recipes & food cost compares a price with VAT in it against a cost with VAT in it. That is the honest figure for deciding whether a dish is worth selling. It is not the figure your accountant uses for the VAT return, which comes from your monthly statement under Reports. Keep the two apart and both stay right.