Vegan Dinners on the Road
By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD
Imagine a 10-day road trip to some of the most scenic areas of the American West; days filled with hikes and nights filled with star-gazing. Now, imagine doing a combination of car camping and staying in small motels in remote areas. My husband and I took such a trip. We suspected that we weren't going to find vegan restaurants and that vegan offerings at local restaurants would be limited. We weren't even sure if local grocery stores would have much to offer other than fresh fruit and fresh or frozen vegetables.
We opted to bring most of our food from home and supplement it with a stop or two at grocery stores near where we were staying. Neither of us wanted to spend a lot of time cooking. We prepared food on either an old camp stove or in a motel microwave.
Here's what we ate:
Day 1: Sesame noodle salad with tofu and vegetables-Leftovers from home kept cool in an ice chest
Day 2: Canned vegan chili beans over microwaved sweet potatoes
Day 3: Reconstituted TVP with vegan sloppy Joe sauce over microwaved potatoes, carrot sticks
Day 4: Canned vegan lentil soup with bread and carrot sticks
Day 5: Ramen noodles with cubed silken tofu and frozen vegetable medley
Day 6: Coconut Squash Dahl (in pouch) over 10-minute farro with frozen vegetable medley, bread
Day 7: Ramen noodles with TVP and canned green beans, bread
Day 8: Canned vegan baked beans with canned sliced potatoes, carrot sticks
Day 9: Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (not motivated to cook), fruit
Note: These dinner ideas would work for quick-and-easy meals whether or not you are traveling.
For more ideas for quick and easy meals while traveling see:
vrg.org/journal/vj2020issue2/2020_issue2_take_outside.php
vrg.org/blog/2022/09/26/vegan-on-the-road
Let us know what type of meals you bring with you when traveling in not so vegan-friendly places. Email suggestions to [email protected]
