Tag Archives: train trip
Suitcase Staples for Plant-Based Diets
To keep the hunger wolves from the door, whenever I travel, I always pack a few essentials – and always confirm that I will have a hot water (coffee) maker in my room and, ideally, a mini bar. You never know where your next plant-based meal is coming from – and if you are working, there isn’t a lot of time to forage (more on that later).
1. Green Tea – After a long day, a cup of green tea, preferably freshly brewed loose, is the best. But a good quality bag tea does just fine in a pinch. And sometimes, that’s the only viable option.
- Bag tea – my favorite is Kirkland (yes, we’re Costco fans…) about $12 for 100
- Loose tea – One of my top go-to resources is adagio.com. They sell a huge variety of loose teas and sample packs – little tin boxes that are perfect for travel. And they also offer a very clever one-cup tea infuser – IngenuTea – that travels well. Fill it with loose tea and hot water, let steep and then put it on top of your cup. A pressure valve releases the steeped tea into your cup. Infuser with 4 samples $19 (great holiday gift, too.) http://www.adagio.com/gifts/holiday_ingenuiTEA.html
2. Miso Soup Packs – Kikkoman makes two that I like – Shiro Miso and Tofu Miso. Just add hot water. They are available in a many supermarkets,, Asian stores, health food stores or by the box 12 for $30 (Costco.com again)
3. Noodle Bowls – if you have room in your luggage, these are easy last minute meals or snacks, but read the labels carefully. they are not all vegan.
- Nong Shim’s Bowl Noodle Soup with Kimchi flavor is good (about $1.50) and
- Thai Kitchen makes some bowls ($2+) and bigger “carts” that are more readily available in supermarkets. The noodle bowls that are vegan are: Roasted Garlic, Mushroom, Spring Onion and Hot & sour. All the noodle carts are vegan: Pad Thai, That Peanut, Roasted Garlic, Thai Sesame
4. Nuts – baggies of almonds, cashews, pecans and walnuts (yes, they’re high in fat and calories – but it’s good fat with lots of minerals)
5. Instant Oatmeal – a couple packets
6. Dried fruit – including dried cranberries, blueberries, mangoes, unsulphured apricots,, etc.
7. Sesame Seaweed Rice Balls & Seedy Nutty Wafers (Trader Joe’s)
8. Pretzels – crisps and pumpernickel
Roll-Ups To Go – Plant-based traveling food
Whether it’s a car, plane, boat or train trip, we always pack roll-ups to go. They stay fresher longer than bread sandwiches and they look more festive. For variety, I stock a few different kinds of “bases” — whole wheat flour tortillas, chapatis, and, my favorite, Toufayan’s big sheets of multi-grain lavash flat bread. Lavash doesn’t get soggy until past edible for other reasons – and it’s only 110 calories each.
The Spreads: Hummus, sweet potato, curried carrot dip, mustard, tahini, or vegan dijonaise or horseradish mayo (Mix Spectrum’s low-fat canola mayo with Dijon mustard or with bottled horseradish).
The Fillings: Choose a variety of textures and colors: crunchy, creamy, crisp and soft. Left over roasted root vegetables, julienned carrot sticks, daikon radish, jicama, fennel, celery, broccoli stems or kohlrabi , cucumber spears (seeds removed, salted & drained), dill pickle sticks, baked tofu rectangles, sauteed tempeh strips, “bacon-like” analog, romaine lettuce (stem removed or chiffonaded), large leaves of Boston or butter lettuce, par-boiled collard leaves (or raw, finely sliced and massaged with oil and lemon). Instead of tomatoes, that can escalate the sogginess process, try stirps or whole roasted red peppers (either fresh or jarred – Trader Joe’s sells several varieties that are well-priced.)
The Wrap: Thinly cover all but the outer edge of the wrap with one of the spreads, next layer the romaine, lettuce or collard leaves, then along an outer third of the wrap stack the fillings so that each one runs the width of the wrap – mix a variety of crunch and soft – sticks, strips, chiffonaded greens, etc. Then season with one of the salt-substitutes and lots of freshly ground pepper and perhaps a little freshly ground sea salt. Moisten the filling with a drizzle of the same spread or a different one. Start rolling the wrap at the filling end. (If the wrap will “sit” for a long time, consider layering the greens first and then adding the spread.)
Cut the smaller roll-ups in half on a diagonal and the larger ones in fourths; bag each piece separately in a sandwich baggie (or plastic wrap) and roll up the baggie tightly around the wrap. Bag all in a larger freezer bag with a couple napkins inside to absorb the moisture.