Preparing for your vegan picnic

Hey guys!

Since I study environmental science, I get to go on a lot of field trips and I do a lot of outdoor sports with my friends. Every time this happens, I know that I'll have to plan my food in advance- mainly because there's not a snack-shop in the middle of your hiking trail. And even if there is, odds are that they will sell ham & cheese sandwiches, tuna sandwiches, chicken breast sandwiches . . . you get the idea. It's hard to sell fast snacks to a vegan.

But I have some clever ideas I've coined up over the years. This is one of my favorite: the roasted eggplant sandwich. There are many variations: you can dice the eggplant and fry it with garlic and fill your sandwich with that. This is the best, yummy alternative I came up with, but it has downsides. It's greasy with olive oil and it's not really nice eating garlic and not having a place to brush your teeth later. But it sure hits the spot, and can be eaten hot or cold.

Diced eggplant & garlic, served on pasta.

Another alternative is picking the roundest eggplant you can find at the supermarket, and slicing it so that you have a plump disk that is roughly the same size as a hamburger. Cut it a little thicker, though, as it will flatten.

Bake it for about 20 minutes with a sprinkle of salt. It will be charred on the outside, slightly gooey on the inside, and substitutes perfectly a hamburger/ham/meat option. 

Then add lettuce, mayonnaise, tomatoes, and everything else you like in your sandwich. I added black olives


to mine.

Other ideas for vegan sandwiches:

-Grilled bell peppers, roasted shitaki mushrooms with lettuce and tomatoes

-Shredded carrots & shredded beets with a hint of olive oil and salt on whole wheat bread

-Lentil or bean burger (this takes considerably more time. Best if made way before, and frozen for when it comes in handy)

Other ideas for vegan picnic:

-Pasta salad with diced celery, spinach, green beans

-Cold rice salad with diced carrots, cabbage and veggies

-Bean salad with chopped veggies

-Tabule

Hopefully I'll get to show some of my other ideas with pictures.

This is my baggy, all set to go spelunking. I added cashew nuts, tabule, peach and iced water in addition to my eggplant-burger sandwiches.

Bon appétit!