Tiny Guide for the Vegan Traveler/Common ingredients for on the fly meals

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Tiny Guide for the Vegan Traveler: 1. Intro - 2. Long-lasting energetic recipes - 3. Ingredients for on the fly - 4. Tips - 5. Essential - 6. Author


The markets

The healthiest food we can find on the road are surely the fruits, abundant in the markets. Fresh, sweet, raw, they're for sure the first choice of the well-fed stove-less vegan.

In the same markets we can also find those veggies that can be eaten without cooking, like carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, peppers, pumpkin, corn, beetroot, avocados and so on. All them can be chopped in small pieces, or grated (See the Salad recipe in my Tiny guide to healthy cuisine).

Seeds and dried fruits

We can find them more and more often in the markets and supermarkets. They're an excellent healthy and space-saving source of energy.

We're talking about the so called oily seeds: walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, peanuts, cashews and so on. We often find them packed with: raisins, figs, apricots. Simply delicious and nourishing!

Oat flakes – Müsli

Easy to carry and to prepare: you only need to add water!! And if you wish to make it even more tasty you can add wholemeal cane sugar, cinnamon, chopped fruits and/or raisins.

Bread

It's often made of refined (white) flour. Even so, bread sadly represents the main source of energy for the vegan traveler. Obviously we should prefer wholemeal bread, or even rye bread, the black one rich of seeds that is very popular in northern Europe countries.

The reasons for this choice are two: it's healthier, for its higher content of fiber and minerals; it's also cheaper and more fulfilling. White bread, indeed, fills up but doesn't satisfy, and often we're hungry again just a few hours after a meal. For this reason we then need to buy and eat again. A traveler can't afford to buy and carry big quantities of food; (s)he can't even afford to stop often to eat.

Then, we not only need to know how to choose bread, we also need to know how to eat it: we must chew it very well. In this way it mixes with ptyalin, an enzyme of saliva that breaks down starch into simpler sugars, and makes it possible the digestion.

Canned legumes

Canned legumes (like beans, etc.) are normally found in any supermarket. They've different advantages: they're nourishing food, you usually find a good variety in supermarkets, they're quick to use and in some countries (like Denmark, Sweden and sometimes also in Italy) they come already with tomato sauce, basil, onion and other flavors.

Once the can is open we can pour the content in a bowl and eat it with bread or crackers.

Tomato sauce

Tomato sauce is another product that is easily found in the supermarkets and can be used to set up a quick lunch if you cannot cook. Usually used with pasta, it goes well also with bread and/or legumes.

Vegetables preserved in oil and in vinegar

Very popular in the mediterranean countries, the foods preserved in oil and in vinegar are valid options to make a meal without a stove: you can usually find eggplants, sundried tomatoes, mushrooms, artichokes prepared this way.

Jam

Available in any supermarket, it's perfect with bread or the “Lembas”.

Chocolate bars

It's quite popular but not everybody thinks about it: bread and chocolate bars. Dark chocolate, of course. You just cut the sandwich in half, put the bar in it, and enjoy!

Continue to Chapter 4 • Some tips