CHAPTER 8

On the Go: Work, Restaurants, Travel, and Parties

MORE AND MORE OF OUR MEALS ARE EATEN OUTSIDE THE home—at work, at restaurants, or on the road. Let’s look at how to find vegan choices wherever you are.

Healthy Food at Work

It is getting easier and easier to eat well at work. Most workplaces have a refrigerator and microwave, so heating up a frozen meal, a canned soup, or leftovers is a snap. If you don’t have access to either of those things, it’s still easy to stick to a healthy meal plan. Here are a few other things to keep on hand:

If your work environment doesn’t give you easy access to a refrigerator or microwave, never fear! Insulated food storage containers keep your hot foods hot and cold foods cold for hours at a time.

Hummus. Make your own (here) or pick it up at the store and keep it in the refrigerator, ready to turn into a sandwich with lettuce and tomato or a dip with crackers.

Soups. Keep a package of soup in your desk drawer, and you’ll always have an easy meal on hand. Whether from a can or a dry soup packet, almost any grocery store or food supplier will have plenty of choices to keep your meals varied and appealing.

Fresh fruit. Bananas, oranges, apples, pears, grapes, and raisins are healthful snacks that travel well. Keep extra on hand to share.

Sandwiches. Make a BLT with veggie bacon or tempeh, or a CLT, with cucumbers. Or pile on lettuce, tomato, and a vegan meat substitute, along with mustard or vegan mayo.

Rice bowl. At home, put cooked brown rice (see Perfect Brown Rice recipe here) in a sealable microwavable bowl and add cooked broccoli or other green vegetables, plus almonds, chickpeas, tofu, or other toppings, drizzled with soy sauce. You can even prepare these foods in batches and divide them into containers so that you can grab a tasty prepared meal from your refrigerator throughout the week.

Parties at Work

When your office is celebrating, bring some vegan ice cream, fresh fruit, baked chips and salsa, or something else to share. If the office celebration is at a restaurant, talk to the planning committee about restaurant choices, and consider calling the restaurant ahead of time to make sure that they have what you are looking for.

Company Cafeteria

Company cafeterias can easily serve vegan choices: an oatmeal bar for breakfast and a salad bar for lunch, vegetable or split pea soup, vegan chili, veggie burgers, and plenty of vegetables and fresh fruit. If your cafeteria does not have good choices, let the cafeteria manager know that you and your coworkers are eager for an expanded menu and will make it pay off.

Healthy Food at Restaurants

There are more and more great vegan restaurants nowadays. Fort Lauderdale’s famed Sublime set the standard, under the watchful eye of owner Nanci Alexander, with waterfalls, original paintings, and a diverse vegan menu from top to bottom. Now many others have followed suit. All over the world, diners are now finding vegan restaurants, from casual to elegant, in their neighborhoods. When it comes to not-yet-vegan restaurants, nearly all serve vegan meals, and chefs are getting more and more creative all the time. Here are some ideas:

Italian restaurants feature endless vegan choices, starting with bruschetta and delicious salads and soups (minestrone, lentil, and pasta e fagioli), followed by spaghetti, angel hair, or other pastas topped with sautéed mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and arrabbiata or marinara sauce, along with grilled asparagus, spinach, or other healthful vegetables. Just ask the server to leave off the cheese and steer clear of cream-based sauces.

You may need to ask chefs to restrain their exuberance for olive oil. They sometimes go way too far with it, a trait common to many cuisines.

Pizza restaurants are used to diners asking for no cheese and extra tomato sauce, plus mushrooms, spinach, olives, onions, bell peppers, and jalapeños. If you’re sharing a pizza with someone who isn’t willing to try it your way, you can ask for the cheese, meat, or other nonvegan ingredients on just half the pie and get the other half how you like it.

Chinese restaurants (including Hunan, Szechuan, and Cantonese) feature delicious dishes made from vegetables, tofu, rice, and noodles and sometimes offer “mock meats.” Some even have special menus normally offered to Chinese diners, featuring a wide range of savory green vegetables sautéed with garlic. Have plenty of rice and use the main dish as a flavorful topping.

Mexican restaurants serve bean burritos, veggie fajitas, spinach enchiladas, and beans and rice with spicy salsa and often have fresh tropical fruits. If the restaurant still uses lard in their beans, on the theory that it is somehow a “traditional” flavoring, you might remind them that Native Americans were cooking beans in the Americas long before the Spanish brought pigs and cholesterol with them.

Japanese restaurants are especially good choices. Not only do they feature many plant-based foods, all delicately flavored; they also use very little oil. Start with edamame and a green salad or seaweed salad, followed by sushi rolls made of cucumber, asparagus, tofu, or other plant-based ingredients. Miso soup is often vegan, although not always, so you will want to ask.

Vietnamese, Thai, and other Asian restaurants offer delicate dishes made from rice, vegetables, tofu, and delicious sauces. You’ll find savory soups, spring rolls, crepes, garlic-sautéed vegetables, and plenty of noodle dishes. They will gladly omit the animal ingredients for you.

Middle Eastern restaurants feature falafel, hummus, tabbouleh, and couscous, along with many other tasty choices. With plenty of spices, herbs, and flavorful preparations, this is a great cuisine to try if you’re looking for something filling and delicious.

Indian restaurants always feature vegetarian cuisine: samosas, popadams, dal, and main dishes made from spinach, lentils, chickpeas, potatoes, and other healthful vegetables. Their main weak point is a tendency to drench foods in milk, ghee, or oil, none of which will do your arteries or waistline any good. Happily, many are now preparing vegan dishes that are much lower in oil, and most will prepare any dish without milk or ghee upon request.

Ethiopian restaurants feature simple, savory dishes made from lentils, split peas, potatoes, green beans, cabbage, tomatoes, and hot peppers served on injera, a soft flatbread.

Steak houses may be where your friends or family convene. Perhaps surprisingly, steak houses often take pride in their vegetables, and their managers are well aware that some diners are looking for vegan choices. Ask for a vegetable plate, a baked potato with salsa or marinara sauce, or a pasta dish.

Fast Foods

Many fast-food restaurants offer vegan options, which are often the cheapest items on the menu. Here are a few:

Taco restaurants offer bean burritos and veggie burritos and will gladly substitute beans for meat on tacos. Skip the cheese and add sliced jalapeños, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, or whatever else you like. There are lots of other ways to veganize their offerings. For example, starting with Taco Bell’s 7-Layer Burrito, just skip the cheese and sour cream. Chipotle will gladly build a thoroughly stuffed vegan taco or black bean burrito.

Sandwich shops, like Subway and Quiznos, usually have a whole bar of vegetables to choose from and will stuff a sandwich with lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, olives, spinach, peppers, and maybe sautéed mushrooms. Sprinkle red wine vinegar over the top for extra flavor. They will even toast it for you.

Burger restaurants often serve veggie burgers. Wendy’s offers baked potatoes, which you can top with steamed vegetables.

Family-style restaurants, like Denny’s or Bob Evans, offer veggie burgers, pasta dishes, and plenty of side vegetables that can be combined to make a vegetable plate.

Salad bars. Grocery stores are not fast-food restaurants, but many have food that is really fast. Check out their salad bars featuring hot and cold offerings. You can pick up a meal and be on your way in minutes.

Restaurant Tricks

The diner breakfast. Yes, diners serve oatmeal and grits. But how about asking for mushrooms, spinach, asparagus, tomatoes, or onions on the grill—all the things that would normally go in an omelet, minus the omelet—along with rye toast (hold the butter) and breakfast potatoes?

Healthful dressings. Typical salad dressings and sauces are fatty and loaded with calories, and some contain animal products like cheese or bacon. Better choices include balsamic vinegar, seasoned rice vinegar, or lemon juice squeezed from fresh wedges. And if you ask that dressings and sauces be served on the side, you’ll be able to control how much goes on. Sprinkle on as much pepper as you like for a little extra heat.

Most restaurants can easily accommodate vegan requests, and “international” restaurants of all stripes make vegan eating really easy no matter where you are. But if you want to dig in a bit more, the Internet is your friend. You can check restaurant menus online (although sometimes the web versions show only a portion of the restaurant’s capabilities). When you’re headed to a new city, you might do a Google or Yelp search for vegan restaurants in the area. There are also websites and apps (e.g., HappyCow, VeganXpress, Vegan NYC) to help you. Since restaurants are opening and closing day by day, it pays to call before you go.

Be sure to tip generously at restaurants. Your bill is likely the smallest one your server will have all day, so a typical percentage tip might be a little light, especially if your server has gone the extra mile for you. Your generosity will give vegans a good name.

Travel

The key to healthy eating on the road is to plan ahead. Here are a few tips:

In your car. You can, of course, stop at fast-food places along the way—using the list in the previous section. You might also want to bring food in your car:

Bananas, apples, or other car-friendly fruit

Luna Bars, low-fat granola bars, or trail mix

Dried fruit

Applesauce or fruit cups

Baby carrots and sliced cucumbers

Rice cakes and bean dip

Small soy milk or almond milk cartons

PB & J sandwiches

In the air. Overseas flights offer vegan meals, provided you call at least forty-eight hours before flight time. On domestic flights, snack service is limited—you might find hummus and crackers, for example—so you’re better off packing a sandwich or picking up some bananas at the airport.

At your hotel. Midpriced hotels in the United States typically have in-room refrigerators and microwaves (ask when you reserve). That way, you can drop by a nearby grocery store and stock up on frozen dinners, fresh fruit, instant soups, canned beans, or whatever your taste calls for, or save leftovers from a restaurant meal. For extra credit, pick up a good-size bowl and a small box of oatmeal at the grocery store, and you’re set for the morning. Some extended-stay hotels have full kitchens.

When you order at a restaurant or from room service, remember that the menu is just a suggestion. The cook can usually whip up oatmeal or throw some asparagus, mushrooms, and tomatoes on the grill for breakfast, even if they are not listed. They probably can do spaghetti with tomato sauce, a vegetable plate, or veggie burgers for lunch or dinner. Don’t be afraid to ask and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what you find.

Partying Without Missing a Beat

Let’s say you’re invited to a party, and you’re wondering what kind of challenge this might pose to your healthful-eating resolve. Will there be anything to eat? Will you refuse the unhealthy offerings and hurt your host’s feelings? Not to worry. Here are a few tips that will make it a breeze:

Offer to bring something. The worst thing is to not tell your hosts about your vegan diet; if they find out later, they will feel that they have been bad hosts. If you receive an invitation to a dinner party, let your hosts know in advance that you are following a vegan diet and that you don’t want to be a bother. Then ask if you can bring a food gift. Of course, your hosts will say no, there will be plenty to eat. But now you’ve let them know in the politest possible way about your eating preferences.

Bring a gift. Arriving at a party with a gift of fruit, a selection of dips, a loaf of special bread, or some other food gift is a polite gesture. And if your hosts open it up, they’ve just enlarged the vegan options for the party.

Don’t arrive ravenous. You are going to a party to see friends or family, not to stuff yourself. So if you are famished, have a snack before you go so that you’re not dependent on someone else’s menu.

When your host is a little too pushy. Once in a while a host can be a little overbearing, pushing you to eat something you’d rather skip. Keep in mind, hosts don’t really care if you eat or not; they just want to be good hosts. So keep a plate in your hand with something on it (hosts like to fill empty plates), and pay them an honest compliment or two to take the focus off you.

Are Others Feeling Guilty?

When others find out you are not eating animal products, they may feel self-conscious or even a little guilty. They might launch into an unsolicited soliloquy that starts with “I’d say I only eat meat maybe twice a month…” They might be argumentative: “Do you wear leather shoes?” “Aren’t humans supposed to eat meat?” Not that you asked for any of this. They just want to spill out their thoughts.

My suggestion is to briefly offer your experience if you like and mention a book, such as this one, or a movie or website that you have found helpful, and then leave it at that. Do feel free to share, but don’t proselytize. Once you’ve planted a seed, it will germinate in its own time.

This is another nice reason why gifts are good. When you bring a gift for others to try, you’ll melt through any doubts and keep things positive.