You know, when you really want to eat but don't have the bandwidth to make something? I want to maintain an entirely plant-based diet, but times are tough. What are some go-tos

  • CheGueBeara [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    If you have the luxury of an all-vegan shop that isn't super expensive, definitely patronize that place over others. They can be rare.

    If you're stuck finding vegan items from an omni shop:

    • Falafel like others said

    • Fries are the sad vegan backup option but you can do better. Also some places are jerks like McDonald's where the fries aren't even vegan.

    • Burrito places will often do a great vegan option. Veggie burrito with rice and beans and guac.

    • Del Taco has good beyond guac burritos and tacos. Keep in mind that Beyond stuff is questionably vegan because they do testing with animal products.

    • A lot of Indian food classics can be made vegan if you ask for it that way. Chaat places will satisfy the fast food part

    • Anglo-ized Vietnamese can be veganized easily. Banh mi, bun, pho.

    • Certain Chinese dishes are accidentally vegan. Salt and pepper tofu, some noodle dishes (gotta make sure the noodles aren't made with egg), fried rice without egg or meat, vegetable dishes that don't have oyster sauce, green onion pancake, vinegar chili oil garlic cucumber, etc etc.

    Also don't sleep on making big batches of freezable stuff so that you have easy food for lazy days. Chili, Indian bean dishes, frijoles negro are all very hearty and good for you and full of beans and freeze + reheat perfectly.

      • CheGueBeara [he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        The premise of OP's question is about fast food and eating out. There are no vegan company options for that, at least not generally. Even a shop that uses only plant-based ingredients will usually be purchasing them from companies that are subsidiaries of meat industry companies or do animal research.

        Rather than tell someone trying to go vegan that there are no options and that they must cook all of their own food and investigate all of their supply chains for those ingredients, I prefer a softer onboarding approach where I drop hints - and I did exactly that with Del Taco.

        There are also mental health realities that mean many vegans will have to eat at an omni shop sometimes, which is why I framed it as, if you have to eat at an omni shop.