Meals on the Road

Eating a whole food, plant based diet on the road is not easy. It takes some planning and sometimes a bit of luck.

For breakfast, we planned to eat fruit. This was easy. We brought some fruit with us in the car, and bought more at grocery stores along the way – apples, bananas, oranges, plums. Even though we mostly stayed at hotels that provided a “complimentary” breakfast, the fruit offerings were often sad – a few bananas, which were often overripe. The occasional bowl of cut-up fruit in the morning was a welcome diversion. But mainly, we ate the fruit we brought with us.

Since we were visiting a lot of colleges, we planned to eat lunch in a college cafeteria when possible, thinking that most college cafeterias would have a salad bar and perhaps some vegetarian or vegan hot dishes as well. Sad to say, we were optimistic about college cafeterias. We did find some very good ones that offered an abundant salad bar and vegetarian or vegan hot dishes such as brown rice, beans, veggies, etc. But in some cafeterias, by the time we omitted the meat, cheese, and mayo-laden choices from the salad bar, we were left with meager choices. And these same cafeterias were the ones that featured pizza, burgers, etc. as hot meals. But we managed pretty well at most colleges. The ones that had hummus on their salad bar saved us more than once.

For dinner, we thought we would be able to get salads from a salad bar at a grocery store, as most stores in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington DC have salad bars. Not so at the stores we visited in Ohio and Michigan. We did bring bowls, canned chickpeas, and other items along on the trip, so we were able to make salads from basic produce that we purchased in grocery stores – lettuce, cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, etc. It worked out pretty well, with fruit for dessert. But dinners were not as easy as we thought they would be. Whole Foods in Cleveland, Ohio; Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Carmel, Indiana, helped a lot, but they were very expensive. The food, though, was very good and a welcome change from some of the paltry offerings at other stores. We were also pleasantly surprised to be able to get cooked brown rice from a steam-table Chinese food restaurant near our hotel in Washington, Pennsylvania.

Although we planned to eat mostly our regular whole food, plant based diet, travel to me also involves sampling local foods.

 

One place I wanted to try was Melt Bar and Grilled in Cleveland, Ohio. This place had been featured on several Food Network shows, and had received very good reviews on on-line sites. The reviews raved about the sandwiches, but said they were too big to finish in one sitting, and mentioned mounds of French fries that accompanied the sandwiches. I scoped out the menu on line in advance, and planned to have the half grilled cheese sandwich accompanied by a cup of soup and a salad, thus avoiding the too-big stuffed sandwiches and mount of French fries. I had the grilled cheese with cheddar, the tomato soup topped with more cheddar, and a salad with feta cheese and the house dressing on the side. I was glad I chose this, but, honestly, the thick slabs of white bread in the sandwich overwhelmed the cheese.

After one bite, I said I could make a better grilled cheese sandwich at home. (And I can – try buttered grilled rye bread with cheddar or swiss cheese, good mustard, and slices of bread and butter pickle.) Still, the sandwich was pleasant enough, the soup was tasty, and the salad was nice enough. At least I wasn’t overstuffed with one of the specialty sandwich Melt offers. But I can’t say that I’d cross the street to have the plain grilled sandwich, soup, and salad again either.

After eating at Melt for lunch, we spent the night in Elyria, Ohio, on the other side of Cleveland. I’d seen a recommendation on line – by celebrity chef Michael Symon, no less – for the Hillbilly Hotdog at the Midway OhBoy in Elyria, so we went there for dinner. I had just the hotdog, but it was worth it. The white hotdog bun did not hold up to all the moisture, so I had to eat with a knife and fork, but the combination of the savory hot dog topped with real chili with meat and beans and creamy cole slaw was a delight.

 

Another place I really wanted to try was Jerusalem Garden in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This is a tiny place, but I had good falafel, baba ganoush, and hummus with pita.

My favorite meal was the Hillbilly hotdog. Some of the meals in college cafeterias were good, too. And the Whole Foods Market prepared foods were tasty and filling. But the trip really opened my eyes to how much differently I am eating now. On the last full day of the trip, we ate at the cafeteria at Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, PA. The salad bar pickings were slim, and there were no hot vegetarian options, other than lima beans. I caved and made myself a sandwich (I liked the pickles the best) and had pancakes and bacon. I found the crisp bacon too salty and fatty to really enjoy. What a change from just a few months ago, when I would have loved bacon with anything!