Ever try to get a healthy, filling, vegan breakfast on the road?
It’s not often that you spot a “Lily’s Organic Diner” or “Wildflower Kitchen” on the exit food signs. You are more likely you see Aunt Sarah’s Pancakes or Denny’s where a standard breakfast is steak and eggs, and a side of fruit bathed in syrup. Far from a healthy vegan breakfast!
On my last road trip my carnivore friends picked Waffle House. As we pulled up to the restaurant, I wondered if there would anything for me to eat given that I’m on a vegan diet plan. I wasn’t surprised that there was no scrambled tofu on the menu. There was hash brown potatoes though. That’s a start!
After making sure the potatoes were cooked in vegetable oil, I asked if the hash browns could be the start of some sort of potato-based omelet, adding the standard omelet fillings… peppers, onions, mushrooms. The waitress got into it. Then the cook got into it!
When my plate arrived it was a good-looking, tasty, filling, vegan (so far as I could tell) dish… a double order of hash browns folded over the veggie center. Yes, a bit greasy, but it was Waffle House.
I find that sometimes when you challenge restaurant staff with your “special needs”, they rise to the occasion and your dining partners say, “That looks better than anything on the menu!”
Have you had a similar experience getting creative for vegan breakfast on the road? I’d love to hear!
– Steve
Photograph: Felicity Cloake
