A Vegan Takes to the Skies

Airplane food is notoriously bad. We all know this. Most accept that fact, arm themselves with Tums, and suffer through the airline meal. I am not one of those people. When I travel I always carry the essentials: a good book, some good headphones, and enough food to see me through the flight and any unforeseen delays. I say no thanks to the pre-made tray of tasteless food.

I'm traveling for the next couple of days and prepared some flight-friendly food. I know that the San Diego airport TSAs are suspicious of soy-yogurt and hummus, but are okay with oozing bean burritos; it seems that the definition of "liquid or gel" varies slightly from person to person. In the past I've tried to explain to a harried security guard that hummus is neither a liquid nor a gel, merely a non-flammable tasty Mediterranean spread make of chickpeas and tahini. However, my pleas fell on deaf ears and the hummus ended up in the trash. So now I try to bring foods that appear less exotic.



For my morning flight, these peanut butter waffles served nicely as my breakfast (recipe from the upcoming cookbook The Crack of Noon). I made them the night before, let em cool, and wrapped them in sturdy foil. Just after takeoff I unearthed them from the depths of my carry-on and the whole plane was jealous. They were snacking on Terra Blue potato chips and I was enjoying a delicious waffled creation. With an apple and a tangelo, and a $4 bottle of water from the airport Starbucks, this was damn good eats.



This was a cross-country jaunt, a long flight necessitating lunch. When the in-flight movie (27 dresses) was over I brought out this chickpea-salad sandwich, recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance. I also prepared this the night before the flight, waking up my husband with the noisy food processor. ("Why are you processing chickpeas? It's midnight forcryinoutloud!" oops, sorry babe, it's for a good cause.)

It's on whole grain bread, topped with spinach and romaine leaves. I added some stone ground mustard to spice it up a bit. This is a great flight option because it tastes great and is filling, but doesn't have a strong smell that fellow travelers may find offensive. Ever sit next to someone eating a tuna sandwich? It's not exactly an olfactory experience I'd recommend.

I packed other treats as well, just in case. Carrot and celery sticks, potato chips, cookies, peanut trail mix, and a few odwalla bars in case things got crazy, all simple things that aren't too fragile or prone to melting or spoilage. That's way too much food for one person on one flight, but I'll eat it all eventually at my destination.

I'm sitting in a hotel room right now, on the bed with the comforter safely pulled back. After only a few days away, my stomach is already wishing it was back home in it's own kitchen. The conference I'm attending actually has a wide variety of food that's passably edible. I'm actually having a good time. But Dorothy sure had it right: There's no place like home.