while looking for the above, i came across a couple other options. at argo tea (terminal 2, concourse E), there were these bowls of grains and veggies and two of them were  marked vegan: a chickpea salad thing with veggies, and another thing i can’t remember. one that seemed vegan (brown rice with tomatoes and other veggies) seemed like it would be vegan but was not marked vegan. these options were listed, but at the time (5 pm, so things were a little picked over) they only had the rice/tomato one and two with meat.

i passed some airport standards: auntie anne’s which allegedly has vegan pretzels, jamba juice, smoothie king. i saw vosges chocolate bars in a couple different places (chicago brand, dark chocolate is vegan, but be careful not to get the dark chocolate bar that has BACON!). finally i found CIBO, which is a small grocery stand in between terminals 1 and 2. CIBO is the one that has prepackaged soul veg food! i was excited. however, the pickings were again slim–they listed 4 soul veg meals on the menu but only had a sad-looking taco salad–and they also don’t heat the food. eggplant parmesan was also on the list, but would you really want that cold?

i continued to terminal 1, then to concourse C, which is where you go through the tunnel of rainbow lights and soothing music. at concourse C i finally found exactly what i wanted: america’s dog. it’s a local hotdog chain with “city dogs” based on hot dogs in different american cities, and you can get any of them with a veggie dog instead of meat (some are chili dogs and i didn’t ask if the chili is veg or not). i got a chicago-style veggie dog and, expecting a smart dog, was pleasantly surprised to find the veggie dog was jumbo-sized and had a much better color AND texture than a smart dog. i didn’t ask if it was vegan, but a couple of vegan blogs had mentioned it, so i figured it was, but i recommend confirming.

i look forward to my next wait at o’hare!

tomorrow i’m leaving for a 3-week trip to the dominican republic. after much thought, i’ve decided not to blog during this time. while traveling and eating at restaurants and at the homes of my friend’s family members, i’m going to do my best to choose vegan options, but i anticipate that it will be challenging and not always under my control. i will do the best i can and report back on how it goes- hopefully with some tips for other vegan travelers- but probably will not record all the details. i also expect to have infrequent internet access so will have to catch up with my fellow bloggers’ adventures when i get back. dear blog friends and loyal readers, i hope i’m not letting you down!!

emily.

taco bell: good job

for dinner last night i had two fresco bean burritos. “fresco” means that they had lettuce and tomato instead of cheese and sour cream- in other words, i could order something completely vegan without having to make any off-the-menu special requests! good job, taco bell!

subway: frustrations

subway is always a good option on the road, but i had two frustrations: subway’s pizza, which looked delicious when my friend ordered it, comes frozen with the cheese already on the crust (even though they also add more cheese later), so there is no way to make it vegan. also, when i had subway at 8:00 this morning, the subway employee who made my sandwich would not let me pass off my veggie delight as an egg-and-cheese-breakfast-sandwich-hold-the-egg-and-cheese, but made me pay for the veggie delight, which cost almost twice as much even though it contained all the same veggies. in other words, i had to pay more to NOT have egg and cheese on my sandwich!

one other note: i found stage planks at a gas station near memphis. i’ve only ever seen these at gas stations in the south. try them if you see them!

leftover chili and cornbread

coffee and banana bread; watermelon

whole wheat bread out of the oven (recipe from ’1,000 vegan recipes’) with peanut butter and raspberry preserves; 1/2 session black lager

last lasagna; red delicious apple

carrot; samples at whole foods; big delicious soft pretzel from whole foods; 1/2 small orange

leftover chili and cornbread; corn tortilla chips; hot chocolate at bennu

lasagna from freezer; red delicious apple; last sweet potato-guava muffin from freezer

carrot; small orange; free beer at i <3 video; peach-raspberry-ginger sno cone from fat cock coffee trailer; corn tortilla chips from fiesta bakery

late dinner: tempeh chili from this recipe; jalapeno cornbread from ’1,000 vegan recipes’; watermelon; 1/2 session black lager mixed with 1/2 topo sabores tamarind

small bowl of popcorn; sip of stewart’s diet root beer

leftover stuffed zucchini, eggplant, and grape leaves; sweet corn; strawberries and blueberries; leftover chocolate hazelnut cake and peanut butter chocolate chip cookie cake

snacks on plane: lightly salted rice cake; honey wheat pretzels from trader joe’s; baby carrots; plum

banana pecan pancakes from ‘vegan with a vengeance’ (made by my mom) with blueberries and raspberries on top

whole wheat toast with hummus and tomato; plum; handful of blueberries; carrot

takeout from sultan’s market: stuffed zucchini, eggplant, and grape leaves; falafel sandwich with hummus and baba ganoush; two bites of sweet corn (from the farmer’s market, not sultan’s market); gewurtztraminer

giant peanut butter chocolate chip cookie cake (recipe from ’1,000 vegan recipes’) with purple frosting (confectioner’s sugar, earth balance, soy milk, and purple food coloring), neon dinosaur sprinkles, trader joe’s chocolate soy ice cream, and vegan whipped cream (silken tofu-based, recipe from ’1,000 vegan recipes’)

coffee with soy milk; tons of watermelon with lime; glass of soy milk

snacks at airport: leftover lentils with salt and pepper; red delicious apple; salted peanuts on plane

dinner from the counter: veggie burger on multigrain bun (specify no butter on bun!) with grilled pineapple, roasted red pepper, black bean and corn salsa, tomatoes, and hot sauce that i added; regular fries and sweet potato fries; chocolate-hazelnut-raspberry cake with trader joe’s vanilla soy ice cream and fresh raspberries, made by my mom for my sister’s birthday

columbian arepas (recipe from ‘viva vegan’): one savory with soyrizo, green onion, sriracha, salsa huichol, and one sweet/spicy with blackberry chile syrup (made last week) and sriracha

coffee at bennu; carrot; red delicious apple; banana chips

tofu, shredded carrot, cucumber, sriracha, and leftover peanut sauce wrapped in red cabbage, tied with twine, and baked at 350 for a few minutes; tostones (fried green plantain chips) with mojo (olive oil, garlic, lime juice, black pepper); 1/2 tortilla with last of peanut sauce; session black lager

snow cones at sno beach: 1/2 wedding cake, 1/2 leche quemada

watermelon, cinnamon-raisin challah