What veggie foods to pack to take on holiday to Spain

[RubberDuck]

I've been veggie for just over a year and I'm the only veggie in the family which makes life a little more complicated.

Last year, when I went to Spain, I mainly existed on cheese & tomato pizza, and spanish omelette and the occasional jar curry with chickpeas in it. I'd like to have a bit more variety this time, but not spend most of my holiday cooking separate meals for everyone!

Any ideas for stuff I can pack to make life easy or easy meals to make out there? I'm packing some dried soya mince and a block of halloumi. Supermarket at our destination is very limited and doesn't have things like tofu or quorn, and no herbolario nearby.

[1frenchfoodie]

Wheen I have beeen on holiday in the spanish heat I've mainly subsisted on gazpacho (carton varieties often very good) good bread, olives, salad and cheese. If there is a bbq the peppers, corn, aubergine and your halloummi etc can go on before any meat/fish. Tortilla nice and easy and should be enjoyed by non veggies too. I assume you can get potato, onion, eggs

[OnyK]

How about the dried or ambient packs of savoury rice or cous cous, then you just need to make something vegetably or cheesy to go with them, or you could use them to stuff veg. A small jar of curry paste would be good too.

[CountingdowntoFriday]

To be honest I would stick to vegetable and egg based dishes as getting these fresh should not prove difficult. Maybe adding nuts to salads etc for additional protein. I would guess even a basic supermarket may stock a small range of canned beans and pulses.

[RubberDuck]

Great ideas thank you. There is a BBQ there... didn't use it last time, but easy enough to do some halloumi skewers first :) I should be able to get couscous/rice in the local supermarket - hadn't thought of stuffed veg, that'll be more interesting! And packing a jar of curry paste is a great idea.

My mind just goes blank and uninventive when I'm in holiday mode!!

[RubberDuck]

Good idea about nuts - should be easy enough to find, thanks!

[lottiegarbanzo]

I'd take a jar of pesto and a tube of mushroom pate.

[babybat]

You might be able to find ready made tortilla in the supermarket, which would make for an easy dinner with a salad and some nice bread. I'd also look for cans of pisto (like ratatouille) which you could top with a poached egg. I'd take a few blends of herbs and spices, such as Ras el Hanout, garam masala or a Mexican spice mix, as you're less likely to find them in a smaller shop and you can make veggie staples a bit more interesting that way.

[Whathaveilost]

I only take a bag of Quinoa with me. Everything else I can buy there. Eg olive oil, veg for roasting, milk to make a porridge. I usually have Greek yogurt and fruit for breakfast, scrambled egg with mush room and cheese for lunch or salad for tea. You can usually get hallumi, tins of chick peas. Sweet corn etc.

[Blondie1984]

A bag of dried lentils - I would go for red or beluga

[Allalonenow]

You could make vegetable paella or risotto with peas/mushrooms/peppers and serve with ready cooked chicken for the meat eaters.
Piperade and pisaladerie are good for lunch.
Caponata which you could serve with rice, cous-cous or pasta.

[RubberDuck]

Thank you all for the inspiration :) Feeling a lot more confident about getting something nice to eat while we're away!

[cdtaylornats]

There is a Spanish cheese called queso panela that can be grilled like haloumi.

[RubberDuck]

Oh that is good to know, thanks!

[secondhoneymoon]

Surely you can buy most things in Spain to suit a vegetarian diet? Work out what you know you CAN get there, and if you're not sure, ask on here.

[RubberDuck]

Secondhoneymoon, where we're staying is a very small area which is only really populated in summer by Spanish, English & German tourists.

There is one smallish supermarket which has the basics and some jars of imported English stuff. Some freezers of easy cook things which almost all contain meat. The local restaurants look a bit blank if you say vegetarian and you pretty much get a cheese and tomato pizza or a Spanish omelette/tortilla and even then you have to double check there's not some sneaky ham!

If we were staying in a bigger town or city, I'm sure it wouldn't even be an issue.

I'm sure it'll be fine, but it's easy for me to go a bit blank while standing in the very limited aisles and ended up having quite a limited diet. Taking a few standbys and having some inspiration for what things I can cook quickly and easily (I really don't want to spend my entire holiday menu planning and cooking) is very helpful.

[OnyK]

Just remembered that I take a pack of dried burger/sausage mix with me to similar areas of Greece. That way you can make burgers/sausages/meatballs etc.

[OhtoblazeswithElvira]

Some Spanish traditional meals are vegetarian - apart from the gazpacho, paella and tortilla mentioned upthread, while in restaurants look out for vegetable revuelto (scrambled or fried eggs, usually with mushrooms or spring onions), migas (fried breadcrumbs - much nicer than it sounds), lentejas (lentil stew) and potaje (chickpea and beans stew).

You should be able to find very reasonably priced jars / tins with chick peas, lentils and beans even in small supermarkets.