Vegan Barcelona

Preparing for my vacation in Barcelona, I did a lot of research about where to eat. I was left with an impression (based on the internet) that we might have some trouble finding places to eat. Regionally – Catalonia isn't the best for vegan fare. This was definitely true when we made a day trip to Figueres, where my lunch consisted of a glass of wine and some bread. Barcelona however, was a really great city for vegan and vegetarian dining! 

My dad and I put together a list – of our favorite vegan/vegetarian dining experiences in BCN.

We meant to stop at 5 – but settled for 6.

Cat Bar Vegano

Cat Bar was easily our favorite dining experience in Barcalona, not only was it close to where we were staying, but it was also incredibly delicious. If Cat Bar were in Philly, we would eat there all the time. I might even say that they have better burgers that our current go to veggie burger dive (dare I?) -- Car Bar is only open in the evenings (after 16h) and is closed on Sundays. They have a very basic menu, of 5 different vegan veggie burgers (bean, mushroom, eggplant, etc) as well as a daily burger special. You can get your burger served with patates bravas (a local specialty), english chips (aka fries) or a salad. Appetizers include soups salads and a hummus plate. We ate here 3 times, not out of necessity. The beer list, made up of all european vegan brews, was also incredible. My dad liked the Brew Dog beers from UK – I was partial to a local BCN beer - "Edge Porter"

El Cafe Blue Project

Blue Project, a small lunchonette is located next to The Blue Project Foundation (an art gallery) right around the corner from the Museau Xocolate. They have weird hours, opening at 10h and closing at 20h – they have an al a carte menu all day, but only serve lunch from 13h until 16h. We ate here twice, once we stopped in for a snack not knowing what to expect, after which we decided we had to go back for lunch. They serve vegan and raw food (not entirely raw) – and their food was AMAZING and reasonably priced. Raw carrot cake, vegan Banana ice cream, grilled tofu sandwhiches --- and my dad said that sunflower bread on his raw sandwhich was the best raw bread he has ever had. If you are visiting the Chocolate Museum (which you should) go here for lunch after. Also fairly close to Picasso, and the Mammoth Museum (also incredible).

La Báscula

Mostly vegetarian, with a few vegan options. La Bascula does serve some seafood and egg dishes – they have copies of the menu in multiple languages so you should be fine. Really great warm vegan sandwich (and I am sure the rest of the menu is great too) and nice beer and wine options. The place has a super nice homey atmosphere.  Open from 13h until 23h, this is a late afternoon, order at the counter, and find a seat at a giant table type establishment. CASH ONLY. Incredibly friendly staff. 

Teresa Carles

Where we ate the first night, Teresa Carles is a fancier vegetarian restaurant with many vegan and a few raw options. Coming from Benin, my body just felt happier after eating a hearty and nutritious meal here. We shared a fruit and veggie salad (it had strawberries!!) – I ate the vegan lasagna for dinner (absolutely amazing) and my dad had the cashew cheese vegetable rolls. Aside from the typical wine and beer list they also offer juices and smoothies. Not the type of place you would eat at every night (like I said it is a bit fancier) but they are definitely worth checking out.

La Llavor dels Orígens

This is not a vegetarian restaurant BUT they offer a vegetarian fixed menu. Orgiens specializes in local Catalonia fare, which is what made this place really neat. We did not get to eat a lot of local specialties during our stay since the majority of them are meat and seafood heavy (although I did love the pan au tomate). – The vegetarian menu at Orgiens requires two people (and is rather expensive at 20 euro a person) – but this comes with 3 tapas style dishes, two appetizers, two entrees, and two deserts. A glass of wine for each person and a Catalan shot is brought to you with dessert. The menu is not flexible, meaning you will get one of everything (even if you both wanted the same entree) so we just split each dish in half and tried everything!! – Just as a heads up this menu is vegetarian (and seafood free – looking at you Air France) but it is not entirely vegan. For example one of the salads had goat cheese on it. Despite the price and the lack of flexibility we REALLY enjoyed our dining experience here and we were thankful to fine a Catalan restaurant that actually had a vegetarian dinner menu.

Wok to Walk

I was going to stop at 5 but this lunch chain was just too good to leave out. We went to the location on Princessa in the Bari Gotic/ El Born ish area. Wok to Walk is to go stir fry.. limited seating also available. The staff was amazing and friendly and they easily accommodate your dietary needs. You basically build your own dish, and can ask for any base to be made for you without eggs. Everything is fried up for you on the spot. And they clean the pans between each order. (They work in the open and I watched them do it). This was a quick easy inexpensive and filling meal with lots and lots of vegetarian options.

Z

September Already?

Happy September Everyone!!
I'm not gonna lie the weather isn't changing here.

Papaya Kitten has gotten much bigger over the last two weeks - - he is eating his kitten kibbles like a champ and even got his rabies shot on Friday!!

Not really much to report on – I started the week off with a normal Monday morning meeting. Tuesday I was super busy trying to get a tree count, transplanting lettuce and onion seedlings with one of my farming groups and checking in with some other farmers nearby. Later that afternoon I joined the trainees as they did an insecticide training with one of my newer groups (whose veggies look wonderful by the way!!) I was really surprised to see that they made nice little placards for the crops they are growing with me – I will have to remember to bring my camera next time. I spent most (and by most i mean barely a day and a half) of my week in Cotonou getting some things done that required internet and eating some much needed Cotonou food. The week ended strong with a trip out to another volunteers village to help with a tomato conservation (jarring) formation followed on Friday by various Misserete escapades and friend visits – including of course the visit by the vet that Papaya was thrilled about.

A big portion of my down time the past few weekends has been taken up with the PSN Bakesale. The PSN Bakesale is an "annual event" that takes place during training (since we have a captive audience of Americans who would kill for cookies and cake!) My house (due to my location) has become a sort of hub for all things bakesale related during the training weeks - I have had a few overwhelming days but I do love helping out.. so in the end the stress of a few burnt cakes is completely worth it! The proceeds of this fundraiser go towards the Swear-In Party. A party that PSN throws for the trainees after they swear in as volunteers to celebrate the fact that they made it through training. Training is rough. The party is well earned. We have been trying to switch up the baked goods each week (although chocolate cake is hard to replace) and so far we have offered chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cake, chocolate cake :-P, and lemon pound cake (which magically appeared out of a lemon cookie recipe – you never know what will happen in a make shift oven) –  This week I am planning on brownies and pineapple cake – but it might just end up being chocolate cake again if I can't find any pineapples!! I really do love to bake I just prefer to do it in the land of real ovens and grocery stores. Brownies AND chocolate cake? Why not.

Anyway, nothing fancy this week! Just a brief update.
I would say it was a typical week.. but that isn't true.
Those don't really exist here. (Why do I feel like I've said that before?)

Miss Home and Love You All
Z

Loving Hut Benin

I can't believe it took me 6 months of looking at signs for “Loving Hut Vegetalien 100%”  (vegetalien is french for vegan) before I actually had the chance to go and eat here myself. I finally went over the weekend, and it is now my new favorite place to eat in all of Benin.

For those of you who know Loving Hut, I want to start by saying that I believe Loving Hut Benin IS related (at least in theory) to the Loving Hut family of restaurants. Our lunch was accompanied by a small television screen showing Supreme Master videos and there were vegan advocacy posters and booklets available to those who chose to read them. I was a little uncertain going in – since generally Loving Hut (as a  chain) serves fast food and Asian food... and this is West Africa.

I don't know how to express how amazing Loving Hut Benin is. I don't know how to describe how ecstatic we all were at finding this gem tucked away in Porto Novo.. it is really just that amazing. Kind of unreal.


This little restaurant completely embraces the idea of Vegan dining and seamlessly translates it into Beninese cuisine. At first glance, this beautiful hidden away maquis could be any other Beninese restaurant. The prices are comparable, the menu is (visibly) the same, and while a little cleaner and perhaps even a little fancier, the atmosphere can compare to most higher class local eateries (thankfully minus the blasting loud music and drunk men). I admire the way that Sumason (the brains behind the operation) really made his vision happen.

They serve spaghetti, cous cous, Beninese sauces (with pate), salads, french fries, brochettes, legumes.. all of the standard Beninese fare. They produce their own gluten based proteins as a meat substitute, and they have used it to veganize all of the ethnic cuisine. When I ate here with my friends the other day, we were not sure what to expect. Two of us ordered the cous cous dish, and another one of my friends ordered the salad with protein. We ordered a plate of brochettes (normally street-meat kebabs) as an appetizer and split a large pineapple for desert. Now that we know how amazing all of the food is, we are ALL looking forward to going back and trying their vegan take on some of the more classic Beninese dishes.

Sumason, the owner of this restaurant, is a vegan advocate in his own right. He has a small book that he has published (in french) on eating a vegan diet and why it is important – he cites many famous vegan sources and calls it “Le sêcret de la bonne santè et de longue vie toute la verite de la science à la spiritualité” He is a firm believer in the health benefits of eating a vegan diet and has traveled and studied to learn more about this way of life which he strongly believes in. He told us that he really hopes to help bring the vegan culture to Benin and educate the people of his country on the great health benefits that can be found in the vegan diet.

Some will say that perhaps I have a slightly slanted view in saying that this is the best meal that I have had in Benin – but it really was the best meal I have had in Benin. The food was spectacular, the prices were more than fair, the atmosphere was relaxing, and the staff was friendly and informed. I will definitely eat here many more times while I am living in Benin and I really hope that this restaurant succeeds.

Its not every day that I am so impressed by something in this country.

It is also not every day that I can say I have eaten so well.

Here's to good food.
Z

VAC & Other Things

It doesn't always feel like it – but I am up to lots of different things over here in Benin.

This week I was in Cotonou – the land of the bonne choses – for my first VAC meeting. VAC stands for Volunteer Advisory Committee, which is a committee made up of one volunteer from each region (I am the representative for the Oueme-Plateau) and we meet every three months with the PC administration to discuss ideas and concerns on both the volunteer side and the admin side. This gives everyone a chance to hear the concerns from the “other side” which we are often, as volunteers out in the field, very disconnected from. After the meeting we were invited to eat a really great dinner at the PC Benin Directors house – I didn't know about this perk before hand but I'm not complaining.

It is really great to get to meet with and hear the concerns of the volunteers from other regions in the country. It always amazes me how different every region is – especially considering the small size of Benin. Every region has a different terrain, different languages, different access to foods, of course the volunteers in the north also have a much different relationship with admin... and so on and so forth. Everyone has their own Peace Corps experience.

Being situated so close to the major cities I often forget that not all volunteers have fruits and vegetables.. or even beans!!! available to them year round. There are some parts of the country where water is scarce. There are other places where it isn't completely abnormal for an elephant to wander into the village. Even though the south is “humid and crowded” a year into being here I am definitely glad to be living in the South. I am able to eat well and have made wonderful friends who I wouldn't have gotten to know if I had been living elsewhere.

***

Also this week, In an attempt to prepare ourselves for the inevitable departure of some of our favorite volunteers who will be leaving over the next month... we threw a Oueme-Plateau get together during the day on Saturday. Normally we just make “taco beans” because that is quick and easy. We were feeling adventurous however – so we had a lentil burger party and someone even made pasta salad!!

Lentil Burger's
(partially adapted from a recipe I found somewhere on the Internet)

1 cup uncooked red lentils
1 cup uncooked rice
1 cup carrots, grated
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 ½ cup uncooked oatmeal
1 Tbsp lemon & herb old bay
1 tsp salt

1. Cook lentils and rice in 4 cups of water, simmering over low heat until well cooked and all water is absorbed. Let the mixture cool.
2. Add remaining ingredients (in order listed) and mix well (you will probably need your hands for this!).
3. Shape into patties (you will definitely need your hands for this).
4. Cook in a frying pan over med-heat (using a small amount of oil) until both sides are nicely browned.

Here in Benin we served ate the patties on baguettes with ketchup.. feel free to eat yours on a burger bun.

Wash down with sodabe.

***

News of the week? Thanks to my wonderful friends (who I can't believe are leaving me) I finally have a dinning table and a couch with cushions!! Not to mention a stacked spice cabinet. Love You All we will miss you terribly! Don't forget that if you decide you don't like America you can always come back to us here <3

Z

Snack Break

You are probably sick of hearing me talk about food.

I am a food person – you know this – don't act surprised.

After a whole month of talking about “Food Security” related projects. I would like to this week talk about “Personal Food Happiness” aka a what's happening in Zoe's kitchen update. - Also I am currently on Safari – So I set this post up ahead of time for today (and it's an easy subject).

Before leaving Benin I joked about how long it would take me to change this into a food blog – I am doing my best here.. talking about food makes me happy. I promise no more food posts for at least a month :D

At home – as we all know – cooking and baking and decorating said items was one of my biggest hobbies (thank god exercising is the other one).. and an American kitchen was and still is the hardest thing for me to not have here.. but harder than not having a kitchen (I can make due) is not having people to cook for. The reason I love to cook is that I love watching other people enjoy the results.

When I first settled into my house – I had a lot of trouble cooking (and by trouble I mean zero motivation). Not because of the supplies, and not because my kitchen is smaller than most American closets.. but because I truly don't enjoy cooking for myself. I was perfectly capable of cooking, I just didn't feel like doing it. During college I would cook one or two meals for the week on Sunday – and that was that. I would only really cook a good meal if Erik was visiting or Laura and I were eating together. So while I already knew I didn't like cooking for myself, I never considered what this would really mean when I lived in a place with no refrigerator.

What this means is I HAVE to cook for myself everyday – even if it makes me sad. It also means I had to learn to cook in single portions. I spent my first few months eating pasta, lentils, beans, rice.. really boring stuff. Somewhere earlier on in this blog I even provided you with one of my incredibly boring (although rather tasty) lentil recipes – in case for some unknown reason you wanted to try eating what I was eating. 

***

Here are some better recipes for things I have since come up with!

Homesick Potato and Carrot Hash

¼ kilo potatoes, chopped small

¼ kilo sweet potatoes, chopped small

3-4 carrots, chopped small (carrots are very tiny here)

as many cloves of garlic as you want, sliced

handful of green beans (if available), chopped small

peanut oil

red pepper, cumin, salt and black pepper to taste

Chop up all of the veggies. In a large frying pan add peanut oil and spices. Add potatoes and carrots and cook.. stirring fairly constantly. Once the potatoes and carrots look well cooked add the onions and garlic and some more oil if needed. Add the green Beans Last. Cook Until everything looks ready to eat. [You can add any veggies you want to this recipe just add them where you see fit based on cooking time] Eat with ketchup.

Peanut and Pineapple "Kinda Fried" Rice

2 cups water and citrus juice mixed (maybe 1/12cup h2o and the rest juice)

1 cups white rice

peanuts (as many as you like)

left over pineapple (from eating pineapple for lunch) diced

*all pineapples are different so you will really just have to guesstimate

peanut oil

1-2 tablespoons soy sauce

1-2 onions, thinly sliced

diced carrots

Use citrus water to cook rice (like normal). Once rice is done cooking -- or almost done cooking. In a heated frying pan cook peanuts until they are warmed and slightly browned. Add oil and soy sauce. Saute onions and carrots with the peanuts. RIGHT BEFORE adding the rice add the pineapple to the frying pan just long enough to get it warm and allow some of the pineapple juice to mix with the soy sauce and oil. Add Cooked Rice. Stir and Heat until everything is cooked and well melanged.

Benin Style Tofu Scram aka Zoe's Happy Belly Nosh

*In Benin we have “soy fromage” which is similar to really really firm tofu

As much “soy fromage” as you think you can eat in one meal, crumbled

1/2-1 teaspoon Tumeric

Olive Oil as needed

1 cup of quick oats

ginger powder and red pepper and black pepper to taste

dried basil to taste

Garlic, sliced

Onion, chopped

3-4 tomatoes (probably less in the states)

Your choice of leafy green – 3 or 4 handfulls

This is a tofu scram.. so it is pretty basic. First you need to crumble or chop the “tofu” into the size that you prefer. In a frying pan heat oil and tumeric (this is really just for color) add “tofu” and saute until well colored and heated through. Add oats, spices, and basil. Add Garlic and Onion. Once everything appears to be well cooked add the tomatoes. Once the tomatoes and leafy greens. You want to tomatoes warm and the greens wilted into the mixture. At this point adjust any spices as you see fit.

Zoe's Chickpea Smash

1 tbsp olive oil

Juice of 1 citron (this is like a lemon-lime) (probably a little less than 2 tbsp)

* In the US I would say use a VERY small lime and add a small amount of lemon

1-2 teaspoons dried thyme

pinch or red pepper powder

1-2 cloves garlic, sliced

1 small onion (onions are very small here), diced

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

sesame oil

black pepper to taste

In a bowl (big enough for the can of chickpeas) mix together olive oil and citron. Stir in spices, garlic, and onion. Add Chickpeas and stir until well coated. Drizzle in a small amount of sesame oil and smash chickpeas with a fork (for those of you who have had it this similar to when I make chickpea of the sea). You want the mixture to be mashed but chunky.. there should still be some recognizable chickpeas. Eat mixture on a fresh baguette, season with black pepper if you so choose. *Note: if you are not hungry enough to eat a whole can of chickpeas then this is not a one serving meal.

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I still frequently make fried plantains because they are delicious.. I eat them as a snack or with rice and beans for dinner. My french fries have evolved to garlic fries on most days (the day I realized that I had been gifted some red vinegar was a happy one for my french fries – and it only went up hill from there). I wish I ate more eggplant, but I always end up wasting most of the eggplant due to its size – so I don't buy them all that often. I don't eat nearly as much pasta as I did when I first moved it – mostly because the woman I buy it from started picking up only spaghetti for me – not macaronis – and I really don't like spaghetti. However I have learned to make a decent enough tomato sauce out of a small can of tomato paste when my kitchen is feeling empty.

I hope you enjoy the recipes!

Z 

No I don't Eat Animals... and YES the Peace Corps still wanted me.

When I was applying to the Peace Corps.. a lot of people approached me about my ethical lifestyle. I can't even tell you how many times I was told... “But the Peace Corps doesn't accept vegetarians!?” Even a quick Google search would imply to most people that this is in fact true. HOWEVER this is NOT true... and being one of the veggies who made it through I feel its my responsibility to explain.

When you apply for the Peace Corps its a really really long process... they want to weed out the people who are applying on a whim... the people who aren't really that invested... the people who are most likely to give up early... and those who just might not cut it for one reason or another. Placing and Training a volunteer is a huge investment... paid for by the US Government (our tax dollars). If they invited all applicants to serve there would be a very high early termination rate.. it would cost us a lot of dollars.. and it would make the Peace Corps/Americans seem unreliable to the countries where we serve as skilled workers and more importantly as cultural ambassadors.

In order to insure interest and proper placement there are special questionnaires for special circumstance (Erik and I got a good laugh out of the relationship questionnaire(s) we had to fill out with questions such as “Have you informed your significant other of your decision to join the Peace Corps?”). During the application process I was approached many times by people who felt “special circumstances that require special questionnaires are a sure application death sentence.” Which is where I think that the misconception that the Peace Corps is anti-vegetarian comes into existence.

During my Interview in NYC I was told... “There are a lot of countries where we don't send vegetarian volunteers... you won't be going to China for example.” Ok... that is fine.. I didn't want to go to China anyway.. and then she added “I will be emailing you a special questionnaire about your diet you will need to get it back to me ASAP.” This questionnaire was rather silly and extreme in a “Worst Case Scenario” sort of way. Which is honestly what it was – “Here is our worst case scenario FOR YOU and what do you plan to do about it.” The questions ranged from.. please tell about your reasons for your vegetarian lifestyle... to will you let yourself starve to death when faced with no other options.

This questionnaire is NOT meant to deter vegetarians.. but it is important questionnaire with important implications... that if you are serious enough about your lifestyle you should understand that they need to ask. It WILL provide them with the information they need in order to safely place you in an environment where you will be HAPPY and be able to do the job they sent you to do. Granted if you say “No I will lay on the ground and let my self starve to death”.. you will probably get sent for mental health screening as well. It is perfectly acceptable however to tell them that you are health/nutrition conscious and that you will not let yourself starve to death. Let them know you take your diet seriously.. and explain to them how you plan to eat in order to remain healthy. If they know you know how to keep yourself healthy.. they will feel satisfied that you won't be putting your well being at risk. Besides most of the world sustains itself on rice and beans... not ideal but it's a real thing.

During the Peace Corps process they want to know that you are reliable, flexible and strong (and I don't mean physically). Flexible just might be the most important quality that they look for in a volunteer. Flexible means you are not easily phased.. you are resilient.. and you understand that things don't always go as planned. They want to know you won't starve to death because you can't read an ingredient label for every little thing you eat. Those don't exist in the third world. If you take this questionnaire as what it really is, an attempt for the peace corps to understand you more fully so that you can be properly placed... and you don't view it as a personal attack. This questionnaire will help you in the long run.

What I learned after this point in the application process was yes.. there are many countries where the peace corps doesn't feel safe sending vegetarian volunteers... but there are also countries designated as “Vegetarian Friendly.” A good portion of my training group was some form of vegetarian... because Benin is vegetarian friendly!! Peace Corps gets you to this point... they get you to where you need to be... now its up to you to make it work. Your host family has been informed of your dietary restrictions.. and at this point YOU DO NOT have to eat the food they give you if it isn't right (and once you get to your post you cook for yourself anyway). I was really really lucky and I had an awesome family who fed me right. There were a few times when they did offer me non vegetarian food before making my dinner... I turned it down and they made me vegetarian food... no biggie no hurt feelings it was just them testing something they didn't understand. However, I can see at this point where some volunteers might have felt obligated to take the non-vegetarian food.. causing a downward spiral of confusion.. you ate it yesterday it didn't kill you so you can eat it today too. You might have been accepting it to be polite.. but they won't understand that.. if its a health issue you didn't get sick... if its a religious issue or a question of values THEY DO NOT expect you to compromise that just to be polite. The peace corps told them.. the peace corps is paying them to feed you... and they want you to be happy as a guest in their house... be honest with them.

The Peace Corps does not want you to compromise who you are in order to serve in the country where they sent you to work. They will tell you this over and over again. This was one of the big cultural topics during training (Benin has a great support network of both volunteers and faculty who are always there to talk if you are having an issue) .. and one of the big goals of the Peace Corps is to teach the people who work with you about Americans. If you compromise who you are... you won't be happy.. and you won't be successfully completing that goal. A happy volunteer is a successful volunteer.

Here in Benin I have been a healthy and happy vegetarian volunteer. My neighbors and friends even know not to offer me dairy products or eggs (a local staple). The peace corps placed me in a country where they knew I could be successful (which they couldn't have done if I wasn't honest with them).. and the local staff made a point to place me in a region where fruits and vegetables are diverse and widely available. I take my vitamins everyday. People here understand what vegetarian means.. the problem is the understanding of why. A lot of volunteers have found it easy just to explain that something will make them sick. Some people go the religion route (however that opens a whole can of worms about God and other things). For me I have decided to go with a more simple explanation that is highly understood and allows for little confusion. I just tell them “It's the way of my family.” no one is going to argue with that -- tradition and family is just something that is respected. The best part is it's true too! 

Z

WOW it is October... I have started receiving all of the winter jacket advertisements in my e-mail. Sorry guys I won't be needing that this year!! 

Also: I know people were wondering if I was surviving food wise here... That being said if there is anything else you would like me to write about specifically.. let me know!!