I’m just back from the 11-day Kinder Camino tour starting from Leon/Sarria. And since it’s probably boring to hear more about what knowledgeable and warm guides David and Jeffery are, what a fantastic company Alex runs, how flawless the logistics were, how peaceful and serene the countryside was, I thought I’d write about what it was like as a vegan on the trip since I haven’t yet seen a post about that.
Breakfast was absolutely necessary to fuel up. A cafe solo to start. Granola and cereals, lots of fresh and dried fruit and nuts. Biscuits. Some manor homes had soy or almond milk and soy yogurt, peanut butter. Pan con tomate. One place even offered vegan cold cuts!
Picnic lunches provided lots of choices. Jeffery or David would make a special portion for me, leaving out the cheese in the pesto pasta or the salad. Lentil and bean salads. Fruit skewers. Dark chocolate with nuts. Lettuce wedges with roasted peppers. White asparagus. Crusty freshly baked bread. Honeydew and crenshaw melon sweeter than you’ve ever had. Dark chocolate with nuts. Wine, beer, Kas sodas.
For dinner, whether we were in the manor home or a restaurant, there was always a choice for me. Vegetarian paella. Bountiful plates of grilled vegetables. Roasted padron peppers. Vegetable primavera. Stuffed mushroooms. Eggplant “burger.” Falafel patties. Risotto and vegetables. Ratatouille. Zucchini soup. Hummus. The potatoes in Galicia, whether boiled, roasted, or fried have so much more flavor than ours in the US! A coffee grappa or a herb one to top off the meal. Many times, my fellow pilgrims would eye my food even as they feasted on tender lamb, hake, pulpo or empanadas.
If you’re a ovo-vegetarian, you could add the marvelous tortilla (potato & egg sometimes onion omelette), the Santiago cake (almond), pasteis de nata (Portuguese custard tarts), and a variety of pastries, cakes, and macaroons. And a lacto vegetarian could enjoy the omnipresent flan, cheesecake, and local cheeses from Arzua (the Galician cheese capital).
Suffice it to say, that though I was walking 3-4 times more than I do in New York, I came back from Spain with an extra 2 pounds. Buen provecho!
