So here we are again, nestled inside that portion of summer that’s unbearably hot. I remember last year quite vividly because it was filled with lots of vegan salad recipes and vegan sandwiches because it was too dang hot to be bothered in the kitchen.
Same goes with travel and adventure.
But this year the weather might not be any different, but I am. The weather is the weather and it looks like this extreme summer heat is here to stay so I’m not going to let it derail my plans the way I did last year. Now, I shall be prepared with essentials like water and sunscreen, and when it really is too hot I’ll find ways to enjoy being outside without being miserable.
This is actually pretty easy to do here in Romania because there are plenty of mountains. In fact, before moving here I wasn’t aware of just how mountainous this country was. There are the Carpathian Mountains, Bucegi, Apusteni, Făgăraș, Piatra Craiului & Ciucaș just to name a few…and those are just the ones I came up with from the top of my head.
Impressed?
Yeah, me too! 😉
Seriously though, it’s a great way to get outside and stay cool because it’s always cooler in the mountains. Sure, there are also bears but you can’t be the scenery or the quiet.
Don’t believe me? Check out this impromptu picnic we had at Piatra Craiului last week.
Vegan Picnic Essentials
This wasn’t planned at least not more than a day in advance, which meant I grabbed a bunch of items from the fridge and slapped together whatever I could.
When we went to Sapte Scari, I made sandwiches so I had to switch it up this time with kind of antipasti platter that included vegan sausages (made from peas instead of soy!), vegan gouda, garlic stuffed olives and marinated olives, yellow heirloom tomatoes, blueberries and water.
That’s it.
It wasn’t fancy and we didn’t need it to be because it was more about relaxing under the sun–beside a nice little babbling brook–and getting something in our bellies after a day of zip lining and alpine coaster-ing.
So what do you need for a proper vegan picnic? Whatever the hell you want! Sandwiches work, so do salads or the antipasti like I did above. One of my favorite options is to grab or make a few dips like hummus, baba ghanoush, red pepper dip, zacuscă and some fresh bakery bread!
One thing I don’t leave without? My handy travel utensils because while I love eating with my hands, sometimes tomatoes and antipasti just require a fork!
If you shop ahead, the grocery store is your vegan oyster mushroom but if you decide to wake up and go on a picnic, whatever is in your fridge will do. This time of year there are always sandwich fixings, fresh fruit and heirloom tomatoes in my fridge so we’re always off to a good start.
And if you like to go out and explore as a vegan, you know that often your food offerings are limited, in which case it’s really great to be able to have exactly what you want without any questions. Everything is vegan and you can be sure because you packed it, made it or bought it yourself.
What foods are a MUST in your vegan picnic basket?
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