What Happens When a Vegan Goes to Camp?

A week of mass meals prepared for nearly 300 people? It sounds like a vegan nightmare. And it would've been, if I hadn't shown up to Camp Fatima last week fully prepared with easy-to-make vegan staples. 

is a volunteer-run, sleep-away camp for children with disabilities. Fifteen of the 193 volunteers hail from Morris County, as well as a dozen of the campers.

Meals are served en masse in a mess hall, with a team of six cooks preparing everything. As you can imagine, it's hectic in the kitchen. I hated the thought of creating extra work by asking for vegan meals, especially considering many of the campers have food allergies and require their own special meals. At the same time, I didn't want to subsist on peanut butter and jelly all week. I knew my energy would plummet within the first few days if I didn't have the nourishing foods I'm accustomed to eating. 

To get around the being-a-difficult-vegan thing, I stopped by Costco in East Hanover on my way to camp for a huge bag of quinoa (it's about a month's supply, if not more); cans of Amy's lentil soup and raw almonds. 

My next stop was the Health Shoppe in Morristown, where I picked up a head of kale (it is sturdy enough to last nearly a week, whereas other lettuces tend to perish quickly), a loaf of seven-grain bread, a carton of hemp milk and containers of Garden of Life Raw Meal powder and Barlean's Greens powder. I've never tried either of the powders, but knew I wouldn't be getting much fresh food at camp. I needed to get my greens somewhere.

The cooks—including my cousin Kevin—gave me a hard time about making vegan meals, but it was all in good fun. I can't really blame them for laughing—I've known them since I was a kid, and the vegan diet still seems completely foreign to them. I think they actually enjoyed the challenge.

The week turned into somewhat of a cleanse. I started my days with a glass of Barlean's Greens, which turned out to be delicious. Breakfast consisted of almond butter (my sister had made me a batch—check out the recipe below) and sliced banana on toast, with hemp seeds sprinkled on top. 

Lunch generally consisted of kale, quinoa, black beans or chick peas and a little cayenne pepper; dinner was similar, with Amy's lentil soup in place of the beans. Kevin also picked up whole wheat pasta and tossed it together with olive oil and sauteed peppers and onions. Quinoa was the perfect grain, as it is incredibly easy to cook. He made a large enough batch to last all week; the only other time he had to cook was when I asked for brown rice on Friday. 

Just as I was getting bored with my routine, my sister came up to visit camp (she's a former volunteer). She came with a container of Moroccan stew, which got me through the last two days. Check out the recipe—it's bursting with flavor. I'd recommend it for any trip, dinner party or get-together, especially if you're serving non-vegans. At least three people came up when they saw me eating it. One look and they were totally jealous. 

The food worked out so well that I never even opened the Raw Meal. The thought of drinking a 270-calorie meal sort of freaks me out. It's too Jenny Craig for me, and I was really happy to stop by the Health Shoppe to return the jug on my way home from camp. At more than $50, the jug of meal replacement was just too expensive and scary for my taste.

Recipes that got me through the week:

Almond Butter

• 1.5 cups Almonds
• 2 Tb Olive oilSea Salt

Toast Almonds for approxiametly 10 minutes (or do it raw). Add the almonds and oil to the blender (I use a Vitamix) and use on high speed for about one minute. Add more oil if needed. The almond butter is ready when completely smooth and circulating in the blender. Add sea salt to taste (a few shakes makes a huge difference in flavor).

Without a Vitamix, it will take anywhere from 10-30 minutes depending on the strength of the blender/food processer and it may overheat with the prolonged use.

Moosewood Morrocan Stew (from New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant)

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 3 cups onions, coarsely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 cup sliced carrot
• 4 cups cubed sweet potatoes or butternut squash
• 3 cups cubed eggplant1 green pepper, sliced in strips
• 4 cups sliced zucchini or summer squash
• 2 large tomatoes, chopped
• 1 can garbanzo beans
• pinch saffron
• 3/4 cup dried currants or 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

In a stew pot, heat the oil and saute the onions for 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and spices, stirring continuously. Add the vegetables in the order given above, so that the starchier vegetables will cook the longest. Saute after the addition of each vegetable until its color deepens (I usually chop as I go and by the time I finish chopping the next ingredient the previous one has browned enough). Stir in the garbanzo beans then saffron and currants or raisins. There should be some liquid at the bottom of the pot from the cooking vegetables. If the stew is dry, add 1/2 cup tomato juice, liquid from the garbanzo beans or water (rarely needed). Cover the stew and simmer on low heat until all the vegetables are tender and the flavors have fully married (1-2 hours is best to get the full flavor). Add the parsley just before serving and sprinkle with crushed almonds for some crunch. Serve over rice/quinoa/couscous, etc.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 241 Calories; 14g Fat (51.6% calories from fat); 7g Protein; 23g Carbohydrate; 7g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 17mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 2 1/2 Fat.