This coming February, I will be partaking on my third year of veganism, and one question I’m frequently asked is “what do you eat on campus”? And let me tell you, my sophomore year at the U of R before becoming vegan, I was also a little dumbfounded. But lo and behold there are actually a lot of delicious and healthy vegan options available!
I should also provide a disclaimer here that I am a senior, and therefore I have transitioned to mostly cooking my own food. However, it does not keep me from partaking in some of the tasty options when I’m in a rush, or simply don’t want to cook.
On Sunday, I did some meal prepping for some of my lunches and dinners and made a stir fry! Stir frys are a super simple and effortless way to pack in lots of protein and veggies into one meal. For this stir fry, I also tried something new: cauliflower rice! I lightly steamed the cauliflower while I sautéed broccoli and tofu with some spicy chili sauce. Each of these items I picked up from Wegmans and it was delicious!
The following morning, I made one of my favorite breakfasts: avocado toast! This time, it was on more of a whole wheat pita pocket, but still very tasty! I like to top my avo – toast with salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic powder, and a hint of paprika. It’s super tasty and really filling! On mornings when I crave something a little sweet as well, I will also have a bowl of almond milk yogurt with some granola, almonds, and chia seeds mixed in.
For Monday lunch, I ate some avocado spread on a plain bagel from Starbucks. If you haven’t tried it, it’s amazing! In addition, I picked myself up some iced black tea in my reusable cup! Now that it’s a little bit colder, I typically go for a London fog with almond milk, but I still make sure to use a reusable mug since it’s better for the planet, and depending on your order, you can get discounts on your drink – it’s
a win win!
For Monday evening, I ate some leftover stir fry, and Tuesday morning I also ate some avocado toast for breakfast, and avocado spread on a plain bagel for lunch.I am a pretty big creature of 
habit, especially when I’m in a rush. The one deviation from Monday was that I also ate a fruit puree from Starbucks. I’d heard good things, but had never tried it and was not disappointed at all!
On Wednesday, I ate more avocado toast for breakfast, and picked up an iced black tea. One of my favorite things to eat on campus is the chickpea fruit and nut wrap typically sold at Grab – in – Go and Connections Cafe.
I will usually also get a bag of chips or an apple, but since I was running low on declining, I decided that I could wait a bit to go home and eat a snack.
My snack was a nectarine I had purchased from the Public Market that prior Saturday, and it was starting to go bad. So I cut off the not so good looking parts and sprinkled some fresh lemon juice and fresh lime juice on top. For dinner, I also finished up one of the last servings of my stir fry.
Again, on Thursday, I ate some avocado toast and my yogurt, granola mix. For lunch, I was really hungry, so I opted for some French fries and a quinoa burger from The Pit, and it was really good! The burger has just a hint of garlic, and the French fries are always nice and crispy. Lastly, for dinner I finished up the rest of my tasty stir fry and riced cauliflower!
Each week I try to mix up the different dishes that I meal prep, so sometimes it will be some chana masala with brown rice, burritos with vegan ground beef, or even some chickpea pasta with red sauce and vegan sausage crumbles. For lunch, I also like to switch it up every now and then and go to Danforth for their vegan options, since I also really love their variety of teas. Overall, if you ask any vegan person on campus, the foods they eat may be totally different, but just know that once you know your way around, there are a ton of options, sometimes you just have to get creative.
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Guest Post Written by Nic Hesse, Class of 2019, Dining Team Green Marketing Intern