[ben88]

Do you know any kind of food that I can keep with me while hiking, that does not contain any meat diary or egg products?

[Rich Baldwin]

I'm not vegan myself, but I recall there is at least one brand of vegan backpacking meals. I think REI carries it. You can also get bags of freeze dried vegies and freeze dried fruit for when you are tired of gorp.

[nuclear_eggset]

pasta's good - you can even get TVP to add some protein to it. soy nuts would be a good protein add to your trail mix, as dried fruits and nuts are always a good choice. clif nectar bars, ruths hemp bars, bumble bars, organic food bars (that's their brand name), and a few other 'bars' are vegan as well. (I'm gluten-free, dairy-free, so these happen to be gluten-free as well. There are a few others which have gluten that are vegan, so check around.) beans are good in general, but you'll have to soak them while you're hiking, and a small, wide-mouth nalgene should be sufficient for that for only one or two people. if you want any rice to go with that, trader joe's even has pre-cooked pouches that just need to be heated in hot water - including brown and wild rices. (soaking rice can help shorten it's cook time too, though.) if you have, or get, a dehydrator, you can make a number of things ahead of time. some crackers you can make in a regular oven, flax crackers (a good source of omega-3 and protein) need a lower temperature setting than an oven usually will get to. they can also dehydrate any sort of vegetable you want to, though you can always give that a try in to oven, and try reconsituting for a trial run at what soup might taste like.

[Foist]

Easy: Mary Jane's Farm. It's all I get, and I'm not even vegetarian, the stuff is just delicious. They have vegan meals too. One you try a few meals (REI sells them), I highly recommend the bulk option from the website. You save a ton of money. I just "cook" it in a lexan bowl and cover it with a plastic bag across the top. Alfredo Pasta, Santa Fe Pasta, Kettle Chili, and Couscous Lentil Curry are especially delicious, but I haven't had anything less than good. But the alfredo and santa fe have dairy, obviously.

[joker]

Lentils don't need soaking, and when combined with rice, some dried veggies, some spices, veggie bullion cubes, and other flavors you might think to add (dried cranberries, nuts...), make a darned tasty and substantial meal. But of course you need to actually COOK this sort of meal...

[Marc]

There's a book I picked up at Mountain Equipment Co-Op called Lip Smacki' Vegetarian Backpacking Recipies. It's fantastic, lots of good veggie ideas for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The thing I like most is that they take in to account that you're backpacking. The breakfasts are pretty much add boiling water into a ziplock bag, the lunchs are designed to be eaten cold on the trail and the suppers, while they require a bit more work/prep, are one pot meals. I'd higly recommend it.

[sarbar]

My second trail cooking website has a section on both vegan and vegetarian eating.

[phillyjon]

Up to now I didn't know there was a difference. Thanx, sarbar. I must keep up on the New Age lingo.

[Malachai Constant]

Most of our hiking food is veg. We make an exception for fish however. Usually we just have a ramen packet with some soup of beans. You can easily use the stuff that comes in the cups Nile Spice? and ditch the cup. Used to use the TVP but most of it contains MSG. Had a packet of that with ramen and knorr soup at hundred island lake in the sierras and I felt like I had just chugged a fifth of vodka, nie wieder!

[sarbar]

Bob's Red Mill TVP is very low in sodium (You have to avoid the ham, beef and chicken flavored versions to stay low sodium).

[Malachai Constant]

You are probably right this was ham flavored

[#19]

About once a year, I go on 2 -3 night trip with a veg (not a vegan). He brings humus and pita bread and boca burgers (and buns). Ketchup, relish and mustard in the little packets for the burger, topping both with lettuce and pre-sliced tomatoes. Heavy, but pretty darned good. Not sure if this fits a vegan diet, but both sandwiches are good sources of carb and protein. He also brings lots of more typical stuff like ramen, nuts and fruit.