Honduran Eats

Last week I helped save the world. I went with nine of the most wonderful people I have ever met to help build a school in Honduras with Global Brigades. We kicked some ass by hauling 900 40-pound cement blocks from one place to another, mixing and pouring concrete, and laying brick to make walls. It was an intense four days of building and a few days of play, accompanied appropriately with intense meals.

For one thing, there was always strong hot coffee at the dining hall of our compound. Always. Three cups in the morning did the trick to get us ready for a long day of work, and a sweaty cup or two was perfect in the late afternoon.

Meals were hearty and filling, perhaps a little too dense, but nevertheless delicious. Unfortunately I forgot to take a lot of pictures, so you'll have to bear with my descriptions.

It's easy to eat vegan in Honduras, for the most part. I could always get starch and protein. We had rice, rolls, or handmade corn tortillas with every meal. Sometimes there were refried beans at breakfast, sometimes we had beans and plantains in tortilla sandwiches for lunch. Often meals included eggs or cheese, which I simply chose not to eat.

Luckily, there were always steamed vegetables at dinner. Granted they were steeped in a little too much oil, perhaps butter, but what can you do? They hit the spot and provided some much-needed nutrients. And there was always fresh fruit with lunch and dinner. Pineapple, melon, bananas, mango, papaya, watermelon...Juicy and delicious, we savored fruit as our dessert.

And if all else failed, PB&J never got old. Hondurans are convinced that Americans constantly eat peanut butter and jelly, so there was always a station set up with every meal. I discovered that peanut butter tortilla rollups are especially delightful.

On our last day we were able to tour a bit. We went to a national park where some bought ice cream and I bought water in a plastic bag. It was sort of fun to drink.

Later we headed to Valle de Angeles, a colonial tourist town. We enjoyed freshly-cooked pupusas, which is a Salvadorian dish made of tortillas stuffed with cheese or sausage. It reminded me of a slightly fried pancake - a little crispy, very gooey, and floury. It was delightfully messy and was even better with pickled onions, cole slaw, and hot sauce as condiments. I strayed and ate a bit of cheese, but was I supposed to pass up the meal that the town is famous for? I don't think so. I washed it down with a Fanta made with real sugar and left the restaurant rubbing my stomach but content.

My Honduran meals were far from gourmet, but they were deeply satisfying and made with the loving attention of some motherly-looking Honduran ladies. One day we got to thinking about industrial food. Our compound cranked out some good, fresh food every single day for a couple hundred ravenous college students. True, real food takes a little extra time and effort, but if such good meals can be prepared for so many people in a kitchen the size of a dorm room, why does Tulane food have to be so repulsive and barely defrosted? Why does all industrial food have to be so, well, industrial? We need to make a shift to simple, well-prepared food, not a daily cafeteria smorgasbord of fake food.

And with that, I'll leave you with what I made for last night's dinner:

- Easiest Bean or Grain Salad on the Planet
I made this with red kidney beans and chickpeas, but there are about a million different variations. I'm thinking this will be a summer staple. It is so fresh and light but loaded with protein! Next I want to try it with black beans, cilantro, and tomato...

- Avocado Pesto Pasta
This is heaven. Making it with lime juice works just as well, if not better.

- Peach Clafoutis Without Dough
I substituted 8 peaches for 12 plums, and used about a tablespoon of Earth Balance. I cooked the peaches until they were gooey and deceivingly rich. SO GOOD.


Love and noms from Boca Raton...