Vegan Lunch Box Ideas Part 1

For this series of blog posts, I want to present an accurate view of regular vegan lunches for regular people. This series includes the following requirements:

• Foods must be inexpensive
• Foods must keep well for up to 6 hours without heating or refrigeration
• Foods must not require more than a few minutes of preparation
• Foods must be vegan 
  

 

Publix Lightly Salted Peanuts 

These are great. Of course, I did not eat the entire contents of this jar during one lunch break. These are very satisfying.

 

 

Two Raw Apples

This is a great raw lunch. I prefer mine peeled, so I put a paring knife in the pouch of my lunchbox.

 

Snyder's Mini Pretzels and a Powerbar Plant Protein Snack Bar

with dark chocolate, salted caramel, and cashew! This lunch is non-GMO!

 

 

A Mediterranean-style Vegan Lunch

Dolmas from the Kroger olive bar and a Sabra Roasted Red Pepper Hummus and Pretzels snack pack!

 

 

A Fruit Bowl From Publix

A Vegan Publix Garlic And Herb Tofu Sub At Publix Deli

I noticed a new vegan sandwich on the Publix Deli menu, so I had to try it. I now present to you my Publix Deli Garlic and Herb Tofu sandwich as it looked when I unwrapped it in my car.

The awesome new Publix Deli Garlic and Herb Tofu sandwich is made fresh in the deli and includes avocado, vegan ranch dressing, garlic and herb tofu crumbles, and a choice of veggies. I chose to add lettuce, tomato, and onion, and I went with the standard white sub roll. The price was $4.99 for a half sandwich and $6.49 for a whole sandwich.

I got the impression this sandwich is not a big hit at my local Publix Deli. The deli clerk had to gather the necessary ingredients from the store and needed to go out front to read the menu to know what to put on it. This did end up with guacamole instead of avocado just because that was more convenient for everyone. I bet this sandwich would be more popular if people would just try it, because this was awesome! It was worth the wait.

The tofu crumbles were semi-firm bite-sized cubes, and they were covered in flavorful herbs. It looked like they used Nasoya Toss'ables Garlic and Herb tofu. The veggies were fresh and crisp. The vegan ranch dressing was a pleasant surprise, because I never thought I'd see Publix Deli go this far to be vegan friendly. The bread was fresh as always. The deli clerk was friendly. The deli was very clean as usual.

I got a bag of Dirty Potato Chips and a Publix Deli tea to go with the sandwich. Both were perfect.

 

Once again, I got a great plant-based meal from the Publix Deli. From a vegan perspective, this is a big step in the right direction for Publix.  This is the best sandwich I've received from the Publix Deli. I would recommend this to all people. Even omnivores will love this sandwich.

If you'd like to see another vegan sub option at Publix Deli, check out the Publix Veggie Sub I posted about a while back.

A Vegan Salad At Publix

I bought this Green Leaf Salad in the produce department of a Publix supermarket. I added La Choy Chow Mein Noodles and Daiya Homestyle Ranch Dressing. Those onions were so good!

A Vegan Publix Veggie Sub at Publix Deli

Publix Deli can make an awesome vegan sub sandwich. I got the white bread with spicy mustard, all the veggies, and topped with oil, vinegar, and oregano. I also chose to get a Publix Deli Peach Tea. This is one of the best sandwiches around! And their tea is great too!

To make this vegan, order this with the white bread. The wheat bread contains honey. They may also have other vegan bread options available, such as the White Mountain bread. But do read the ingredients first. Just go next door to the bakery and read the bread labels.

NOTE: The bread shown here contains L-Cysteine and other questionable ingredients which may or may not be animal derivatives. So this option depends on how selective one chooses to be.

Publix Deli is well-known for cleanliness. The entire deli is thoroughly sanitized everyday. The machines are completely disassembled and sanitized several times a day. Even the floor gets scrubbed and sanitized daily. Also, Publix makes the employees wear those humiliating hair and bread nets, even if they have a shaved head and light casts a shadow on a cheek. But mustaches and long arm hair are allowed? The rules really do drift into absurdity and insanity. So the cleanliness of the deli itself is not usually an issue.

The problems to watch for as a vegan is the used bread knife and gloves, the deli clerk going to the slicer for fresh ingredients, and flies caught in the plexiglass bread box. If you get there early, these issues will be the troubles of other people. Vegans, Go early!

Firstly, it's a good idea to ask for a clean knife and a glove change if you suspect possible contamination at the sub station. Anticipate that the customer before you will have already ordered a bloody roast beef sandwich with provolone cheese and mayonnaise and that the knife is covered in animal residue. Secondly, the deli clerk will occasionally run out of veggies and use the cheese slicer (or even worse, the meat slicer) to slice more veggies. According to company rules, the veggies should be sliced on a separate slicer, but some people are nasty and lazy. And at busy times, all slicers are used for animal products, so there may not be a designated veggie slicer. And finally, on too many occasions, I've seen flies trapped in the bread box. The deli clerks will act like they don't see it.

Go early. They can make a sandwich as soon as the bread is done in the morning. Publix Deli veggie subs make great vegan breakfasts!

If you'd like to see another great vegan sub from the Publix Deli, check out the new Garlic and Herb Tofu Sub.