Eating in Europe Report

Roland and I just got back from a trip to Brussels and Berlin. I blogged the details about it on my other blog but I was thinking about you while I was traveling and took pictures of some of my favorite meals.

Before we left I researched vegan/vegetarian restaurants on the Happy Cow website and found lots of great options for dinner. I found that in most cases the vegetarian restaurants are hip and cutting edge with food and the presentation of the food. Whenever I saw the words "Biologisch" and/or "Vegetarisch" I knew I was in for a delicious healthy meal.

I also found that most non-vegetarian restaurants had creative and satisfying options for vegetarians but they were loaded with fat and it was difficult to eat vegan. And then of course I had to try the Belgian Waffles and the German Strudel and the chocolate. That sweet tooth has a hold on me.

So many chocolate stores.

Roland said the only disappointing meal he had was a business dinner at a fancy underground restaurant in Berlin that was famous for their meat. He requested a vegetarian meal and received a plate of steamed veggies. Bummer. I think that was the night I ate at an organic vegan Indian restaurant - divine.

Of course, when I get around really good food I forget about my camera, and the last thing I want to do is stop eating and take a picture. But then Roland would say, "Hey, don't you want to blog about this?" and so what you will see are pictures of half eaten food, so you may not see how fabulous it looked before I attacked it.

 Lunch in Berlin at the Super Good Vegetarian Restaurant. Polenta fries with a savory dipping sauce.

 Super Good  again - My basil and tomato sandwich and Roland's Veggie Burger. Roland also had a mushroom soup that was fabulous.

 Breakfast at the Reichstag Parliament building. The only way I could get into the building was with a reservation at this restaurant. It was pretty fancy and I could totally visualize world leaders eating this excellent food. In Berlin the breakfasts like this were called "Fit for the Day" breakfasts.  I ordered them several times.

 Close up of the Reichstag breakfast: I ate the green breakfast salad so fast (see the balsamic dressing on the left side of the plate) that I forgot the camera. The red cup on the left is a very loose yogurt with a tart fruit sauce, the spelt crepes were filled with zucchini and green onion and drizzled with a balsamic reduction, a little cottage cheese with herbs, a honey pot for sweetening as needed, a fresh fruit salad, and what you can't see is peppermint tea and freshly juiced carrot/apple juice (they make the juice right there where you can watch). And bread, lots of bread with nuts and herbs. Excellent breakfast.

 Potsdam Lunch at Cafe KeiselStein - so fresh and satisfying. This tomato soup and chamomile tea hit the spot on a cold rainy day.

 Cafe KieselStein again - My lunch of crepes filled with leeks, zucchini, and white asparagus and a side of very fresh salad with a lemon mustard dressing (I am salivating as I type this).

Cafe KieselStein again - Roland's lunch of falafel, hummus, bean salad (huge beans!), grilled eggplant, salad (and one of my crepes - we share).

The charming street in Brussels where we had our first night dinner of salad, pasta, and vegetarian pizza with pesto sauce. And bread, lots of bread. I'm still coming off all the bread we ate. Oh, it was worth it.

I found that it was much easier to eat healthy vegan in Beijing. In Brussels and Berlin there was always butter, cheese, and bread at every meal and I was usually very hungry so it was hard to resist! In Beijing it was vegan - all the time!

Recovering from jet lag is so much easier when you are eating healthy. When we went to France I was eating the SAD diet and I remember how terrible I felt the entire time! This diet kept me cheerful and energetic and forced me to find some awesome restaurants that are off the beaten track.

It was a great trip but I was so happy to get home to my Green Smoothies! And I am looking forward to re-creating some of these meals here at home.