No-Cook Meals for Traveling

If you have a refrigerator but don’t have a cooktop or microwave, you can still make healthy, high-protein meals to get you through your busy days.

Stocking your mini-fridge

You’ll want explore the delicious Greek cuisine as much as possible, but you can’t eat at restaurants every meal. To stay focused and keep your energy up—during the dig, at classes and exploring the island—it helps to have a healthy breakfast, some high-protein snacks and simple lunches always on hand. Here are some easy-to-prep ideas including local ingredients—fresh vegetables, olives, cheeses, and whole grains—to help you stay well-fed and ready for adventure. To get an idea of what is available at the local supermarket, check out AB Vassilopoulos. AB is a major Greek supermarket chain with a website that is (partially) in English. To make getting groceries easy, I’ve added a shopping list at the bottom of the page.

Breakfasts

  • Cereal and milk—the classic American breakfast
  • Bagels and cream cheese—You won’t find bagels up to New York standard, but you can try local breads or rice cakes and top with cream cheese, tomatoes, red onion, capers, etc. Be careful handling smoked fish, which can be stinky
  • Avocado toast—the millennial go-to breakfast is easy to make and great anywhere. No toaster? Use fresh local bread, crackers or rice cakes
  • Overnight oats—really easy and can be doctored with any flavor you like, from fresh fruit to peanut butter. Just put 1 cup of rolled oats in a bowl with ¾ cup whole milk, give it a stir and put it in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning stir it up with any flavoring or sweetener you choose.
  • Breakfast parfaits—start with great Greek yogurt and layer anything
    • Classic yogurt, granola, fresh fruit/raisins, honey
    • Strawberry Shortcake—yogurt, fresh strawberries, (or other fresh fruit) and crumbled sweet crackers such as lady fingers, savoiardi, madeleines, crumbled biscotti
    • Cheesecake—yogurt, cream cheese stirred with honey & milk, graham crackers, fruit
    • Tiramisu—vanilla pudding (instead of yogurt), lady fingers, espresso, chunk of chocolate bar
    • Creamy—yogurt briskly stirred with honey and milk

Lunches

  • Travel-friendly salads—experiment with a simple two-to-one vinaigrette: 2 measures of olive oil, plus an acid of either one measure of vinegar or lemon. Add a little onion, shallot or garlic. Season with salt and pepper. You can also increase the protein with shredded rotisserie chicken.
    • “Greek—hummus, feta cheese, tomato, greens, red onion
    • Italian—cold cuts, artichoke hearts, provolone, tomato, greens, red onion
    • Caprese—mozzarella, tomatoes, basil
    • California—avocado, greens, tomatoes, onions with vinegar dressing
    • Caesar—avocado, romaine lettuce or other greens, with a lemon/garlic dressing
    • Nicoise—hard–boiled eggs, avocado, tuna, olives, greens, tomatoes, onions, capers
  • Wraps—Almost all the salads can be rolled up for travel. Use soft tortillas, pita or any kind of flatbread. Add dressing just before you eat.
    • Greek—hummus, feta cheese, rotisserie chicken, tomato, greens, red onion
    • Italian—cold cuts, artichoke hearts, provolone, tomato, greens, red onion
    • Caprese—mozzarella, tomatoes, basil
    • California—avocado, chicken, greens, tomatoes, onions
    • Nicoise—hard–boiled eggs, avocado, tuna, olives, greens, tomatoes, onions, capers
  • Sandwiches—The same ingredients as wraps but with local bread. Also:
    • PBJ—classic peanut butter and jelly. How about adding banana, honey or Nutella?
    • Pizza—shredded mozzarella, smear of tomato paste (from a tube) and spicy beef salami
  • “Lunchables”—Pita, chips or crackers, sliced cheese, sliced turkey, nuts, dried fruit. seedless grapes
    • Charcuterie Cold cuts, hard-boiled eggs, salami, cubed cheese, nuts, grapes, cucumbers and tomato slices

Healthy Snacks

  • Hard-boiled eggs—At some markets you can buy pre-cooked hard-boiled eggs. You could also ask the manager at Zumbos if you could buy eggs and have a cook boil them for you.
  • Fruit—fresh or dried fruit
  • Nuts and seeds
  • Trail mix—buy store-bought mix, or combine your favorite dried fruits, seeds and nuts into a snack that is easy to make and can handle a day in your backpack
  • Chips and guacamole—The simplest guacamole is mashed avocado, salt and a little lime or lemon juice. You can also kick it up a notch with chopped cilantro and chili peppers.
  • Cheese and crackers
  • Charcuterie—beef up your cheese and crackers snack with cured meats, dried fruit, olives
  • Hummus and veggies
  • Mezze—hummus and veggies is just a place to start. Experiment making “Mezze,” a traditional Greek spread including hummus, veggies, flatbreads, stuffed cabbage leaves, stuffed olives, tiny cured fish and hard cheeses

Shopping List

Fresh Produce

  • Veggies—avocados, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, cauliflower, celery, peppers, red onions, beans, peas
  • Fruits—peaches, nectarines, sweet apricots, plums, cherries (lemons and limes for drinks). Look for berries too
  • Melons—watermelons, honeydew melons, cantaloupes and the yellow oblong melons from Argos
  • Greens—any kind of lettuce. Pre-washed bagged lettuce is easier to use and romaine lasts longer. Try a small cabbage too.

Baked Goods

  • Bread
  • Pita/Tortillas
  • Crackers
  • Biscuits/Cookies
  • Rice Cakes
  • Cereal—Box cereal or granola

Refrigerated / Dairy

  • Yogurt—Greek yogurt is amazing
  • Cheeses—graviera (cow’s milk cheese with a mild, buttery flavor), Kefalotyri (the most well-known of Paro’s hard cheeses, kefalotyri is a hard tangy cheese)
  • Milk—shelf-stable milk like Parmalot is easier to keep around, though it needs refrigeration once opened
  • Cream cheese
  • Pudding
  • Eggs
  • Hummus/Veggie dip—tzatziki
  • Cold cuts—check the deli counter for pre-sliced meats and cheeses
  • Salami—there are many kinds of beef, chicken and turkey sausages and salamis. Keep your eyes open
  • Rotisserie chicken—if refrigerated well, you can eat breast, drumsticks, wings, then tear up the rest for sandwiches and salads

Dry Goods (Boxes, Cans and Jars)

  • Peanut butter—Is a very American staple not available everywhere, but where you can find it at a reasonable price, it provides healthy protein and fats
  • Jelly or Jam
  • Tapanade—olive or artichoke spread
  • Oatmeal—rolled oats
  • Cereal—Box cereal or granola
  • Nuts
  • Olives
  • Canned artichoke hearts
  • Canned fish—Tuna, of course, but also sardines, anchovies, salmon, even shrimp
  • Canned chicken—some places have cans of chicken that can be shredded and added to salads and sandwiches
  • Jarred olives, capers and pickles
  • Canned chick peas (garbanzo beans)
  • Canned cannellini beans (white kidney beans)
  • Dried fruit
  • Vinegar—get the smallest possible containers
  • Olive oil—get the smallest possible containers
  • Salt/pepper—get the smallest possible containers or ask if you can take a few packets when you are at a cafe

Martha’s 3 Components of Great Salads

Martha Stewart recommends salads as a simple, quick meal, but paying attention to the mix-ins, dressing, and a protein will take this classic from good to great.

  • Proteins: The beauty of a high-protein salad is that you can use almost any type of cooked chicken, tuna, chick peas or black beans. (There are even some delicious chicken salad recipes out there that use fried chicken.) for the best texture, make sure to keep the pieces small enough to blend easily with the mix-ins and dressing. For example, mashing the chick peas will be better than whole.
  • Mix-ins: Once you’ve picked a protein, it’s all about the mix-ins. For a classic chicken or tuna salad, we look to celery and red onion, plus chopped parsley for a fresh, herby boost. Mincing the onion and celery, rather than chopping them into larger chunks, will ensure the pieces are evenly distributed throughout the mixture for just the right amount of crunch in every bite.
  • Dressing: A creamy element—in this case, yogurt—is essential for binding the chicken salad mixture and keeping it from becoming too dry. For tangy brightness, you can add lemon juice, Dijon mustard, or a few dashes of hot sauce.

Here are a list of links to Martha Stewart’s classic salad recipes

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