What vegetarian prepared foods are worth picking up at a grocery store?
 

From the supermarket we’ve tried tabbuleh, gaspacho in a box, and hummos. What other ideas do you have for a vegetarian entree or salad? We’ll have a hotplate and microwave for a few nights so can heat something up.

Assume we’ve got bread, pastries, cheese, prepared sandwiches, mini-quiches, yogurt, chocolate, and fruit covered.

You will see quite a few things in the prepared food section. There was even a vegan display case in one of my supermarkets (Leclerc) but it was removed after a few weeks since the French are not crazy.

Obviously, if you visit Marks & Spencer Foods (a number of locations around Paris -- notably at Gare de l'Est, the Châtelet-Les Halles transfer zone, boulevard Saint Michel and Vill'Up) they have loads of vegetarian and vegan items.

Thanks for the ideas. Our vegetarian friend is crazy about pesto, so pasta with pesto will go on the menu. I miss a good green salad when we're in France.

kerouac, I'm sure just about anything can be found anything in Paris. We'll be staying in the Orne. Leclerc, Super U, and Intermarche are our usual stops.

Maybe there are more vegans in the Orne than in Paris? We've been to a vegan restaurant way out in the middle of nowhere, at Ticheville, that was terrific even for us non-vegans/non-vegetarians.

Only 3% of the French are vegetarians, so you can imagine how few vegans there are. But of course even the omnivores find vegetarian food interesting from time to time.

We're planning to go to restaurants for lunch most days, so the grocery store is where I hope to pick up a light dinner.

Restaurants are another interesting topic. We'll be with our friends for 10 days and eating lunch at restaurants six or seven times. I'm going to email four of these restaurants in advance to see if they can do something vegetarian. These are places we've been to many times and there's never been a vegetarian option on their menus. Once we asked a friendly chef a day in advance if he could do something for a vegetarian guest and he said sure. She was really looking forward to something interesting since she said vegetarians are always served eggs. That's what she got, eggs again, with a sauce.

We have one vegetarian dinner scheduled. We know a very good pizza place. We're going to buy goat cheese at a farm. We've got beer and ice cream covered.

Our friend won't starve. I just hope he won't have to eat tabbuleh out of a plastic box every night.

Picard has great items but changes according to the season. I kept buying these great mushrooms to toss with pasta at the market. The eggs were so good for breakfast. Marks and Spencer was great since it was just before Christmas. I bought a plum pudding and Christmas cake. They were smaller versions of the big ones but so yummy. They had great takeout for the train.

Our Intermarché (which admittedly has just expanded to about the size of a football field) has countless prepared vegetarian offerings, including Indian meals; crudité platters; vegetable salads like cucumbers, dill, and crème fraîche; vegetable pizzas; vegetable quiches; frozen stuffed mushrooms, bell peppers, and other veggies; you name it.

Do they eat fish/shellfish? That expands the possibilities even more.

Mushroom risotto is the standard vegetarian offering in restaurants here. I'm not a vagetarian but do enjoy vegetarian food and it is always nice when we go out to see what is on offer. Sadly lazy chefs think risotto is OK.
Lentils make a great tasty meal, either warm or cold as a salad. Through in veggies and herbs and vegetable stock.
Prepacked salads are very useful when you are on holiday (and when you aren't!). you can but bags of mixed salad greens in various combinations and sizes at any French supermarket.
Tins of chickpeas are available and can be used for all sorts of things, from an easy falafel to a salad, or curry, or even fried with spices as a crispy snack.
I make a vegetable curry in our camper where we only have two small gas rings. Serve with rice or fresh bread. When I can't be bothered to cook (which is most days in the camper) we have cheeses with raw veggies, a dip or tapanade and fresh bread. I'm not much of a cheese eater but it still makes a nice meal.
I'm sure your friends will have ideas of what to make that is easy and tasty.

FLUNCH self-serve restaurants in Paris and France can be something different - cheap cafeteria-style meals with down-home French foods and always some veggie main plates and unlimited side dishes including many veggie ones. so though you want proper restaurants mainly FLUNCH is an experience in itself and is also very cheap compared to restaurants.

https://www.google.com/search?q=flun...w=1280&bih=625

https://europeforvisitors.com/paris/articles/flunch.htm

Flunch is especially neat for families.

Thanks, everybody. I browsed the Leclerc website and got some ideas.

het, mushroom risotto would suit our friend and can be made on a stovetop, which is all we'll have available. Probably we can get mushrooms at one of the morning markets but, if not, the grocery store will have them. The saucepans/frying pans available at the B&Bs will be the limiting factor, I think.

You should be able to pick up a cheap (under 10 euros) saucepan in town or at an outdoor market and just leave it for the owners.