The last six weeks have been brilliant. I've met some amazing people, travelled to the provinces for my job, seen some pretty amazing projects and in my spare time get to do everyday activities like snorkelling over beautiful reefs and lazing on a beach in a hammock.
But.
I've been a vegan for 10 years. Vegetarian for longer. I have travelled every continent (sans Antarctica) and have always managed to live fairly well, with a few exceptions (the occasional night of rice with soy sauce, repeated; or a dinner consisting of a mango - not many complaints on that). However, most of my living experience outside of comfy Australia has been either Europe - easy easy - or Asia - more easy easy. Suddenly I am without my dozen varieties of fresh fruit and vegetables - without my constant supply of tofu and/or tempeh - without my precious soymilk and nutritional yeast and TVP and tinned beans... Everything that arrives in the Solomon Islands arrives by boat, it is unreliable, inconsistent and unpredictable.
Which is a bit exciting.
I still love the Solomons even without being able to satisfy my food cravings. But one thing has struck me is the total lack of recipes available that use the most common ingredients in this country. Let alone recipes that have been veganised. Fish is your basic essential ingredient here, and failing fish, there's chicken. Even trying to clarify with the waiter whether she means she put "milk from cow" or "milk from coconut" in your food is harder than it should be.
So, I need a library of all my Solomon Islands-friendly vegan recipes. And if any other vegetarian or vegan, recently moved to the Solomons, navigating the craziness of Honiara Market, strolling alongside Gizo Market, or staring in puzzlement at what's available in Auki, benefits from this... then great.
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