What if you are a vegetarian?

We are predominantly vegetarians (eat eggs) but we don't really consider that as a handicap. However people always ask us, how did you manage with food?
Let me give you a rundown of our experience in each country. Typically we loaded up on breakfast, had a snack for lunch and dinner we would cook at the hostel with groceries bought from local store. Also we carried some basic indian spices with us (turmeric powder, red chili powder, cumin seeds, mustard seeds and curry spice) which helped us a lot when we decided to cook a meal or when we missed home cooked food.

Peru
In the large supermarkets, there are food courts with buffet option. We found plenty of vegetarian options available there, and quite delicious.
Also there seems to be a large network of restaurants run by Hindu temple in Peru. We found this in Lima and there is a similar one in cusco and puno as well.
While going through small towns usually street food such as corn, pastels (pastries), queso(cheese), huevo(eggs) were easily available.
Overall our experience has been that if we were in a local market with many small shacks we were successful in finding vegetarian food. They also were more accommodating to our needs

Bolivia
Surprisingly we found Middle eastern food in La Paz(lentils, wraps, falafel) and it was really delicious. There was abundance of cheese empanada shops that served fresh juice as well. It is however hard to find vegetarian options in the interiors and best bet is to make your own sandwiches and dinner. Eggs are the fallback everywhere.

Argentina
We completely freaked out on the wine and cheese! We were able to find pita bread in local stores which we used for dinner with a vegetable cooked at the hostel.
Also there is an abundance of pastry shops, small stores serving salad, quiches and also some Mediterranean items. Pizza and Italian food is also offered at many restaurants.

Brazil
Brazilians are big on lanches(lunch buffets) very commonly found in small and big restaurants. There is a huge selection of meats, veggies, rice and sides and will make for a filling meal. Lot of work force at lunch time rely on this so expect big lines. You will also come across subway shops across Rio. We enjoyed our breakfasts of fresh fruit juice(over 30 options) and sandwiches or empanadas.