Weekend eats in Kansas City

I’m back in my hotel room in Oklahoma City, after making the 5 hour drive back from KC this evening. I’m ready for a shower and some much-needed sleep, but first, I have just a couple meals from this weekend to share with you – as well as this excellent pile of packages that was waiting for me when I got home. It was like Christmas morning! You’ll be seeing reviews for some of these secret products in the coming months.

On Saturday night, Matt and I went out to dinner with my friends Colby and Sara, who recently got married and moved to Parkville, MO. Parkville is the most inexplicably delightful little town; its rolling hills, beautiful homes, and seaside-village-esque ambience make it hard to believe you’re still in Missouri. We ate at a Mediterranean restaurant that Colby had raved to me about called Café Cedar. We started, obviously, with hummus and grilled pita. Oh, how long it had been! I happily broke my two-week-long raw streak with this.

Matt’s meal came with soup, so he opted for lentil. I was dismayed to find it was made with a chicken stock base – BOO! Otherwise, it could have been quite tasty.

Matt ordered the Vegetarian Pasta, which had grilled seasoned eggplant, cauliflower, tomatoes, onions, and green peppers over linguine in a “zesty tomato fresh garlic dill sauce.” This sauce was wild – kind of creamy, sort of savory, unexpectedly sweet, and surprisingly yummy.

I chose the Cold Cedar Vegetarian Combo, with grilled cauliflower (which I asked for in place of feta cheese), hummus, baba ghanouj, tabbouleh, olives, and muhammara. Yep, I said muhammara! It’s a chunky, wonderfully complex Syrian dip typically made of roasted red peppers, ground walnuts, and pomegranate syrup. (That’s it on the far left.) I don’t think I’ve ever even seen it on a restaurant menu before, so I was thrilled. Everything was delicious, and the belly dancer they had whirling around the dining room was an entertaining touch.

Fast forward to this afternoon – Matt and I followed up our workout with a late lunch at Noodles & Company! I love this place; always have. It’s inexpensive, fast, vegan-friendly, and always delectable. I’m sorry to report that Matt had a temporary lapse in “hegan” judgment today, though, and neglected to ask them to hold the cheese on his Pasta Fresca with tofu. He painstakingly removed every shred of parmesan from this dish while lamenting aloud the prevalence of animal-derived saturated fats in the American food system. (See why I love him?)

I got my usual favorite, which I’ve already featured a few times on this blog, but it never gets old! It’s the Japanese Pan Noodles, hold the sprouts, add tofu and extra broccoli.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: these are the thickest, chewiest, most amazing udon noodles ever.

Noods & Co. (my pet name for Noodles & Company) is always a fantastic, filling meal and an awesome value. Actually, you’ll be hearing more about them from me within the next week – hint hint. 😉 Hope everyone had as great a weekend as I did!