Road trip to Dallas, 6th edition

Over the weekend (my last away from home!), Matt and I took yet another one-night road trip to Dallas, Texas.

Matt had picked up this vegan, gluten-free bar at LAX on his way back from a business trip (to Sydney, Australia!) last week; we shared it in the car on the drive south.

It was yummy and VERY peanut buttery, with a toothsome texture from the oats and peanut bits.

Our first meal stop in Dallas was at Kalachandji’s, a vegetarian (and nearly all vegan) Indian buffet, for Saturday night dinner. We ate there in May, and Matt particularly liked it, so we returned for round two.

I wasn’t shy about loading my plate with lots of rice, tofu, and veggie dishes. (I’ve been missing tofu lately…) One thing I really appreciate about Kalachandji’s is their commitment to using expeller-pressed coconut oil exclusively in their cooking.

Dessert was a trio of vanilla rice pudding, carob-walnut halvah, and vegan apple crisp.

The next day we hit up the all-vegan Spiral Diner for Sunday brunch. We ate there in May as well, and recently I’d been pining for the amazing Mexican-style seitan I had there last time. (Side note: what is with these vegan protein cravings?! Tofu, seitan, and I know I’ve dreamed of tempeh recently too, not to mention my beloved and much-missed beans and lentils. I’m not one to buy into the protein myth, but having been nearly-all-raw these past two months, I am feeling like my body would appreciate it if I bumped my protein intake back up a bit.)

I had coffee at Spiral Diner, while Matt drank an agave-sweetened limeade.

He liked it, as you can see.

Matt ordered The Big Taquito with a side of apple slices.

A grilled whole wheat tortilla encased a filling of tofu scramble, diced vegan sausage, potatoes, onions, red peppers, and avocado.

Like I said, I’d been yearning for the seitan filling from Bryan’s Brutal Tacos, which I’d gotten last time, but I still wanted to change it up a bit and not get the exact same dish. My solution? The Nachos Supremos, hold the TVP taco bits, add marinated seitan.

HELL. YES. Tortilla chips, cashew nacho cheese, black beans and quinoa, marinated seitan strips, pickled jalapeños, black olives, green onions, corn kernels, diced tomato, guacamole, and vegan sour cream. Oh man, oh man. SO not a virtuously healthy brunch, but boy, did I leave satisfied and smiley.

Even after devouring half my plate of nachos, though, the lure of the pastry case was too strong to resist.

A [huge] vegan, gluten-free peanut butter cup was taken to-go.

The dark chocolate coating had a nice snap, and its bittersweetness provided a good foil to the sugary, “butter”y, rich peanut butter filling. It was denser than a Reese’s, almost like a peanut butter cookie dough patty encased in chocolate (now there’s an idea!).

After driving back into Oklahoma City, Matt and I picked up dinner at The Wedge pizzeria.

Matt’s half had port wine and sundried tomato sauce, roasted red onions, crimini mushrooms, and a dusting of parmesan cheese. My half was cheeseless, of course, with [extra] house marinara sauce and generous amounts of artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, and Kalamata olives, plus a little cup of pesto on the side for dipping.

It was an excellent last weekend away from home! Now, onto my final week (::sniffle::) at the 105degrees Academy.