Last weekend was a very special one for Erik and me–five years ago Saturday, we got hitched!
Erik made our fifth wedding anniversary extra special by planning a “tour de fives.” Basically it was an entire, jam-packed day based on fives. For example, we saw the movie The Five Year Engagement ($5 tickets!), made a stop at Five Guys (for the only vegan item on their menu–fries), went to the gorgeous Overland Park Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, where they have about five miles of hiking trails…and a number of other things. It was a lot of fun, and it included a lot of yummy food (our fridge was packed with leftovers!)! Here’s a brief recap of a few of the more vegan-specific items…
After the movie we headed to Noodles & Company for lunch. Noodles is one of my favorite places to eat for a quick meal. They sell noodles, sandwiches and salads “from around the world.” You can add organic tofu to any meal, and their tofu is among the best I’ve had at a restaurant.
Noodles has a number of vegan/veganizable options, but I’ve always stuck to the Japanese Pan Noodles bowl. I like it so much that I’ve never been able to pass it up–until last weekend, when I opted for the Pasta Fresca from the Mediterranean menu. It’s a penne dish with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, white wine, roasted garlic, red onion, tomato and spinach (just ask them to hold the parm and feta). Erik ordered it as well, and its robust flavor may have made it a new favorite!
After Noodles, we walked to the adjacent mall and had about 15 minutes to find an unplanned $5 gift. I loved what Erik got me, a block of vegan Sultana Summer Berries Delight soap from LUSH Cosmetics. It’s very fragrant and soft. It kinda looks like ice cream, too–don’t you just want to take a bite!?
I hadn’t heard about LUSH before, but many of their products are vegan. From what I gather, at least some of their items are sold deli-style, in that you have them cut off however much of any particular product you want, and they then weigh it, wrap it in paper and place a deli-esque label on it–so fun! I’m looking forward to visiting their store soon.
For dinner we went back to Eden Alley. We started with the Baby Falafel, served with rice and hummus (it normally comes with non-vegan taziki sauce, which is what pictured below–we took the pic before they replaced it with hummus). We both adore falafel, and really enjoyed their version.
Erik loves his veggie burgers, so that’s what he got (again!). After much back-and-forth–I even ran to the kitchen immediately after placing my original order to ask for more time to deliberate, at which point I felt obligated to change it–I went with the BBQ Bruschetta. I’m so glad I did! Portobello and tempeh stewed with their sweet BBQ sauce made with tomatoes and beets, served over grilled tofu, served over pickles, tomatoes and cashew cheese, served over thick, artisan bread. Yum! The portobello and tempeh mixture was very sweet, but when mixed with everything else, it made for a delectable combination.
We took our dessert, an apple crumble, to go so that we could enjoy it later. It was perfectly spiced, and we liked that it was so light.
And, of course, it wouldn’t be an anniversary without our customary anniversary pizza. On Friday night, Erik came home with a pizza from Whole Foods and we made sure to reserve a piece just for Saturday. It was topped with their spicy sauce, pineapple, mushrooms, seitan sausage, green peppers, poblano peppers, and a smattering of Daiya mozzarella cheese. Oh. My. Word. It was fantastic! It was crispy, but still soft enough that with the big slices you needed two hands to eat it.
Thanks, Erik, for a wonderful celebration of five wonderful years!
PS. Knowing he had an entire day planned, I wanted to add something in myself, so I got up a little early to make breakfast–recipe coming up next! :)
