RESTAURANT REVIEW, Part Deux - Blue Koi, Kansas City, MO

April visited Blue Koi in 2011, but the hedgehogs insisted on going to see it themselves. April met a few omnivorous friends there for a nice lunch.

Blue Koi
1803 W. 39th Street, Kansas City, MO 64111
(also at 10581 Mission Road, Leawood, KS 66206)







The last time April went to Blue Koi, she made a meal out of the Crispy Tofu With Spicy Awesome Sauce and the Veggie Dumplings. This time, she was excited to try the Eggplant Pockets, but the server told her that they were out of those. Vowing to come back before the end of the Kansas City Renaissance Festival to try them, April and her dining companions decided to split the Crispy Veggies (tempura coated fried mixed vegetables with a cool basil sauce and a semi-spicy sriracha sauce), the Spicy Chili Tofu Wontons, and the Crispy Tofu with Spicy Awesome Sauce.







The Crispy Tofu with Spicy Awesome Sauce was just as awesome as April remembered; the tofu is nicely fried and the sauce is just the right combination of sweet and spicy. The Crispy Veggies were also good - April got lots of the delicious cauliflower, since her companions weren't big fans of that particular veggie. The sriracha sauce wasn't overly spicy, but has a bit of a kick of one gets enough of it at one time. The Spicy Chili Tofu Wontons, however, are April's new favorite! Incredibly flavorful, with just the right amount of spice.

April and the hedgehogs were impressed to discover that Blue Koi actually offers more vegan options than they had originally thought. Besides the appetizers listed above, there's also Lettuce Wraps that can be made with tofu. For main dishes, the Firebird Duck and the Black Bean Chicken can be made with tofu instead, and in addition to the Vegetable Noodle Soup shown on the online menu, there's a Vegan Delights soup that April very nearly got, Tofu with Chinese Curry Sauce, Braised Tofu with Shiitake Mushroom (can be noodle soup or just over noodles or rice), and Ants On A Tree, which can be made with tofu, and which is what April decided to get. (The hedgehogs wanted to see if it really had ants. It didn't.)


Hedgie offers April her collapsible chopsticks.

The bean noodles were very tasty, and the fried tofu stood out well among the rest of the veggies. There was a ton of it, as well, and the hedgehogs helped April pack half of it into her reusable to-go box to have for dinner.

For a beverage/dessert, April had the Sweet Red Bean Bubble Tea with pearls. The server told her that they use soy milk, so it was vegan. Yay!

Emerald Green Smoothie Pucks

I first heard about smoothie pucks on Pinterest. I thought it was a genius idea - you take whatever you'd like to have in your smoothie, blend it up in your blender with a little liquid, and pour it into muffin tins. Freeze, and you've got perfectly portioned, quick-n-easy smoothie pucks, all ready to be tossed in the blender when you're rushed for time in the morning (or just feeling lazy!)



I've made several batches of these, and they usually don't turn out green (my last batch had lots of berries, and the batch before that had beets, so the red overwhelmed any other color). This batch, however, was destined to be simple. I put half a bunch of curly kale (what was left in the fridge), a whole bunch of spinach, three carrots, and half a head of broccoli (plus an extra stem) into my beloved BlendTec blender with just enough water to make it blend and pour. After freezing in the muffin tins, they became the gorgeous green pucks of goodness you see above.

To make a smoothie, I take one or two pucks, one frozen banana, and about 10 ounces of flax milk, and blend. If I've got dates, I'll sometimes add one for extra sweetness, but this batch really didn't need it. If I don't have flax milk, I'll toss in 1-2 tablespoons of freshly ground flax seed.



Here's the results of my last smoothie puck adventure -


All manner of fruits and veggies!


Pretty purple pucks


Smoothie is imminent!


OK, so I misjudged the size of the glass. It was still good.

A Quick Update...

I used a lot of the groceries I bought yesterday to make today's lunch - kale, spinach, and carrots with tempeh. I also added a splash of soy sauce, some coconut oil, a splash of flax milk, and a tiny dollop each of Asian chili sauce, vegan blue cheese dressing, and cashew tamari dressing.

Salad For Dinner

One of the downsides to traveling is that sometimes, when you don't plan as well as you should, you sometimes end up eating tater tots and a strawberry slush for dinner and having blackberry snack pies for desert. *sheepish look*

In order to make up for some of my traveling transgressions, I decided to make a salad for dinner tonight.



I went to Wheatsville and bought some mixed organic salad greens, a couple of local pears, a Reed avocado (these things are huge!), a couple of local tomatoes, a couple of oranges, and a few organic carrots. I also picked up some vegan Bac-Uns and Braggs Hawaiian Dressing.



Besides the salad mix, I bought a bunch of organic spinach and a bunch of organic kale, and I will be splitting those between smoothies and salads for the rest of the week.

RESTAURANT REVIEW - Be Le Vegetarian Restaurant, Tulsa, OK

Be Le
6634 South Lewis Avenue
Tulsa, OK 74136-1040
(918) 499-1414
Hours: Monday-Friday 11:00-2:30 & 5:30-9:00, Saturday 11:00-9:00, Closed Sunday


Be Le is a 100% vegetarian Asian restaurant that specializes in mock meats made from soybeans, seaweed, and yams. They use no MSG, alcohol, preservatives, or eggs. The owner is incredibly nice and can answer any questions about the menu items and what's vegan.

I've tried many different things here, but my favorite has got to be the Egg Roll Noodle Salad Bowl, which features noodles topped with salad greens (mostly lettuce, I think) and vegan "shrimp", "chicken", and "beef", along with two fried vegetable spring rolls and a clear sauce served on the side.


The Combination Noodle Soup was also a great dish (let's call it a second favorite).


Out of all of the other things I've tried, the one that was a bit of a letdown was the Fried Fish with Ginger Sauce. This was actually fairly tasty with the first few bites, but wasn't nearly nuanced or exciting enough to last through the entire dish. If you're looking for variety, this one isn't for you; it's just the "fish" on a bed of lettuce with a side of clear sauce.


For desert, I love the vegan cake and ice cream. The chocolate soy ice cream has more of an "ice" consistency than "creamy", but still tastes great, and the slightly sweet spongy cake provides an excellent follow-up to my often over-zealous hot chili sauce application to my main dish.


Moo Goo Gai Pan -

Spiral Diner Dallas, TX - Picture Post (Part 2)

Since I had to post this at 10:30 pm in Oklahoma (and had to wake up at 2 am Saturday morning in order to get to Kansas in time for the opening gate of the Renaissance faire), I took the lazy way out (if you can call it that) and made yesterday's and today's entries picture posts of Spiral Diner in Dallas. Important info - everything they serve is 100% vegan.

Dallas location - 1101 North Beckley Avenue, Dallas, TX 75208
Fort Worth location - 1314 W Magnolia Ave, Fort Worth, Texas 76104
Closed Monday | Tue-Sat. 11am – 10pm | Sun. 11am – 5pm





I forget what this sandwich was, but it was savory and delicious -





Vegan Po' Boy and Gumbo. Dem's good eatin'!



Vegan meatloaf with potato salad and green beans -


The desert case -


Pecan pie and chocolate ice cream -


The Death Star Sundae. So good, it could probably destroy a planet (but they'd go out smiling with a blissful expression!)

Spiral Diner Dallas, TX - Picture Post (Part 1)

Since I'm having to post this at 10:30 pm in Oklahoma (and I have to wake up at 2 am tomorrow morning in order to get to Kansas in time for the opening gate of the Renaissance faire), I'm going to sort of take the lazy way out (if you can call it that) and make today's and tomorrow's entries picture posts of Spiral Diner in Dallas. Important info from yesyerday's post - everything they serve is 100% vegan.

Dallas location - 1101 North Beckley Avenue, Dallas, TX 75208
Fort Worth location - 1314 W Magnolia Ave, Fort Worth, Texas 76104
Closed Monday | Tue-Sat. 11am – 10pm | Sun. 11am – 5pm


This is actually the current special, though I took this picture when it was the special a while back. I ordered the Frito Supremo -


and Mark ordered the Frito Pie -


These are some of the best dang quesadillas I've ever had -



This is the "Paul Reuben" sandwich - tasty and a wonderful vegan version of the original -


I don't remember exactly what the dish on the right was, but anything with pineapple is a win in my book. On the left (I think) is miso soup.


Here's Mark's "usual" - a vegan BLT. He got pasta salad this time instead of the potato salad we both usually pick for a side.



Here's the Fig & Fennel sandwich - quite possibly the best thing I've ever eaten at Spiral (not including the deserts, of course!)



Creamy Lemon Pasta - this was absolutely delicious. I had no idea I liked asparagus before I ate this. *grin*


Last, a refreshing strawberry smoothie -


Look for the second half of the pictures tomorrow!