Spiral Diner and Dallas

Our first time to eat at an all VEGAN restaurant - Spiral Diner & Bakery in Dallas, TX! LK had a nice road trip with our mom to see our cousin graduate from the University of Dallas. The weather couldn't have been better, and it was a beautiful outside graduation ceremony! On the way, we stopped in at the Spiral Diner, because we heard great reviews about it.
It's such a cute place, like an old-new look. The best part about it was that we felt welcomed and didn't have to search through the menu to find a decent vegan meal - all of the food was vegan! It feels nice when everyone understands and praises you for being vegan instead of feeling out-of-place and misunderstood at normal omnivore restaurants.

There were so many good looking items, so it was very difficult to choose:
*All of the beverages are organic/fair trade/or vegan - we loved the Red Tropical Iced Tea.

*For a refreshing treat, we slurped on the freshest fruit smoothie - Real Smooth Smoothie: "A combination of banana, strawberry, blueberry, and pineapple." We had ours blended with FRESH orange juice and almond milk. Oh, to die for...makes us want our own juicer to juice fresh fruits/vegetables!

*Our mom and us all shared three meals -
Sweet Luv’Us Hummus Wrap: "A layer of baked sweet potato, a layer of hummus, broccoli, cucumber, avocado, salad greens, and spicy walnuts, rolled in a flour tortilla." This was very yummy, especially the sweet potatoes, avocado, and broccoli. We asked to have it with their raw walnut salad dressing instead of ranch, and it was good. Creamy, flavorful, and filling!

The McNut Burger: "A tasty and healthy patty made from a blend of sunflower seeds, carrots, brown rice, and spices topped with lettuce, tomato, red onion..." We had ours on toasted spelt quinoa bread with avocado and agave mustard salad dressing on the side to dunk it in! The dressing was wonderful. The burger was good, like Dr. Praeger's burger. It was nice, but I wouldn't get it again just because it wasn't anything unique and special.

Viva las Migas: "Tofu scramble mixed with black beans, corn, black olives, bacun bits, onions, red bells, potatoes, and salsa. Topped with avocado and sour cream and served with corn chips, corn tortillas..." This was delicious and nicely flavored. The corn tortillas were very good. The meal was also tasty with agave mustard dressing drizzled on top.
*From the bakery, we took back a huge gooey brownie and a oatmeal cranberry cookie. The cookie was more like a sweet sugar cookie, which we're not fond of. The brownie was good, especially the nuts and chocolate morsels, but like all brownies, it is not healthy and there was guilt afterwards...lol...

For our cousin's graduation, we made vegan strawberry muffins:
Ingredients:
3 Tbsp ground flaxseed
1/4 cup soy milk

1 cup oat flour (We use Bob's Red Mill)
1 cup white whole wheat flour
3/4 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
ground cinnamon
1/2 cup unrefined whole cane sugar

1 6 oz. carton strawberry soy yogurt (We use Whole Soy & Co.)
2 Tbsp oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup fresh strawberries, diced
3/4 + 1/3 cup soy milk

Directions:
Wash and dice strawberries.

Mix flax and milk in a small bowl and let sit for a few minutes to make your "egg".

Preheat oven to 350 F and line mini muffin tins with paper liners.

In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients and dash cinnamon heavily. (We forgot to measure the amount of cinnamon, but do it to your liking. We are cinnamon lovers.)

Combine wet ingredients in another bowl, except for the strawberries. Add wet mix to dry and stir just enough to combine. Gently stir in strawberries.

Divide batter into muffin cups, sprinkle tops with cinnamon, and bake for 13-16 minutes. If using big muffin liners (we used mini), then bake for about 20-25 minutes.

Makes about 24 mini muffins. May be good to eat with strawberry jam, more cinnamon, or some almond butter.


Thanks Spiral Diner for making our trip extra special! And hope everyone gets a chance to eat at a vegan restaurant. What vegan restaurant have you all been to, and what foods were noteworthy?

Cheers, LK