Serious Stir-Fry

The Chef: Katie

The Menu: Oh stir-fry over brown rice, you never let us down. After the indulgence of yesterday's mac 'n' cheese, it was great to get back to basics today with Katie's awesome stir-fry. The carrots and broccoli were both perfectly cooked until just tender, neither too crunchy nor too mushy, and the tofu was delicious as always. Katie simmered all this goodness in a ginger-scallion sauce. Sound fancy? Let's just say that these were some brilliant basics. The fresh spinach salad with sunflower seeds and spinach-filled Chinese buns made excellent, healthier-feeling sides.

The Goods: Everyone knows that it's rad to live in San Francisco, right? Well, you can trust us (we're journalists!) on this: it's great. The obvious (like not getting stuck in the snow) aside, one of the best things about our little town is the ready availability of these frozen Chinese-style buns. They can be found in almost every Asian market in the city, of which it seems like there are hundreds, and come in an amazing variety of vegan fillings. Really, it's no small miracle that the whole staff here doesn't more closely resemble the soft, doughy dumplings!