No-Chicken Noodle Soup

The Chefs: Rashida and Amy's Kitchen

The Menu: Savory vegan noodle soup with a splash of OrganicVille Foods Sriracha hot sauce

The Goods: A humble bowl of soup may not the most glamorous lunch, but the weather is crummy and the trek out into the land of delicious veg food (aka the Mission) seems completely unbearable. What better to warm me up than a delicious bowl of Amy’s soup? The No Chicken Noodle soup was soothing and filling—especially after devouring the raw veggie burrito Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig prepared using an upcoming recipe from our May+June issue, hitting newsstands in May. Sadly, the summer months feel a world away, but there are plenty of great things on the horizon this spring. For one thing, our March+April Man issue will be hitting newsstands March 1. Can’t wait that long? You can preorder an advance copy from the VegNews Store today! While you wait for it to arrive, take a cue from me and stay warm with one of Robin Robertson’s internationally inspired soups!

Pizza, Pasta, and Salad

The Chefs: Elizabeth, Valencia Whole Foods, and Amy's Kitchen

The Menu: Amy's new vegan margherita pizza, plus a big spinach salad from the corner store topped with pasta salad, mixed veggies, and hummus.

The Goods: You know how there are days on which you really just can't decide what to eat for lunch? (Yes, this is definitely a #firstworldproblem.) Today, I answered the question of what to eat with: everything in sight. Who can resist a freshly baked pizza (thanks to Editorial Assistant Hilary Pollack!), or a big gorgeous salad, or tangy pasta salad, or the world's best hummus? Not this gal, and especially not today.

Classic Soup & Salad

The Chef: Lyndsay

The Menu: A leftover half of the buttermilk fried chicken sandwich from Millennium, and Vegetable Barley soup from Amy's Kitchen.

The Goods: Yes, we're still stuck on the deliciousness of our experience at the Southern Comfort Dinner, which you can read all about on our Press Pass blog. The sandwich was just as good two days later, and I am sad to say that there are no more leftovers from that glorious night, and now my waiting for next year begins. I'm also sad to say that this is the last day of Editorial Assistant Alexandra Chang at the VNHQ. We don't want to see her go, but we wish her all of the best. Happy Memorial Day to everyone—enjoy the long weekend!

Vegan Indian Soup

The Chefs: Jennifer and Amy's Kitchen

The Menu: Indian Golden Lentil Soup and a banana

The Goods: After reading Crazy Sexy Diet, I actually found myself reading my food labels more carefully. If I can't identify what the heck is in my food (hello, red dye #40!) then I put the food down. When Amy's Kitchen stopped by our office to debut some new products, I was eager to try one of their new soups, the Indian Golden Lentil. All I have to say is yum. With 13 identifiable ingredients and Indian spices, this soup warmed up the chilly day we're having in San Francisco. The banana was a nice sweet snack to replace my craving for actual sugar. While I haven't tackled the 21-day cleanse like superstar VN Editorial Assistant Anna Peraino who just finished it, Kris' book does make me think about how we treat our bodies. Speaking of Kris, if you want to chat with her live, VegNews is hosting our very first Twitter chat on Tuesday, February 22, at 6pm PST/9pm EST with @Kris_Carr as a our special guest. We'll be chatting under the Twitter hashtag #VegNewsChat. Join us!

Vegan Burgers and More

The Chef: Alexandra, Amy's Kitchen, Fry's Vegetarian, Ashera's Gourmet, and Wholesome Chow

The Menu: A taste test lunch feast of Amy's Kitchen Vegetable Barley Soup and Sonoma Burgers, Fry's Vegetarian Veggie Burgers and Chicken-style Nuggets, Ashera's Original Vegan Burgers, and Wholesome Chow's Lemon Poppyseed Cake and Gluten-free Chocolate Chai Cake.

The Goods: I ate it all! OK, I didn't, but I probably could have. Today, the VN staff enhanced lunch with a giant taste test of veggie burgers and meats, plus some sweets. While we all had our side meals (I brought the Amy's Kitchen soup from home), the burger patties and chicken nuggets were the highlight of the day. A good veggie burger is always welcome at the VNHQ, and we loved them all! Plus, the weather's beautiful in San Francisco, so we were lucky enough to eat our lunch on the sunny deck while puppies pranced (yes, these puppies do prance) and occasionally begged for food around us. It was a post-card perfect hour, soaking up the vitamin-D and attempting to tan. Wish you were here! Speaking of, our Publisher Joseph Connelly and Associate Publisher Colleen Holland couldn't join us, because they're in India on a VegNews Vacation (check out the photos here)! Lucky ducks. Well, we got cake, so there.

Veggie Meatloaf & Potatoes

The Chef: Michelle from Amy's Kitchen

The Menu: The newly vegan Amy's Veggie Loaf with mashed potatoes and a vegetable medley of peas and carrots. This wonderful meal was finished off with their yummy Chocolate and Orange Cakes!

The Goods: We have been very fortunate to have Amy's Kitchen cater lunch for us a few times in the past, and we've never been let down! Today was a wonderful treat, especially since we vegans will be able to dine on the veggie loaf from now on (formerly, it contained honey). The loaf will be hitting shelves at the end of March, so be sure to keep an eye out for it. It's one busy week at the VNHQ starting with today. Tomorrow, we will be having another special lunch guest—Kris Carr of Crazy Sexy Diet! Also, if you haven't heard, there will be a special episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, in which she will be discussing her one week on "The Vegan Challenge." So yes, it's a very exciting week for vegans!

Quick Ziti Lunch

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: An Amy's Kitchen Baked Ziti Bowl, plus enormous side salad from Valencia Whole Foods' trusty salad bar. The baked ziti had a lovely tomato sauce, green peas, and even a little vegan cheese, and the salad consisted of spinach, more peas, corn, garbanzo beans, and a (ahem) generous dose of Parma!

The Goods: Sometimes, we have amazing, freshly prepared lunches from our favorite vegan restaurants and share them with you here on Café VegNews. Then sometimes, like today, we eat like powerful magazine editors. Thankfully, our local corner store has a great salad bar and ample frozen vegan options. It's simply too rainy in SF today to only have salad, and ziti is both fun to eat and to say. Zeetee. If you can't get enough of this comforting carb, check out What's Cooking on VegNews.com for a simple Ziti and Tomato Sauce recipe that's nearly as quick to make as a microwaveable meal.

Super Salad and Pot Pie

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: A gigantic salad of romaine, grated carrot, bell pepper, cucumber, and black olives tossed with Annie's Goddess Dressing. In addition to this massive pile of vegetable bounty, I also enjoyed an Amy's Kitchen Non-Dairy Vegetable Pot Pie, filled with potatoes, carrots, tofu, and a delicious white sauce all wrapped in a soft pastry shell.

The Goods: After having every intention of not buying lunch today (in an effort to curb my raging Gracias Madre addiction), I discovered two things. One: it was really cold this morning. Two: the grocery store right around the corner from the office sells Amy's Pot Pies. You know what this editor can't resist on a cold day? That's right—it starts with "pot" and ends with "pie."

Italian Overload

The Chef: Liz

The Menu: A ton of tasty Italian treats! Liz was ready to feed an army today, and we thoroughly enjoyed her efforts. First up, Liz prepared Caesar's gnocchi with Lucini marinara, which was a delicious pairing. Then an Amy's Roasted Vegetable Pizza came into play, along with some roasted potatoes and carrots with rosemary. Finally, a huge romaine salad with avocado, celery, and cherry tomatoes finished off the plate.

The Goods: Yes, this was a lot of food, and that's just what we needed to power us through the last day of this week. Here's hoping that everyone has enjoyed our publishers' virtual tour of vegan New York City on Facebook as they'll be back in boring ol' SF next week. Oh wait, we mean totally awesome SF!

Hot Pizza, Cold Soup

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: Definitely not the exact same menu as what she made last week! Oh no, this time Elizabeth used a couple Amy's Single Serve Rice Crust Roasted Vegetable Pizzas with melted Teese on top, to complement her extremely garlicky gazpacho. This meal could basically not be any more different from last week's offering. And, as always, we had salad.

The Goods: Hey, did you know that taxes are due tomorrow? Yep, they sure are. If maybe you need a little stress release from, oh, say, we don't know, filing more forms that any human should have to, here are a few of our favorite freak-out fire extinguishers.

Better than Burgers

The Chef: Lyndsay

The Menu: Delicious meatless burgers! Lyndsay toasted up bread slices, mixed up some patties with Harmony Valley Foods Vegetarian Hamburger Mix, mashed avocado, and served We Can't Say It's Cheese on top. These tasty burgers were just about as satisfying as can be, but Lyndsay didn't stop there. Oh no. A side serving of Amy's new vegan Rice Macaroni and Cheeze and a beautiful green salad made excellent sides.

The Goods: We are thoroughly enjoying the bright, warm sunshine we've been having this week. If we could dine al fresco every day, like we did today, we're pretty sure the world (at least the part that's in close proximity to our staffers) would be a better place.

Lazy Friday Leftovers

The Chef: Liz and Nature's Express

The Menu: If today's plate looks familiar, it's probably because most of the components were also in play during yesterday's lunch. Yes, Liz took the semi-homemade approach to cooking today by reheating several of the delicious leftovers from yesterday's lunch catered by Nature's Express. Liz altered the leftover coconut-yam soup by adding pureed garbanzo beans and cashew cream, and served it with several other Nature's Express leftovers, including Grilled Tempeh Reubens, Eggless Egg Salad Sandwiches, and Couscous Salad. This stick-to-your-ribs meal was rounded out with a side of Amy's new vegan mac 'n' cheese and a heaping helping of delicious green salad. 

The Goods: It's been an unusually quiet day at the VNHQ, with Ms. Colleen, Elizabeth, and Abby out of the office to attend a conference. We have to confess, we're a bit blue without them—and the weather seems to agree, as its been overcast and rainy most of the afternoon. Thankfully, there is a silver lining to the day: fun and sassy pictures from last night's SF Vegan Drinks! We had a blast mixing, mingling, and sipping on cocktails with the coolest people in San Francisco—and we have pictures to prove it! Of course, today's other silver lining is that it's Friday, and the weekend is nary an hour away. Hurrah!

Amy's Comfort Food

The Chefs: Michelle and Tina from Amy's Kitchen

The Menu: Today we were kindly treated to two of Amy's brand-spankin'-new products. First up we devoured the incredible vegan mac 'n' cheese. Yes, this time it's totally vegan (the cheese is Daiya!) and gluten free. While sometimes "gluten free" really means "gummy and freakish," if our guest chefs hadn't clued us in to the missing gluten in this pasta, we would never have known. The same goes for the roasted vegetable pizza, which is another of Amy's products that's getting a gluten-free revamp. This one was already vegan, but the GF spin is new, and we liked it just as much as the original. And we had a salad. Woo hoo, salad. Not pictured (mostly because we ate it too quickly) was a GF version of Amy's chocolate cake. Yeah, that's gone.

The Goods: One of the best things about our office location is that we are within driving distance of Amy's, and this is the second time that Michelle and company have come down to make us lunch. Um, getting to try new products right away? Yes, please! Now if you'll excuse us, some of us have bowls to lick.

Time-Warp Wraps

The Chef: Aurelia

The Menu: Lickety-split teriyaki wraps courtesy of Amy's Kitchen—yes, one of the awesome job perks here is getting to try brand-new yummy wraps—steamed broccoli and cauliflower, a lovely salad with peppery radishes, and a couple of extra-freaking-super garlicky dips. Like, no joke, we are one vampire-free office right now. Yes, we totally pity the fools who are so unlucky as to be seated near us on the plane later today.

The Goods: Today's lunch was not only appropriate because it was a time saver, but also got our new-product-testing game faces on, which we'll definitely need down at Expo West this weekend. Sadly, our trip south means that today's is the last lunch entry for the week, but rest assured that we'll be back in action come Monday!

Chardy Colcannon, Cheesy Chili

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: A rustic menu of Swiss chard-packed colcannon, and Southwestern Black Bean Chili from Amy's Kitchen. Elizabeth made extra-fluffy potatoes with a potato ricer, and then mashed them together with sautéed Swiss chard for this homey, comforting main course. Chili was a great fit for the menu since it's decidedly overcast outside today, and if there's anything better than a warm bowl of chili, it's one that's topped with grated cheddar-flavored Teese.

The Goods: If you are of the opinion that it looks like this meal was thrown together in a hurry, you just might be right. Since a little something that we like to call the relaunch of VegNews.com yesterday, maybe we are all a little on the extra-busy side, which is only complicated by the fact that we're having a hard time prying ourselves away from the new site. We hope you love it as much as we do!

Excellent Eggplant

The Chef: Jenny

The Menu: Absolutely delicious cornflake-crusted eggplant served alongside a rice rotini. For pasta sauce, Jenny used one of Amy's Tomato Basil Organic Pasta Sauce, which she doctored up with her own spice blend. As if the first two dishes weren't yummy enough, Jenny also busted out a simple side salad and some perfectly toasted bread with herbs.

The Goods: We were treated to another day of brilliant sunshine during today's all-too-short lunch hour. Once someone figures out how to make computer screens readable outdoors, we might move from our current beach-front offices directly to the beach. You know, it's important to get enough vitamin D. Yeah, that's it, sitting happily in the sun is important for our health. That's our story and we're sticking to it.

Easy Amy's

The Chef: Colleen and Amy's Kitchen

The Menu: A vibrant garden salad of romaine hearts, vine-ripened tomatoes, and smooth avocado provide a delightfully cool and crisp backdrop to left-over warm spinach wraps, followed by a sweet sliver of watermelon.

The Goods: It's really amazing that there were any of these much sought-after spinach wraps left after yesterday's feast, but, with so many stellar meals to sample, I suppose we had to draw the line at fourths. Lucky for the few of us here today, we were able to savor a second round of these delightful offerings from Amy's, without, once again, having to lift a finger.

Amy's Indian Buffet

The Chefs: Michelle and Erica from Amy's Kitchen!

The Menu: As you can see, we had no shortage of excellent Indian items for today's lunch. The very lovely Michelle and Erica came and prepared an insane array of goodies straight from their kitchens. Starting at the top and moving clockwise, we enjoyed some delicious Curried Lentil soup, then came the Mattar Tofu meal with curried peas and rice, then the Vegetable Korma meal with rice and dal, then the Spinach Tofu Wrap—which was absolutely packed with spinach, so good—and then there was the Samosa Wrap. Whew.

The Goods: It was such a pleasure to have our two guests come and bust out this great meal for us! Everything we tasted today was delicious. When Michelle asked us all what our favorite item was, everyone's answer came out something like, "Well, I really liked the spinach wrap, but I also really liked the soup. And the tofu. And the samosa. And everything else." This meal was definitely one for the record books—everything was great and we all walked away from the table totally stuffed. Here are Michelle and Erica with the VN gang on this not-quite-sunny day: