PB&J with a Tossed Salad

The Chef: Joni

The Menu: Peanut butter and strawberry-raspberry jelly sandwich on flax seed bread, and a tossed salad with baby greens, red onion, green bell pepper, chickpeas, and teriyaki tofu, drizzled with Annie's Naturals' Vegan Goddess Dressing

The Goods: The three words that best describe this lunch are simple, quick, and delicious. What more could you ask for with a lunch that you prepare just 10 minutes before leaving the house in the morning? OK, I admit it—a PB&J and a tossed salad are not exciting, novel ideas, but Goddess dressing spruces up even the most boring of meals. According to the SF Gate, Goddess dressing was invented right here in San Francisco by chef Phillip Roemer in 1923, making it a local classic. Annie’s Naturals veganized it and now it is one my personal favorites. If it’s not your favorite, let us know by voting in the VegNews Veggie Awards, the world’s largest survey of vegan people, places, and products. Vote for your favorite vegan restaurant, cheese, chocolate, city, store, cookbook author, blog, website, and more! 

Spinach Salad & Pozole Soup

The Chefs: Jennifer and Flacos Tacos

The Menu: A spinach salad topped with mango, walnuts, and Annie's Natural Goddess dressing. Pozole soup filled with hominy in a spicy broth.

The Goods: After attending a Forks Over Knives screening last night with VN Managing Editor Elizabeth Castoria, I went home and opened my produce drawers. The movie was a wake-up call to me that even though I'm vegan, it doesn't mean I'm eating healthy (hello, soy ice cream). My family has a history of cancer and diabetes so Forks Over Knives was a real reminder that what I put in my body is important. Hence, the spinach salad topped with fresh mango and walnuts. The pozole soup is from the wonderful vegan Flacos Tacos in Berkeley, Calif. My husband and I ate there a few nights ago and we love it. Everything there is delicious and freshly made. If you've seen Forks Over Knives or want to go, we're giving away an amazing prize pack over on our Facebook page just by answering a question about the movie. Here's to your health!

Really Good Rice and Salad

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: Some truly fantastic saffron rice and a huge salad of kale, grated beets, sliced cucumbers, grated carrots, sliced Field Roast Sausages, and Annie's Goddess Dressing.

The Goods: You know what's rad? Eating for free. Maybe it's not totally true, since obviously you have to purchase groceries, but when it's easy as can be to breeze out the office door for lunch and wind up with a $12 salad before you know what's hit you, eating at home can feel like you're eating for free. I was lucky enough to have some leftovers from dinner last night (the fancy pants rice and salad) to which I added the sausage and dressing. A delicious meal in fewer than five minutes flat? Yes, please! Upon returning to the office, I found the four new Coconut Bliss flavors awaiting trial. If there is a better mid-week treat, I don't even want to know about it.

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."