Pizza, Pizza!

The Chef: Abby

The Menu: Pizza! Abby prepared two tasty pizza pies with crispy, homemade crust, slathered in rustic marinara and topped with cheddar and mozzarella-style Daiya cheese, black beans, and veggies including mushroom, tomato, and onion. Abby paired our pizza slices with a lovely side salad of romaine, onion, black beans, tomato, and mushroom. Bellissimo!

The Goods: If you haven't noticed, we're pretty big fans of pizza. The many virtues of vegan pizza are daily romanticized in these here offices, so today's lunch was, lets just say, greatly enjoyed. Sadly, Colleen, Joseph, and Lyndsay missed out on our pizza bounty, as they are in the Midwest for a weekend of sun and vegetarian fun at VeggieFest Chicago in Naperville, Ill,. If you hail from the Chicagoland area, be sure to stop by the festival, meet VN staffers, and renew your subscription. Happy weekend, everybody!

Veggie Chili, Flavorful Kale

The Chef: Chas

The Menu: Hearty, flavorful veggie chili chockfull of carrots, black beans, kidney beans, onion, green beans, and crispy squares of spicy tofu comprised the majority of today's lunch, and man, are we happy about it. Chas also marinated kale, our favorite dark leafy green, with olive oil, braggs, and rice vinegar and served it steamed alongside one of his signature salads—halved olives included.

The Goods: One of the many reasons we love Chas is that he is king of salads. Don't get us wrong, we've adored every dish he's ever prepared, but there is nothing on par with a Chas Chiodo salad, dressed to perfection with just the right balance of olive oil, Braggs Liquid Aminos, and nutritional yeast. In other news, tonight marks the much anticipated, VN-sponsored Lyman v. Niman debate in Berkeley, Calif. The VN staff will be reporting live at this can't miss, edge-of-your-seat event, and we'll be covering all the details, as well as tweeting updates during the event to keep everyone up to speed.

Ultra-Good Upside-Down Pizza

The Chef: Aurelia

The Menu: An utterly delicious casserole-style, upside-down pizza. Yes, Aurelia is just as creative in the kitchen as she is in our editorial meetings, for which we are all very, very thankful! This dish featured potatoes, Swiss chard, zucchini, and onions, all simmered in Frankie's barbecue sauce and baked under a pizza-dough crust. Savory and satisfying, we all went back for seconds of this one! Aurelia also busted out a fantastic salad of butter lettuce, grated carrots, kidney beans, and avocado.

The Goods: We've been eating outside all this week, though to varying degrees of success. Today was the first day that we didn't clutch our jackets super-tightly and hope for the wind to subside, as it was actually sunny, and, dare we say, warm! Of course, since this weekend is supposed to be gorgeous here in SF, the majority of us will be out of town, either attending the Chicago Green Festival or WorldFest. Go figure! Also, have you been grinding your teeth hoping for recipes to accompany the lunches you see here on Café VegNews? Now's your chance! The entries in our first-ever Café VegNews Showdown that receive the most votes will have recipes printed in our September+October edition! Go! Vote!