World Vegetarian Day Chili!

The Chef: Sara

The Menu: A triple-chili treat! Ms. Sara prepared three varieties of Eden Organic Chili (the black bean and quinoa, Great Northern bean and barley, and kidney bean and kamut, in case you were wondering), which we topped with hearty handfuls of Daiya. She also made a delicious cornbread from scratch, and a fresh guacamole. Are we spoiled? Yes.

The Goods: Happy World Vegetarian Day, everyone! To give lunch an international feel, we had the pleasure of dining with Helen, a long-time friend of VN who's in town for World Vegetarian Festival from Switzerland. There are a couple reasons to love Helen, one of which being that she's amazing, and the other that she brings Swiss chocolate with her! Again, spoiled. We like pretty much any excuse to celebrate, and this one just happens to be near and dear to us! To make an awesome day even more fun, we're giving away an enormous shipment of Sticky Fingers goodies. Yes, you definitely want these. But! It's a one-day giveaway, the winner will be picked at 11:59 pm tonight, so make sure to comment quickly!

Sweet-Potato Falafel

The Chef: Kailey

The Menu: A delicious spread of sweet-potato falafel, inspired by FatFree Vegan Kitchen's version, baked tofu, and a great big, gorgeous salad with mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, avocado, and bell pepper. Kailey didn't exactly follow the FFVK's recipe, but worked with what we had in the kitchen, and the results were absolutely delicious. Do black sesame seeds make everything better? Yes. Are we sometimes tempted to stick our faces into bulk bins of them? Yes. What of it?

The Goods: We're still deep in the editorial trenches for the November+December issue, and there's a hot rumor going around that we might be getting the September+October issue from the printer this week. When it comes in, we will freak out. We suggest you do the same.

Beautiful Black-Bean Burgers

The Chef: Abby

The Menu: A summery spread of homemade black-bean burgers served on marinated kale leaves, slightly spicy roasted potatoes, and a fresh green salad with halved cherry tomatoes and maple-candied walnuts from Pure Sweets. Yes, it is a genius idea to serve burgers on marinated kale. Yes, you should find yourself a recipe and make these tonight. Abby based her creation on a recipe from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen, and adapted it to fit what was on-hand here at the VNHQ.

The Goods: Since her return to the office, today marks Ms. Abby's first turn in the kitchen, and we are so thrilled to have her back! Today's lunch was absolutely delicious, and the joy of dining al fresco made it all the more wonderful.