Cheesy Enchilada Bake

The Chef: Lyndsay

The Menu: A Frito-crusted, melted-cheese-topped-five layer enchilada bake, plus salad. Whoa. Lyndsay followed PETA's recipe for her main course, which she generously smothered in Daiya cheese and Fritos. In case you ever need a salty, slightly spicy dish, this one's a winner. Layers of beans, vegan meat crumbles, tortillas, cheese, and chips all blended together in a rich enchilada sauce. Following the fiesta theme, Lyndsay made a very colorful salad with sliced bell pepper, tomato, and red onion. Up top, you see a lovely gazpacho that was brought in as a suprise treat by our lunch guest, Jayne.

The Goods: Yes, we're still obsessing over the best uses for Daiya, which will likely be in every single lunch until we've completely exhausted our supply. So, tell us, what's your favorite recipe that could use a hearty dose of (vegan) cheese?

Bagel Bite

The Chef: Java Beach Café

The Menu: A toasted everything bagel with hummus, avocado, lettuce, onion, tomato, and a hearty side of Fritos. Sometimes a simple meal is all you need.

The Goods: So, most of the team has already left for AR 2009. With no one around to cook for but herself, our remaining staffer headed for our local café to let someone else do the cooking. Yes, it's nice to have a place only a couple blocks away where we can enjoy the occasional off-campus lunch! What with the empty nest here at the VNHQ, this will be our last post for the week. Happy (early) Friday and here's hoping everyone has a great conference in LA!

Bagel Bonanza

The Chef: Java Beach

The Menu: Bagels sandwiches galore! Onion, sesame, poppyseed, and everything bagels provided the hearty bases for our sandwiches today. Most of us went for the hummus sandwich, which featured—you guessed it—hummus, lettuce, tomato, and onion. Our side servings of Fritos also made their way into the sandwiches themselves, which we highly recommend for those who like a crunchy sandwich. In the background you can see Elizabeth's Italian soda, though not pictured are Aurelia's espresso, Jenny's latte, Colleen's lemonade, and Joseph's salad and peasant pie.

The Goods: As you probably already noticed, today was not a typical lunch day here at the VNHQ. To celebrate the grand opening of Java Beach's second location—which is just a couple blocks from our office—we enjoyed a lovely lunch at two of their outdoor tables. While it would have been nice to see a few more completely vegan options on the menu, we didn't want to miss the opportunity to support an independant, local café. Here's the VN gang with owner Pat Maguire: