Vegan Spaghetti and Meatballs

The Chefs: Anna, Elizabeth, and Colleen

The Menu: Rotini with meatless meatballs and Elizabeth's dad's second best (we'll get to that in a second) spaghetti sauce, and a fresh salad with cherry tomatoes, avocado, shredded carrots, and vinaigrette c/o Colleen

The Goods: Wondering about second best, I presume? Well, there's been a lot of trash (or is it smack?) talk between myself and fellow Italian Elizabeth Castoria over which one of our fathers' tomato sauce recipes reigns supreme. Throw in VN's other Italian, Publisher Joseph Connelly (and his mother's recipe), and it's a rumble between Italian factions. It's very "Leave the gun, take the vegan cannoli" and all that hullabaloo. While I maintain that one day we'll have to have a blind taste test with all three, after having tasted this batch, I must say that, well, my dad's sauce is still way better. Yes, I'm biased, but I'm also the author of this post, so you can only accept my opinion on the matter. Prego.

Heirloom Tomato Salad and Savory Gnocchi

The Chef: Hilary

The Menu: Savory whole-wheat gnocchi with vegan bolognese sauce, Daiya, and mushrooms; a refreshing heirloom tomato salad with basil, silken tofu, avocado, and balsamic vinaigrette. 

The Goods: I decided to come prepared with a lunch suitable for rain or shine, given San Francisco's schizophrenic weather, so I packed both light and rich options today. Most of the staff was gone this weekend on an action-paced foray to the Animal Rights Conference in Los Angeles, so much of the morning was spent sharing stories about the trip's inspiring speakers and amazing screening of Vegucated, as well as the staff's enthusiastic sampling of The Veggie Grill secret menu. My stomach was grumbling with envy, but thankfully I had prepared an heirloom tomato salad and some rich, satisfying gnocchi. The Italian-inspired combo served as a great pick-me-up for a Monday afternoon (much needed as jackhammers deafeningly ravage the sidewalk outside), and the sunshine came out just in time for a rooftop picnic.

Spaghetti & Vegan Meatballs

The Chef: Liz

The Menu: A molto bene Italian spread including whole-wheat spaghetti with vegan meatballs, toasted Daiya cheesy bread, and an arugula, spinach, and mushroom salad. Liz took the semi-homemade approach to pasta sauce by combining Lucini Tuscan Marinara with diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and roasted red peppers and crafted vegan meatballs by rolling dollops of Harmony Valley Vegetarian Hamburger Mix in bread crumbs. No, that's amore.

The Goods: This gluten-licious lunch was the perfect perk-up after a particularly chilly San Francisco morning. While dining on our Italian feast, we discussed a few of our favorite things: cake, Mad Men, and the 2010 Veggie Awards! The competition is fierce, and nominees and fans alike are launching world wide web campaigns to rally for their favorite vegan people, places, and products in our annual reader poll. We're thrilled to see all of the healthy competition spreading, and we're even more thrilled to tally up the winners when the polls close on August 31. Haven't weighed-in on your vegan top choices for 2010? Do it! Right now! Then tell all of your friends—in this election, every vote really counts!

Baked Ziti, Great Greens

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: A healthy, hearty take on baked ziti using gluten-free pasta, tomato sauce, and a tasty tofu ricotta. Elizabeth chose an all-green theme for today's lovely leafy salad, including romaine, green olives, cucumber, avocado, and grated zucchini.

The Goods: Is it just us, or is this week rapidly whizzing by? We can't believe tomorrow is already Thursday, which marks a celebratory occasion: SF Vegan Drinks! With the weather finally turning sunny, we can't wait to trek over to Martuni's, San Francisco's most happening piano bar, and throw back a few $5 vegan Orange Creamsicle Martinis (this month's special!) at our favorite monthly meet-up. In addition to enjoying a few drinks, we're also pumped to nosh on veggie dogs and vegan popcorn—yeah, it's pretty much the perfect trifecta of summertime treats. If you're local, stop by to meet the VN staff, make new friends, and down a few stellar sippers.

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!

Super-Quick Scramble

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: Tofu scramble! Today's Italian-food-inspired meal consisted of lots of onions and garlic, tofu, eggplant, capers, fresh basil, and garbanzo beans, and a side salad with heirloom tomatoes and avocado.

The Goods: Sometimes, you only have half an hour to make lunch. Like, oh say, when you're going to press the next day and need to finalize the cover and edits, and maybe also need to get ready for Taking Action for Animals in DC this weekend, and maybe, just maybe, today is also your web deadline. On such days, throw a bunch of themed ingredients (Italian in this case) on tofu and call it a day. Well, actually, first vote in the Veggie Awards Survey—since there are only 10 days of voting left—then call it a day. Whew.

Frittata Florentine

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: An Italian-leftovers-inspired meal! Today's frittata combined some leftover pasta, a blend of tofu and garbanzo beans, and sautéed cherry tomatoes, onions, garlic, and spinach. Oh, and maybe, just maybe, about a ton of Parma got mixed in there, too. To help colorize the plate, Elizabeth made a big kale salad with red cabbage, apple, carrot, avocado, and pumpkin seeds. What topped this multicolor creation? You guessed it: more Parma. (And a little flax-seed oil and apple cider vinegar, you know, so that we could call it a "dressing.")

The Goods: Everything sounds better in Italian, no? Leftover pasta tossed with stuff suddenly becomes "frittata" and since we happened to have spinach on hand, "florentine" made today's dish sound extra fancy. In case anyone is wondering, if you're trying to flip your frittata in one fell swoop, it's likely best not to create one solid piece that's bigger than your own head. Was Elizabeth thankful that there weren't any cameras around while she was trying to flip hers today, with two undersized spatulas? Yes, yes she was.

Vietnamese Ziti

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: OK, you caught us. The ziti is Italian, not Vietnamese. The spring rolls, one of which you see at left in its pre-rolled glory, were Vietnamese, but since there's no really smooth way of combining the ideas of spring rolls and baked ziti, well, we came up with the brilliant solution of Vietnamese Ziti. Filled with sauteed tofu, shredded carrot, sliced cucumber, and rice vermicelli, the spring rolls were a perfectly light accompaniment to the extra-super-rich baked ziti. Swimming in marinara and two, count 'em!, varieties of homemade, non-dairy cheese, this magnanimous main course was better than any non-vegan baked ziti we've ever had.

The Goods: It's not actually that Elizabeth is suffering from some sort of cultural-culinary identity crisis—she's happily swathed in green clothes and Irish pride today, while her Italian half felt right at home when the baked ziti came out of the oven—it's that we're testing recipes! Yes! That means that both of these awesome dishes will be yours to make once the May+June issue of VegNews comes out next month. Until then, we have a litte St. Patrick's Day giveaway going on to tide you over. Happy Vietnamese-Italian St. Patty's Day!