Expo West, Night One!

The Chef: The Veggie Grill

The Menu: Tons of goodies from The Veggie Grill! Hello, Chinese Chickin' Salad, you are delicious. We also enjoyed The V-Burger and Carne Asada. Um, those were quickly devoured. We would eat them again pretty much again right now given the chance. How could we follow up such a lovely meal? Why that would be with fantastic Babycakes NYC's cookie-frosting sandwiches. Jealous? Yeah, that's appropriate.

The Goods: Tonight marks our first in LA for Expo West 2010! It's pretty exciting to be here for the hugest trade show ever (not technically, but it certainly seems like it). We dined poolside at our hotel—which we'll be doing again tomorrow evening and Saturday—hence the less-than-stellar photo, but trust us, we enjoyed the meal just as much as we had anticipated. More to come!

Mighty Good Marinara

The Chef: Liz

The Menu: A lovely—and colorful—meal of gluten-free pasta topped with a delicious marinara that had chickpeas, spinach, and rosemary all thrown in for good measure. A bean salad with tons of avocado and cherry tomatoes made a multicolored side.

The Goods: This is it! The next time you hear from us we'll be reporting from LA, where we'll be at Expo West 2010, exploring the miles of booths. Stay tuned to Twitter and Facebook for all the haps!

Fig and Walnut Pasta

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: A hearty pasta doused in cashew cream, chopped walnuts and figs, salt, and a touch of nutmeg. To add to the carby goodness of the main course, Elizabeth prepared a panzanella-style salad of bread, avocado, and cherry tomatoes. Carbs on carbs? It appears we've answered the "to eat or not to eat" question from yesterday.

The Goods: The main course here was inspired by a meal Elizabeth made way back during cookbook week when we tried recipes from 1,000 Vegan Recipes by one of our fantastic columnists, Robin Robertson. This is the best kind of recipe: the kind that you make one time and can then improvise for years to come. And yes, we could totally eat this pasta every day. Remember, we'll be eating in LA this Friday and Saturday and reporting live from Expo West!

Cool Beans (and Tortillas and Veggies)

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: Our favorite office manager, whose Monday meals are always eagerly anticipated, was feeling a little under the weather today, so Colleen graciously offered to take over kitchen duties. She made us all feel a little healthier with her hearty offering that began with a perfectly steamed flour tortilla topped with a layer of fresh guacamole, a spoonful of hearty black beans, and a generous helping of grilled broccoli, squash, bell peppers, and zucchini. On the side? A vibrant greens-and-tomotoes salad decorated with a few slivers of Dr. Cow cheese. Yum!

The Goods: Some of us are feeling out of sorts today, and the rest of us are recuperating from a jet-setting weekend punctuated by indulgent meals at various LA veg restaurants, bottomless Cosmopolitans, and lack of sleep, so a simple, healthy meal was just what the doctor ordered.