Sweet Potato and Salad

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: A big ol' salad with kale, romaine, Field Roast sausage, and red, orange, and yellow bell peppers, plus a baked sweet potato slathered with Earth Balance.

The Goods: Yes, this is a pretty enormous lunch, and yes, it was fantastic. My love for salad is well documented on this blog, but today I wanted a little something extra to go along with it. Enter, the sweet potato. I think that if I hadn't been a lazy chump today and had added avocado to this salad, that I could eat this meal for the rest of my life, wherever that ends up being. My life is currently (no surprise!) in San Francisco, which happens to be a great town to play tourist in, even if you already live here. Check out a San Francisco staycation over on Press Pass.

Classic Soup & Salad

The Chef: Lyndsay

The Menu: A leftover half of the buttermilk fried chicken sandwich from Millennium, and Vegetable Barley soup from Amy's Kitchen.

The Goods: Yes, we're still stuck on the deliciousness of our experience at the Southern Comfort Dinner, which you can read all about on our Press Pass blog. The sandwich was just as good two days later, and I am sad to say that there are no more leftovers from that glorious night, and now my waiting for next year begins. I'm also sad to say that this is the last day of Editorial Assistant Alexandra Chang at the VNHQ. We don't want to see her go, but we wish her all of the best. Happy Memorial Day to everyone—enjoy the long weekend!

Organic Green Salad with Brown Rice

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: A delicious oversized salad with tomatoes, shredded carrot, olives, and green onion—all tossed with warm brown rice in an olive oil-balsamic vinaigrette.

The Goods: I didn't have much at home to prepare lunch today, but after eating out a few times last week, I really wanted to kick-off the work week with something fresh and homemade. Enter some aging lettuce (remove the outer leaves!), a handful of olives, a single carrot and green onion, and some leftover brown rice. And voila—a healthy lunchtime meal, and it tasted great! Hey, have you checked out the amazing menus from our 2011 vegan wedding couples? They'll blow your mind. If I ever get married, I am going straight to these stories for inspiration. And happy 25th anniversary to Farm Sanctuary, who celebrated in style this weekend with a star-studded event in New York City. VN's NYC correspondent was there, so read all about it on Press Pass!

21-Day Cleanse Starting Salad

The Chefs: Elizabeth and Herbivore

The Menu: A fantastically enormous salad of mixed greens, romaine, shredded carrots and beets, cherry tomatoes, roasted beets, grilled tofu, and avocado, all topped with my absolute favorite dressing, the Dijon vinaigrette.

The Goods: After a recent long weekend in NYC (read all about it later this week on Press Pass), I have been in desperate need of greens. To make sure that I'm really getting all the good, green stuff possible, I'm starting Kris Carr's 21-day cleanse today! I'm really excited to juice, meditate, and generally get myself into tip-top shape. To celebrate the start of this little adventure, I grabbed the biggest salad on the block, which happens to be my favorite. Tonight, to continue the healthy theme, a group from the VNHQ will attend a screening of Forks Over Knives, which I absolutely can't wait to see! Have you tried the cleanse or seen the movie? Tell me your thoughts on either in the comments!

Green Salad with Chicken

The Chefs: Lyndsay and Herbivore

The Menu: A mixed green salad with grated beets, cherry tomatoes, avocado, cucumber, and grilled vegan chicken—topped with a Dijon dressing.

The Goods: I had a huge bagel with Tofutti cream cheese (not pictured) this morning, so I needed a lighter lunch. I understand that this is the second Herbivore salad this week, but what can I say? Being just about a block away, it's convenient, and the salad is delicious, so that's what I chose. To read something a little more exciting, check out Associate Publisher Colleen Holland's new Press Pass post on her sneak peek of Animal Place Sanctuary! It will make you want to book a trip right away.

Indian Curry

The Chef: Alexandra and Sticky Fingers Bakery

The Menu: Home-made Indian curry with tofu, garbanzo beans, potatoes, and spinach on rice, plus a ginger cupcake with blueberry frosting from Sticky Fingers for dessert.

The Goods: While this isn't the prettiest meal featured on Café VegNews, it's definitely not lacking in the flavor department. Curries have to be one of my favorite foods, mostly because they are packed with amazing spices. I also love it when they're thick with vegetables, and this one is no exception. And since the VNHQ gets delicious deliveries every day, it's not hard to add another special element to lunch. The cupcake from Sticky Fingers satisfied my sweet tooth (no meal is complete without some form of dessert), and has me dreaming of visiting DC. Luckily, the Bay Area is an equally great place to be. There's tons of veg-restaurants and events (like SF Vegan Drinks coming up!), vegan luminaries come here to meet and discuss future books (check out VN Publisher Joseph Connelly's Press Pass post on Jeffrey Masson's book in the making), and of course, VegNews is here. You can't beat that.

Vegan Cheesesteak

The Chef: Alexandra and Jay's Cheesesteak

The Menu: A super messy and delicious cheesesteak sandwich filled with grilled seitan, onions, spinach, pickles, lettuce, and vegan mayo. And let's not forget the fries on the side.

The Goods: It's been decided, cheesesteak sandwiches are the perfect Friday lunch meal. Hearty, comforting, and downright tasty, they're the perfect way to transition into the weekend. Editorial Assistant Anna and I filled our stomachs to the brim while debating which protein-filled meat replacement is the best, seitan, tempeh, or tofu (we decided on tofu and seitan). If that wasn't enough: we just got a giant box of baked goods in from Everyday Gourmet. Food coma, here I come. Speaking of indulgent meals, check out Associate Editor Jenn's recent Press Pass, where she takes on the sushiritto. Yes, that is a burrito-sized sushi roll.

Vegan Posole!

The Chef: Elizabeth and Gracias Madre

The Menu: Though this photo hardly does it justice, this is the incredible posole from Gracias Madre. It's a lovely, brothy soup with hominy, tortilla strips, and avocado, and is one of my absolute favorite meals on the planet.

The Goods: Yes, I went to Gracias Madre on Friday with Colleen, again today for lunch, and once over the weekend with friends. To say that I'm obsessed would be a heinous understatement. My dad grew up in New Mexico and he makes a fantastic posole, which is nearly impossible to find vegan at restaurants as it's usually made with non-vegan stock. The Gracias Madre version comes in at a close second to my dad's, which is pretty much the highest compliment I can give. Eating well was definitely on the agenda over the weekend, as we celebrated World Veg Festival Weekend. Read all about the adventures of the VN team on Press Pass!

Potato Soup, Simple Salad

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: A silky, garlicky soup of russet potatoes, green chiles, and a whole lot of garlic made for a soup-er satisfying lunch. Elizabeth paired this warming main with fluffy slices of vegan French bread and finished it off with a fresh, crunchy salad filled with mixed greens, mushroom, bell pepper, and tomato.

The Goods: If there's something wrong with the classic soup-and-salad combo, we don't want to be right. Basically, we're huge fans of this balanced lunch break standard. Another well kept secret: We're also huge fans of all things chocolate, sugary, and made of ice cream. Maybe that's why VN staffer Brooke decided to indulge in some to-die-for dessert at San Francisco's Holy Gelato! last night, and because it was Brooke's first trip to a vegan-friendly ice cream shop, she chronicled the adventure on Press Pass.

Vegan Deep Dish

The Chef: Paxti's Chicago Pizza and Colleen

The Menu: Gooey, stretchy Chicago-style deep-dish vegan pizza from Paxti's Chicago Pizza. This intensely stacked pie boasts robust, spicy sauce, melty Daiya cheese, and a mountain of doughy, chewy crust. In addition to our sizable slices of pizza, we dined on a lovely side salad of kale, cabbage, greens, and cucumber courtesy of Ms. Colleen.

The Goods: Vegan deep-dish pizza! Truth be told, today's lunch was recycled leftovers from last evening. Following our fun evening at SF Vegan Drinks, the VN staff celebrated Brooke's first month on staff by chasing our martinis with delicious deep-dish pizza. We're not proud to admit that there were leftovers, but in our defense, we ordered a ridiculous amount of pizza. For the entire SF Vegan Drinks scoop, be sure to read Brooke's full write-up on Press Pass. Ready to weigh in on your favorite vegan eats and drinks? Be sure to vote in VN's 2010 Reader Poll, launching Sunday, August 1, at 12pm PST!

Friday Feast

The Chef: Chas

The Menu: A little Friday roundup of on-hand veggies. Chas provided us with the delicious leftovers from his chili yesterday, along with a signature Chas salad, bread, and a stir-fried eggplant-carrots-chickpea mixture. As per always, everything was fantastic.

The Goods: In case you couldn't join us for the Lyman v. Niman debate last night, there's a little recap on Press Pass. If you happen to be in Chicago this weekend, come by our booth at the Green Festival, and say hello to our very own Savvy Abby! Oh, and if you need a little something sweet to kick off your weekend, we are giving away a huge collection of goodies from some of the country's best bakeries over on Facebook. Enjoy!

Barbecue and Biscuits

The Chef: Abby

The Menu: Surprise! There are biscuits! Abby's stand-by made yet another appearance, this time accompanied by barbecue-baked hot dogs and a hefty helping of home fries, which were slathered in a sweet and savory combo of sea salt, black pepper, rosemary, and maple syrup. For our daily greens, Abby whipped up a big salad with carrot, avocado, and a generous sprinkling of Kaia Foods Teriyaki Sprouted Sunflower Seeds.

The Goods: And we're back, everyone! After a whirlwind weekend at Expo West, the entire crew is back at the VNHQ and ready to work. Despite the hours and hours we spent eating the past few days—no, we're not exaggerating—this filling meal was welcomed at the lunch table. Want to know more about our Expo West adventures? Check out Joseph's LA recap on Press Pass, and read all about our Best of Show awards for the inside info on the latest, greatest veg products.

Pesto Fusilli

The Chef: Liz

The Menu: A luscious, homemade pesto served with fresh tomato chunks over brown-rice fusilli. A hearty salad with garbanzo beans, romaine, cucumber, and green onion made a delicious side, and Liz also just happened to bust out a seitan piccata. Yes, we are spoiled. Yes, we covered everything in Parma!

The Goods: After Friday's phenomenal meal, we were too scared to come in to the office to make lunch yesterday. Yes, too scared, and also too much enjoying the holiday time off. Liz brought us back to the work-week reality with this yummy lunch, but just in case any of you was hoping for more from the realm of professional chefs, we have a little recap from one of Tal Ronnen's cooking classes over on Press Pass. Let's not, you know, hasten back to reality too quickly. Here's hoping everyone is enjoying the short week!

Pasta Marinara

The Chef: Liz and Karine

The Menu: A lovely marinara with eggplant and lots of garlic that Liz served over rice pasta and topped with cheddar Daiya. Red-cabbage slaw courtesy of our guest, a green salad, and sliced fresh bread made this a mighty fine meal.

The Goods: Today we had the pleasure of dining with Karine Brighten, a local vegan event planner. Karine was responsible for the excellent grand opening of Nature's Express this past weekend, which you might have heard about on a little blog we like to call Press Pass. Lunch was lovely, despite the inclement weather and fact that we've been cooped up in the office this whole week! We can't wait for our next opportunity to dine al fresco!

Multi-Vegetable Soup

The Chef: Liz

The Menu: A rich, delicious soup, baked potato, and salad. Liz told us that she originally intended to make a cheddar-broccoli soup, but then discovered that somehow all the Wayfare Foods cheesy dips have disappeared from our fridge. Yes, this is highly suspicious—or it would be, if we hadn't been slathering the stuff on anything that wasn't nailed down for the last week. The soup ended up having broccoli, cashews, carrots, and potatoes, and was extremely satisfying. And can you really go wrong with a baked potato covered in Daiya? No, it turns out that you cannot.

The Goods: You may have noticed that there was no post here yesterday, and we have a pretty simple explanation for it: we didn't have lunch. As a way of saying "thank you" for the team all taking shifts at our SF Green Festival booth, we took the morning and lunch off. To make up for it, please find all the details (including Gavin Newsom and Woody Harrelson) of this weekend's festival on Press Pass.

Fresh Tortilla Friday

The Chef: Abby

The Menu: Fresh, homemade tortillas. Yes, Abby actually busted out two different varieties of tortillas for us today, and they were both pretty much amazing. First, she made a whole-wheat garlic batch that we topped with homemade refried beans, salsa, and guacamole. Um, yum. Then, she made a super-fancy, saffron-infused sweet batch, which we completely doused with Emmy's Organics Raw Chocolate Sauce and Soyatoo's Whipped Rice Topping. Oh! And Abby made kale salad, aka the very best kind of salad.

The Goods: We have to say, things here are not good; they are effing great! It's Friday, we spent the majority of our lunch time trying to decide how best to eat the whipped cream and chocolate sauce (the clear winner: filling a spoon with whipped cream and drizzling it with sauce in a most ladylike manner), oh, and we had a little something we like to call homemade tortillas for lunch. Seriously, do days get much better than this? There are also lots of fun things going on this weekend, including Chicago Veganmania and the DC Green Festival, so make sure to check out Press Pass for full reports next week!

Totally Trader Joe's

The Chef: (Trader) Joseph

The Menu: A taste of Trader Joe's! We noshed Mildly Spiced Vegetable Burritos, salsa, guacamole, roasted Brussels sprouts, Corn Chip Dippers, and Veggie Chips, all from this morning's run to TJ's and expertly prepared by our own Joseph.

The Goods: The store from which we stock the VN kitchen had a booth at World Veg Festival Weekend, which inspired Joseph to make an all-TJ's lunch today. Check out full details on the festival, including interviews with best-selling authors Rory Freedman and Kathy Freston, on Press Pass soon!

Chick'n and Marinara

The Chef: Lyndsay

The Menu: A mixture of marinaras, including the new Gardein Chick'n Good Stuff Marinara, onto which Lyndsay melted a little extra Daiya, and a lovely pasta tossed with marinara. For something which contained zero tomato sauce, Lyndsay made a fantastic, fresh salad with romaine, avocado, tomatoes, and herbs.

The Goods: We've had a whirlwind weekend, which included a big book sale, the BlogHer Food '09 conference, and a sneak peek at a new location of The Veggie Grill! Make sure to check Press Pass throughout the week for full reports, and in the meantime we'll get back to that thing called "work."

Underdog(s)!

The Chef: Underdog

The Menu: A perfect picnic triptych of savory goodies. Veggie dogs—of the Polish, Smoked Apple Sage, Italian, and Mexican Chipotle varieties—smothered in relish, onions, ketchup, sauerkraut, and two kinds of mustard were served alongside tater tots and potato salad.

The Goods: We dined al fresco today, as we went on a little lunchtime adventure. To get the full details, make sure to check out our editorial assistant Sara's first Press Pass entry ever! In the meantime, go make yourself a nice big veggie dog and go nuts with condiments—it'll be just like you had lunch with us! If you happen to be in the SF Bay Area, come see Elizabeth on the Politics of Food panel at the BlogHer Food '09 conference tomorrow!

Corn Fritters and Caesar Salad

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: Crispy corn fritters—featuring fresh corn—dolloped with ketchup and vegan sour cream, a lovely Caesar salad with big, crunchy croutons, and fresh strawberries on the side. Yes, Colleen is a fancy chef and spiralized the carrots for the salad. Yes, we like that about her.

The Goods: It's been quite the week of eating here at the VNHQ, and today marks our very last copy of Vegan Yum Yum to give away. First, congrats to Carll from yesterday's comments! We love Danielle Konya too! Carll, send us an email with your name and mailing address, and we'll send your book right out. Now, for the last copy of our Vegan Yum Yum giveaway, here's another blog-related question. Tell us in the comments: What's your favorite weekend adventure? You can check out a few of ours over on Press Pass!