Cookbook Week: The Vegan Soulfood Guide to the Galaxy

The Chef: Lyndsay

The Menu: Some seriously good soul food! Today's Tofu-Tater Wraps started out with whole-wheat tortillas, which Ms. Lyndsay topped with marinated tofu and very peppery seasoned potatoes. Next came a layer of spinach, tomatoes, onions, and avocado, all of which we doused with a savory dijon-soy dressing. Hearty and healthy are definitely how we'd describe this meal, which is just how we like to start out the week.

The Goods: Yes! Cookbook week is back by popular demand! Well, OK, technically no one demanded it, but we couldn't bear to keep all the great cookbooks in the office to ourselves. This week we'll all be making meals straight from the pages of hot, new cookbooks. Today's effort comes from The Vegan Soulfood Guide to the Galaxy by Afya Ibomu, and, according to Lyndsay, the recipe was very easy to follow and well-organized. According to all of us, the results were delicious and we can't wait to bring you more cookbook-centered creations! Happy MLK day!

Reader Recipe Testing! Day Four

The Chef: Aurelia

The Menu: A whole bunch of delicious stuff, but, you know, we're sworn to secrecy. Here's what we can tell you: Aurelia makes a mean dish of perfectly fluffy rice. Yes, yes she does. Oh, and that sprig of garnish? That would be fresh thyme from our modest herb garden.

The Goods: Since we can't say anything more about the food today, let's move on to another subject: our guests! Today we were graced with the presence of two lovely ladies, Ms. Jenna Humphrey—former VN Associate Editor extraordinaire—and AnnaLise Hoopes, who's a somewhat recent transplant to the Bay Area from Boston (see both of their smiling faces below). With one old friend and one new one, today's lunch was extra enjoyable, we only wish there wasn't this pesky business of work to get back to! Okay, technically, that's not true. Let's face it, working to produce a magazine is a pretty good time. Oh yeah, and there's a little something we'd like to share: our first-ever Issue Launch Party is coming up! This is going to be a seriously swanky affair, as we'll have delicious passed hors d'oeuvres from SF's premier eateries, fabulous desserts, live music by Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, and an irresistible silent auction. Yes, we are pretty darn sure that it's going to rock. And yes, we think it would be a good idea to get your tickets now, before they're gone!

Reader Recipe Testing! Day Two

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: The Magical Mystery Tour (around the plate) continues! We're still not spilling the beans about the contenders in our Reader Recipe Showdown, but today we have a little something extra: salad! This very complex, highly sophistocated recipe was created by our very own Elizabeth, who used two—count 'em, two!—kinds of home-grown lettuce with kalamata olives and avocado to make today's refreshing side dish. We're staying mum on the other two items, which actually were pretty in-depth, but you might be able to identify the phyllo dough on one of them.

The Goods: Since we're not telling you too much about what we're eating this week, how's about a turn of the tables? Tell us what you're eating! Do you have a favorite use for phyllo dough? Would you have put kalamata olives in the salad or stuck with regular black ones? And, of course don't forget to tell us about your first-meal-after-a-cleanse fantasy menu!

Reader Recipe Testing! Day One

The Chefs: Jenny and Colleen

The Menu: Mysteries! Yep, that's right, we're not going to tell you exactly what the dishes pictured above are. We could, but then we'd have to kill you. Oh, wait, no. What we mean to say is that we could, but we don't want to give too much away about the contenders in our first-ever Reader Recipe Showdown. Just so you're not completely in the lurch about what's on the plate, today we tried one of the many casserole-recipe entries, a green-apple salad, and a raw noodle dish. If you're looking for more information, you'll have to bust out your magnifying glass and take a good, long look at the photo, 'cause we're not telling!

The Goods: All this week we'll be putting the finalist recipes through the rigors of testing. To see the winners, just make sure and check out our September+October Food Issue! And don't forget: there's still time to enter our monthly giveaway and score yourself an awesome teapot!