Surprise! It's Kale Salad.

The Chef: Anna and Herbivore

The Menu: Kale salad with cherry tomatoes, carrots, onion, and avocado. 

The Dish: You might think, what with the frequency with which we ingest this kale salad, that it's our absolute, hands-down, 100-percent favorite. Well, it is—in San Francisco. But when we're lucky enough to be within a 50-mile radius of the Veggie Grill, we're sure to nosh on the All Hail Kale Salad, which is, by far, the most spectacular kale salad in existence. Seriously—we dare you to prove us wrong. (Really! We'd love to know!) Want to get a behind-the-scenes look at Veggie Grill, including an interview with the chain's CEO? Check out our newest video on VegNews TV! 

Vegan Jambalaya and a Huge Cookie

The Chefs: Rashida and her mom

The Menu: Vegan jambalaya with seitan, Field Roast's Smoked Apple Sage sausage, collard greens, and tons of Cajun flair, and a chocolate chip cookie from the Veggie Grill for dessert.

The Goods: Happy Fat Tuesday, friends! My mom was feeling festive last night, so she whipped up some vegan jambalaya, jam-packed with faux-meat and greens. I'm happy to report that this piquant concoction tastes even better the next day—which is a good thing, considering test driving recipes from our upcoming Greek food feature left me too full to eat all my leftovers (hence the tiny lunch portion). Though my meal was sadly lacking in King Cake, Jennifer Chen, VegNews’ lovely associate editor, just returned from Southern California with Veggie Grill chocolate chip cookies in tow, thereby kickstarting my requisite Mardi Gras overindulgence. Partake in some indulgence of your own tonight by following our advice on How to Throw a Great Vegan Mardi Gras Party. Seitan Creole and veg Muffaletas? Don’t mind if I do!

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!

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."

Super Stir-Fry

The Chef: Stacy

The Menu: A simply superb stir-fry. Ms. Stacy was on a veggie-using mission today when she stirred up this delectable blend of snow peas, broccoli, carrots, zucchini, onions, leeks, and garlic, all served over rice. Stacy's favorite spice is cinnamon, so she took the Asian-cuisine-inspired opportunity to include some five-spice in her savory concoction.

The Goods: We're on pins and freaking needles here at the VNHQ today, as our publishers are in Los Angeles as we speak getting ready for the Maggie Awards ceremony. Maybe they went for lunch at one of our favorite places on the planet, The Veggie Grill. Maybe this is what they ate. Maybe it's a good thing we have leftover ice-cream cake, not only to console ourselves from missing out on the trip south, but also to get us properly amped up on sugar while we await the awards announcements tonight!