Gone To Tumblr!

The Chefs: Elizabeth and Taqueria Cancun

The Menu: Two veggie tacos with rice, black beans, avocado, and salsa.

The Goods: Friends, it's with a mixed bag of emotions that we bid adieu to Café VegNews. Since October 29, 2007, we've blogged about lunch here at the VNHQ every single day. Café VegNews was our first foray into blogging, which seemed like the height of media savvy five years ago. (Remember pre-Pinterest era?) More than 1,000 posts later, we've hosted an amazing roster of guests, eaten our own weight in kale salads many times over, and watched as new technologies made way for newer (and, in many cases, better) opportunities to share our world with our readers. On that note, we couldn't be more thrilled to debut VegNews on Tumblr! We'll meld behind-the-scenes scoop such as what's for lunch and the newest products arriving at the office with our favorite content from around the web, event photos, and more. It's a bit bittersweet to say so long to the blogs we've worked so hard to build, but, well, they're just so five years ago. As always, thank you for reading. Here's to what's next!

Summer Salad and Pesto Pasta

The Chef: Jennifer

The Menu: Spinach salad with fresh tomatoes and a brown rice pasta tossed with cilantro pesto and artichoke hearts

The Dish: It's 80 degrees, sunny, and Friday. Life is pretty grand, my friends. I whipped up the pasta dish with some cilantro pesto from Bolani, a local company that makes Afghan vegan sauces and dips. I swear by the spinach, pumpkin, or potato bolanis (a thin savory wraps filled with veggies). It's the first really hot day in San Francisco so I dined on the deck with my fellow VN staffers today. If you're in the Bay Area, be sure to stop by the SF Vegan Bake Sale on Sunday, April 22 from 12pm to 4pm, right here in front of the VNHQ headquarters. I'm baking a bundt cake for the occasion so come and get a slice!

Copycat Kale

The Chefs: Rashida and Herbivore

The Menu: Kale salad with avocado, cucumber, cherry tomatos, onions, and faux chicken

The Dish: Well, friends, I finally caved. After three months of hearing fellow VN staffers gush about Herbivore's kale salad—made extra awesome with the addition of chicken chunks—I finally decided to give it a shot. What took me so long? This salad of refreshing greens, rich avocado, and savory mock meat was an ideal warm-weather dish, perfect for devouring while soaking up rays on our gorgeous deck. Sunshine is awesome, but global warming is not. Check out 5 Ways Being Vegan Saves the Planet, and have an eco-friendly Earth Day this Sunday!

Indian Pancake with Coconut Chutney

The Chef: Colleen and Udupi Palace

The Menu: Mixed vegetable uthappam with a trio of chutneys (coconut, ginger, and tomato) and sambar soup

The Dish: Today, we had a business meeting scheduled during lunch, and our acquaintance had a hankering for Indian food. So off we went to the all-vegetarian Udupi Palace just two blocks away, taking us back to the VegNews Great Adventure to India. Those were the days! I had a delicious vegetable uthappam (Indian pancake) with dipping sauces that really hit the spot. Speaking of travel adventures, we just announced the 2012 VegNews Vegan Yoga Retreat to Mexico, and are so excited to be returning to the Mexican coast for amazing vegan food, top-notch yoga, breathtaking scenery, and wonderful camaraderie. We hope you'll join us!

Super-Sized Salad

The Chefs: Elizabeth and Valencia Whole Foods

The Menu: An enormous salad of mixed greens, spinach, chickpeas, grated carrots, kale, avocado, tofu, and a Health is Wealth Mushroom and Onion Sprout Burger.

The Goods: It's Friday, and that's pretty good. Whether you're already at Coachella (like one of our lucky editors!), heading to a cabin for a weekend of city-living detoxing, or just enjoying a break from the rain, there's something we're sure you'll enjoy: and Anderson Cooper giggle fit.

Cheesy Vegan Pasta with Homemade Garlic Bread

The Chefs: Rashida, Hilary, and Colleen

The Menu: Mama Sue's Gourmet Pasta topped with a mixture of Victoria Fine Foods' bean and mushroom marinara sauces and Café Indigo's vegan seitan cheesesteak, with a side of Colleen's homemade garlic bread

The Dish: We here at VNHQ are a resourceful bunch, as evidenced by Editorial Assistant Hilary Pollack's genius idea to take the various odds and ends in our kitchen and transform them into a cheesy, seitan-y Italian feast. Add Associate Publisher Colleen Holland's incredibly addictive garlic bread into that equation and you've got one full (and very happy) staff. Want to know what goes on behind the scenes at VNHQ? Add us on Instagram for the full scoop!

Lunch on the Cheap

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: Baked potato with roasted red pepper hummus, Pesto Vegenaise, and ribbons of spinach

The Dish: Okay, I'll admit it. All I brought to eat at work today was a potato. My fridge at home is running on empty, and this morning on my way out, I discovered one lone Russet potato lurking amongst the root-growing garlic and onion in my pathetic produce basket. So thank the heavens for random condiments in the VegNews fridge! At 11:30am, I popped the potato into our convection oven, and one hour later I topped it off with Cedar's new fat-free roasted red pepper hummus, a dollop of Pesto Vegenaise, and some chiffonaded spinach leaves. It just goes to show that a healthy lunch doesn't need to be expensive or complex. That said, would I rather be on a food tour of one our five under-the-radar great vegan cities? Absolutely. Until then, I'll be eating potatoes in preparation for what I am sure would be excellent vegan eats.

Vegan Mexican-Style Corn Cakes

The Chefs: Rashida and Herbivore

The Menu: Grilled corn cakes with black beans and potatoes, topped with chipotle salsa, vegan sour cream, and guacamole

The Goods: I've been fighting a nasty sinus infection/allergy attack/mystery affliction all week, so spicy soup may have been a wiser choice. But the thought of these corn fritters and their equally delicious brethren (by which I mean delicately spiced beans and Herbivore's house potatoes) had me abandoning my soup-y intentions and my hope of ever breathing through my nose again. Besides being tasty, this meal was entirely gluten-free, which is a word we've been hearing a lot around these parts lately, with everything from lasagna to cookbooks ditching the stuff. Want to give gluten-free cooking a shot? Check out these 5 Spring-Friendly Gluten-Free Recipes from VN contributor Allyson Kramer!

The Vegan Italian Meal Dreams Are Made Of

 The Chefs: Jennifer and Louie Castoria

The Menu: Big, delicious, glorious vegan meatballs covered in an authentic Italian sauce over Mama Sue's Gourmet Pasta and stuffed in a baguette from Bread Workshop with Galaxy mozzarella cheese, and a side salad.

The Goods: When I was a kid, I wanted to marry an Italian guy because I love Italian food. I didn't end up marrying an Italian, but I can live my dreams through Managing Editor Elizabeth Castoria's dad's cooking. I kid you not when I say that these vegan meatballs are the best on the planet. I fact checked it. Also, that sauce. I would write a sonnet about that sauce, if Shakespeare hasn't already. If my day couldn't get any better, Luna & Larry, the makers of Coconut Bliss, sent over ice cream bars and pints for our July+August Taste Test! I must be dreaming. Or full of deliciousness.

Quick Vegan Mac 'n' Cheese

The Chefs: Elizabeth and Peter

The Menu: A highly delicious, gluten-free, and sunflower seed-based mac 'n' cheese, plus the best salad of all time. The salad included kale, romaine, artichoke hearts, cucumbers, avocado, hearts of palm, grated carrots, and red cabbage.

The Goods: Today we were rich in great food and guests! To be totally accurate, Peter cooked all the food, and we were so grateful that he did! In addition to our hero chef, we were joined by the lovely Whitney of Eco-Vegan Gal, and three members of the Pollack family: Hilary (OK, fine, she's here all the time), her mother Polly, and Reggie, who was easily the fluffiest guest. If there's anything better than enjoying a fantastic meal with wonderful people outside in the warm sunshine, we don't want to know about it. (Because it's obviously a lie, there's nothing better than that!)

Vegan Burger and Pickles

The Chef: Jennifer

The Menu: A veggie burger from Hilary's Eat Well, topped with Daiya's jack cheese, Wildbrine miso horseradish kimchi and red beet and cabbage sauerkraut

The Dish: We eat a fair amount of veggie burgers here at VNHQ (for example, yesterday's beet burger that will be in the July+August Veganize It! column) so you know it has be pretty delicious for us to eat it during lunch. I also like that you can literally pop this veggie burger in the toaster to cook it. Healthy fast food indeed! We picked Wildbrine's line of pickled veggies as a Best of Show award winner and I can't get enough of its kimchi. (Don't tell my co-workers, but I think I ate most of the jar in our fridge.) Have a great weekend everyone!

Vegan Pasta Day!

The Chef: Anna, Colleen, and Lyndsay (really just Colleen and Lyndsay) 

The Menu: Pasta day! Fresh spaghetti from Mama Sue's Gourmet Pasta covered with sauce from Victoria Fine Foods, salad, garlic bread, and a wedge of beet burger

The Dish: I am happy to be reporting from the front lines—of deliciousness, that is! (Yes, cold medicine will make you say things like that.) The VN staff decided to start cooking up a weekly pasta day, and I must say, it's one of our best ideas yet. But what's that beet burger doing in there, you might wonder? Wonder no more! Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig is testing recipes for our upcoming July+August issue, and that ridiculously tasty patty is one of them! Want to make sure you get the recipe (plus our latest vegan city showdown, vegan weddings 2012, and more)? Subscribe today!

The delicious lunchtime spread! Hello, garlic bread. 

Portabello-Tofu Sandwich

The Chefs: Rashida and Duc Loi Supermarket

The Menu: A humungous tofu-portabello sandwich with tomatoes, lettuce, stewed onions, and a generous helping of avocado

The Goods: A couple weeks ago, one of our local produce markets, Duc Loi, premiered its new sandwich menu—complete with a sizable veggie sando (hold the mayo) that I've been eager to try. In venturing out to grab this handheld feast, I risked being victim to the grey clouds looming overhead, but one bite of the sandwich, with its slabs of juicy portabello and marinaded tofu, would have been worth every soggy step in the event of a downpour. Luckily, I only felt a few drops, but if your weekly forecast is looking gloomy, soak up some culture (while staying dry) at the movies. Check out 7 Can't-Miss Films of 2012 for ideas!

Pesto and Peas

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: A pasta salad of sorts with pesto, tempeh, garbanzo beans, peas, and bell peppers

The Goods: After an extremely fun weekend of scooting down to LA for the Humane Society's Genesis Awards on Saturday, my dinner when I got home last night was decidedly of the "throw together whatever's in the fridge" variety. So, with some on-hand cashews, garlic, frozen spinach, and one bunch of fresh basil, this impropmtu pesto came to be. Back at the VNHQ the excitement continues, as tomorrow we'll be talking veganism and manliness in our Twitter Chat, and Thursday we're headed out for SF Vegan Drinks! Whew!

Friday Pasta Party

The Chef: Colleen & Jenn

The Menu: Brown rice penne pasta with Victoria Vegan's Vodka Sauce, along with organic greens, avocado, and tomatoes tossed with Petrini's Classic Italian Dressing plus homemade herb-slabbed garlic bread

The Dish: Ladies and gentlemen, we love Fridays around here. Not only are we just hours from the weekend, we often celebrate by ordering in food or having a staff potluck. When a slew of pasta sauces arrived recently from Victoria Vegan, VN Editorial Assistant Rashida Harmon suggested we have a pasta party, and today it came to life. It's a gorgeous day here in San Francisco, we lingered on our rooftop deck while listening to 80s music, and enjoyed a homemade lunch prepared by our very own Colleen Holland and Jennifer Chen. And to finish it off, VN Publisher Joseph Connelly surprised everyone with gingersnap nutella s'mores (vegan nutella, that is). It's good to be vegan. Have a wonderful weekend!

Homemade s'mores with gingersnap cookies, hazelnut nutella, and Dandies' marshmallows. Yum.

Big Ol' Veggie Burger

The Chef: Rashida

The Menu: An adzuki-bean burger with green chili from Hilary's Eat Well, topped with lettuce, tomato, avocado, Wild Brine pickles, and Chipotle and Tartar Sauce Vegenaise, and a Fentimans Victorian Lemonade.

The Dish: When your office's fridge is packed full of vegan burger patties, pickles a-plenty, and condiments of all shapes and sizes, you definitely can't take it for granted. With that in mind, I scoured through our supply of gourmet goodies at lunchtime and whipped up a sandwich featuring what I'm now certain is the holy trifecta of burger toppings: chipotle mayo, tartar sauce, and dill pickles. My burgers will never be the same! Grilled pineapple and avocado mash more your burger-topping style? Check out our guide to Southern California's Top 3 Veggie Burgers and start salivating!

Seitan Sandwich Sampler

The Chef: Anna and Upton's Naturals

The Menu: An assortment of seitan wraps and sandwiches with a side of blue potato chips. Yum!

The Dish: We knew it was going to be a good day today. Not only were these yummy sandwiches delivered to our doorstep, but we also received a big ol' dose of sunshine after weeks of rain and clouds! The staff celebrated with a sandwich sampler on the VN rooftop deck, followed by a rancorous game of Scattergories. Want to check out the full spread and find out about more behind-the-scenes goings on at the VNHQ? Be sure to follow us on Instagram!

Kimchi Quesadilla and Kale Salad

The Chefs: Hilary and Associate Editor Jennifer Chen

The Menu: Quesadillas made with Galaxy Foods Vegan Mexican-Style Shreds and Wildbrine's miso-horseradish kimchi and fresh organic kale with lemon, olive oil, avocado, and dill-garlic sauerkraut. 

The Goods: Having just completed our May+June cover, the VN staff almost remembers what it feels like to be sane. Between the eatstravaganza of Expo West and the hubbub of wrapping up our late-spring issue, I had almost forgotten the joy of making one's own lunch instead of scarfing whatever was fast, pre-made, and readily available. Associate Editor Jennifer Chen and I got wild by whipping up the above creations with awesome fermented products from Wildbrine, one of our 2012 Best of Show Winners. And now that some of the stress has melted away, I look forward to celebrating at a vegan-friendly bar—happy hour is just around the corner. 

Mango Quinoa Salad & Taro Lau Lau

The Chefs: Jennifer and VN columnist Jesse Miner

The Menu: A mango quinoa black bean salad and a taro lau lau, a veg take on a Hawaiian dish, filled with sweet potatoes, taro, and collard greens

The Goods: After our Expo West eating extravaganza, I turned to Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Quinoa Salad Black Beans & Mango for a nutritious, delicious dish. It's so simple to make and after downing as many samples of So Delicious' new almond milk mocha bars as I could find—this healthy salad is much needed. The banana leaf-wrapped treat you see behind my main lunch is a sneak peek of our July+August food feature on taro. This is chef Jesse Miner's take on a traditional Hawaiian meal using taro, sweet potatoes, and collard greens as the filling. I can't wait to share all of his exciting recipes and his wife Erin's vast knowledge of Hawaiian history and culture with you.

Vegan Pizza Forever!

The Chefs: Rashida and Paxti's Chicago Pizza

The Menu: Vegan deep-dish pizza with spinach, red onions, and melted Daiya cheese, topped with crushed garlic.

The Goods: There are few things better than a steaming-hot vegan pizza delivered to your doorstep, especially when the view outside your office looks like this and all you want to do is have a dance party to '70s hits indoors, where it's dry and warm (true story—this just happened). I promised myself that I would abstain from anything but salad and greens for at least a week following our trip to Expo West, at which I definitely overstuffed myself sampling our Best of Show contenders … but one mention of Patxi’s gooey, cheesy, spinach-and-onion-loaded pizza had me abandoning my ascetic intentions faster than you can say “juice cleanse.” Health shmealth, pass me another slice!