Thanksgiving—Round 2

The Chefs: Jennifer and Native Foods

The Menu: A slice of vegan Wellington from Native Foods, mashed potatoes with gravy, and cornbread stuffing 

The Goods: It's Thanksgiving, round 2. Thanks to leftovers from Publisher Joseph Connelly, the VN staff had yet another lunch eating the amazing Native Foods' Wellington. Personally, I'm a Tofurky gal, but now that I've tried this stuffed Wellington (kale! turkey seitan! sweet potatoes!), I know there's room for more on my Thanksgiving plate next year. Now that Thanksgiving is over, I can't wait for the holidays. Specifically, Christmas cookies. My mother-in-law and I bake up a batch together every year, and if I could enter the VN Holiday Cookie Contest, I would veganize her almond and raspberry jam thumbprint cookies. But since I can't enter (hello, KitchenAid mixer), I hope you will. 

VegNews Thanksgiving Feast 2011!

The Chefs: Hilary, Colleen, Jen, Elizabeth, Lyndsay, and Native Foods

The Menu: A feast fit for a voraciously hungry staff: a vegan Wellington and mushroom gravy from Native Foods, Elizabeth's mashed potatoes, Colleen's brussels sprouts and signature winter salad, Lyndsay's biscuits, nog, cider, and three kinds of pie from Sidesaddle Kitchen!

The Goods: It's not easy to write this right now. My intelligence has plummeted since lunch due to a rush of blood to my digestive system. The VegNews Thanksgiving feast was truly scrumptious this year, tickling my tastebuds with every seasonal flavor imaginable and subsequently rendering me immobile. Our talented staff pulled together an array of amazing holiday dishes—from Colleen's winter salad with spiced pecans, sliced apples, and tangy dressing to Lyndsay's perfectly flaky, buttery biscuits. Behold the spread.

And why didn't anybody ever tell me that the Native Foods vegan Wellington is life-changing? Oh wait, they did, and they were right. Come Thursday, I'm going to be consulting the VegNews Holiday Cookbook to dazzle anyone (mostly myself) with all of the mouthwatering Thanksgiving recipes contained therein. Pumpkin Cake with Vanilla Buttercream and Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes are just the beginning. Think your recipes will impress us? Enter the first-ever VegNews Holiday Cookie Contest now!  

Pre-Thanksgiving Greens

The Chef: Anna and Herbivore

The Menu: The ever-constant, ever-tasty green salad, topped with beets, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, carrots, avocado, cabbage, onions, tomatoes, mint, and a healthy dose of grilled soy chicken.

The Goods: I'm not sure about you, but I always think about Mondays as a fresh start to both the work week and to healthy eating: hence, the salad. This healthy week, however, is to be short-lived, and by that I mean will end today. Why, you ask? Tomorrow marks VN's annual Thanksgiving luncheon, where we will be stuffing ourselves with Native Wellington, mashed potatoes, roasted Brussels sprouts, apple pie from Babycakes, and tons of other stuff that I'm so excited to eat, I will most likely wake up three hours early tomorrow morning, à la a kid at Christmas. Speaking of the holidays: Do you have a holiday cookie recipe that blows people's minds? Then enter our first-ever Holiday Cookie Contest for your chance to win a KitchenAid Stand Mixer!

Many thanks to Lyndsay for this photo—I was too distracted by hunger to capture my lunch! 

Plain Ol' Soup & Salad

The Chefs: Lyndsay

The Menu: Some homemade tomato soup, salad greens, and a persimmon

The Goods: I've gone out to lunch almost everyday this week, so today I decided to keep it simple and cheap. The tomato soup is courtesy of VN contributor Jesse Miner, and the salad and persimmon is courtesy of my Farm Fresh To You produce box. I've never tried a persimmon before, so I am grateful to my produce box for sharing such a delicious, natural treat with me. At first, I wanted to do something really fancy with them, but my busy life got in the way, so I decided to eat them just as is, and I'm happy did. Here at the VNHQ, we're gearing up for the Thanksgiving holiday next week, about which we're very excited. Hours remain for you to win your own feast in our Thanksgiving giveaway, so get on it!

Fantastic Falafel & Protein Shake

The Chefs: Jennifer and Ali Baba's Cave

The Menu: A giant falafel wrap filled with roasted eggplant and potatoes, tahini, hummus, hot sauce, cucumbers, tomatoes, and red onions, and a Svelte chocolate-chai shake.

The Goods: This $6 falafel wrap is huge so I asked for it to be cut if half so I could make two lunches out of it. I love that they add roasted potatoes and eggplant right into the wrap. All my favorite foods in one bite! I made myself a Svelte protein shake combining the chocolate and chai flavor. Yum. I admit this is a decadent lunch, especially when Thanksgiving is right around the corner and a Native Foods' Wellington is in my future (and could be in yours too if you enter our giveaway). I'm excited that we just launched our first-ever Holiday Cookie Contest, so if you're a baker, submit a recipe and VN editors will choose finalists and one winner. I look forward to all of the decadent cookie recipes (hint: how about a cookie within a cookie?!).

Grilled Chicken Sandwich

The Chefs: Elizabeth and Herbivore

The Menu: A half-homemade, half-take-out lunch! Herbivore's grilled chicken sandwich with added avocado and seasoned potatoes perfectly complimented my salad of romaine, fennel, hearts of palm, and tomato.

The Goods: Sometimes salad just doesn't cut it, and today was one of those times for me. When Assistant Editor Anna Peraino offered to go halfsies on one of my all-time favorite sandwiches, my lunching fate was sealed. Though today's meal totally hit the spot, I'd be lying if I said it was my favorite food fate. The Native Foods Cafe Wellingtons arrived today (both for our giveaway, and for the annual VN Thanksgiving Feast), and I could pretty much not be more excited about next week's party. Wellington, I'll see you next Tuesday.

Burrito—Round Two

The Chefs: Joni and Taqueria Cancun

The Dish: A super veggie burrito with rice, avocado, black beans, tomato, and onions, complete with a side of chips and salsa.

The Goods: This photo may look familiar to you because I literally had this exact same meal less than two weeks ago. Hey, for $5, there’s no better place to grab a cheap, quick, and filling lunch. You know what’s even cheaper than burritos? A free vegan Thanksgiving feast, which could be at your door next week! As part of our holiday giveaway series, we’re ready to ship an amazing Thanksgiving dinner package, complete with a Native Foods Wellington and a luscious apple pie from Babycakes NYC, to one lucky participant. All you have to do is tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dessert. Woot! Free food!

VegNews Annual Thanksgiving Feast!

The Chef: Native Foods Café and Colleen

The Menu: One of our favorite meals of the year featured a Native Foods' Wellington (layers of roasted portobello mushrooms, orange-glazed yams, seitan, organic kale, caramelized onions, and stuffing, all wrapped in a decadent puff pastry), shallot-mushroom gravy, balsamic-roasted Brussels sprouts, homemade cranberry sauce, and Colleen's Holiday Salad with baby greens, dried cranberries, sliced apples, and caramelized pecans. And we haven't even touched dessert yet.

The Goods: The VegNews staff anticipates this day all year long—and for good reason! Have you checked out that menu above? Every year, the week of Thanksgiving, the VN team sits down to a sumptuous vegan Thanksgiving meal that we don't stop talking about until the next feast rolls around. Southern California-based Native Foods Café, once again, provided the incredible centerpiece to our meal: The Native Wellington. If you need a stellar main course for your holiday table, this is it. And they ship overnight anywhere in the country! Of course, a lovely feast such as this has to have a dessert finale, and we went with one of our favorites: VN columnist Beverly Lynn Bennett's Pumpkin Cake with Vanilla Buttercream, straight from our brand-new VegNews Holiday Cookbook. It's a cinch to make, and always a crowd-pleaser. Accompanying the multi-layer cake is some delicious chocolate-peppermint bark made by VN Publisher Joseph Connelly—we couldn't get enough! Check out more mouthwatering photos here, and Happy Tofurky Day to all.

Delightful South Indian Fare

The Chef: Lyndsay and Udupi Palace

The Menu: The Masala Uthappam served with Sambar and chutneys.

The Goods: It's Monday, but not just any Monday, because it's the week of Thanksgiving, and we are truly excited at the VNHQ! In celebration, Editorial Assistant Gabrielle Pope and I decided to dine on some delicious South Indian fare at Udupi Palace, which never disappoints. Tomorrow, the entire VN staff will be partaking in our annual Thanksgiving feast, featuring the Native Food's Wellington, which was part of our giveaway last week. This week, we're giving away a $100 Alternative Outfitters Shopping Spree. Don't forget to enter for your chance to win!

Birthday Wellington

The Chef: Native Foods, Colleen, and Frankie

The Menu: In honor of Chas' birthday, we dined on the new Spring Wellington from Native Foods. This delicious, seasonal spin on Native Foods' autumn standard was packed with mushrooms, mashed potatoes, kale, peas, asparagus, and carrots all wrapped in a flaky, crunchy puff pastry and topped with rich, smooth Hollandaise sauce. Colleen balanced our hearty main course with a splendid, veggie-filled side salad, and Frankie added color to our plates with punchy, pickled cauliflower.

The Goods: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHAS! We couldn't be more thrilled to celebrate this special occasion with Chas, who is truly a member of the VN family. After toasting to Chas and enjoying a lovely, hearty meal we indulged in the requisite birthday dessert: cake! Colleen made a celebratory strawberry cheesecake with a chocolate-cookie crust and sweet strawberry jam on top. Unfortunately, our gluttony prevented us from photographing said cake before devouring it, but below we're including a picture of Chas with a different cake, mostly because he's the best.

Wellington Returns!

The Chef: Joseph

The Menu: An eclectic mix of Thanksgiving-ish leftovers, which included the very last of our beloved Native Foods' Wellington, some stuffing, a quinoa and green bean salad with walnuts, roasted sweet potato slices, inari, and crudités. We were, of course, both thrilled to see the Wellington on the menu, and sad to see it go, since this was the last of it.

The Goods: It's going to be a busy week here at the VNHQ after our long Thanksgiving weekend! We hope that everyone who celebrated thoroughly enjoyed their holiday, and that everyone else had a good, non-holiday weekend. A few important notes: tomorrow is the deadline to apply for our 2010 Wedding Feature, so if you had a vegan wedding this year, don't forget to apply! Also, keep an eye out for awesome guest Bryant Terry, who'll be joining us for lunch on Friday.

Pre-Thanksgiving Feast

The Chefs: Everyone! And Native Foods and Babycakes NYC

The Menu: Thanksgiving! We went all-out today with an amazing holiday spread. First of all, let's talk about the Native Foods' Wellington. Holy heck. This thing is puff pastry wrapped around delicious layers of seitan, kale, sweet potatoes, and portabello mushrooms, caramelized onions, and some magic. OK, OK, it was mostly magic. Seriously, we could eat this every day. Moving on from the Wellington's majesty, we enjoyed perfectly garlicky mashed potatoes made by Liz, which we doused in a cashew gravy that Elizabeth whipped up. Abby made her signature chive biscuits, and Colleen roasted Brussels sprouts to perfection and made her traditional Thanksgiving salad with candied pecans, dried cranberries, sliced apples, and a homemade balsamic vinaigrette. Oh, and then we had dessert. Apple-crumb cake from Babycakes NYC? We'll let this photo speak for itself:

The Goods: This may well be the most epic lunch ever eaten at the VNHQ. Easily one of the most delectable meals we've had, this pre-Thanksgiving smorgasbord was a wonderful treat for our hard-working staff, and might just have us in fighting shape for the actual T-Day. ("T" is for "Thanks for not eating turkey," obviously.) We'll be back with one more post this week, and then it's off to our respective holiday celebrations/mashed potato-induced comas.