Roasted Stuffed Squash

The Chef: Joni

The Menu: Roasted acorn squash baked with a wild rice & apple stuffing

The Dish: If this dish looks familiar to you, it’s because I got the idea from this week’s Recipe Club. If you don’t recognize it, it’s probably because it’s a not-so-pretty (yet totally delicious!) leftover from the Recipe Club photoshoot my boyfriend and I held over the weekend. If it’s because you haven’t yet signed up for the Recipe Club, you totally should! I swear, while this photo doesn’t do it justice, this meal would make for a gorgeous Thanksgiving centerpiece. If you need more Thanksgiving recipe ideas to complete your menu, check out these 12 mashed potato recipes or whip up some Stuffed Maple Tofu. Or, be smart and just head to one of these amazing cruelty-free Thanksgiving events and call it a day!

Five-Star Soup

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: An incredible three-squash soup! Colleen blended acorn, butternut, and delicata squashes together with an Indian-food-inspired blend of spices for this thick, filling main course. Alongside our bowls were slices of perfectly crunchy rosemary crostini, and a mixed green salad with our favorite new add-in: craisins. All together this was one satisfying meal, utterly worthy of the five-star rating.

The Goods: Get ready, we've got gobs of goods today! First, we got to share this amazing lunch with Mr. Billy Hulting, who just happens to be a rockstar. No, literally, that's what he does for a living. Billy plays percussion for Zappa Plays Zappa, and we just learned that the band is nominated for a Grammy! Woo hoo! In his limited free time, Billy also helps to organize WorldFest, a totally-vegan eco-friendly festival in Los Angeles, where you're sure to find a VegNews booth. Accompanying Billy was his delightful mother, Pat, who lives here in San Francisco and whom we hope to see again soon! As if all this wasn't enough, we were also treated to some insanely good candy cane brownies from Sticky Fingers. Yes, you read that right: candy cane brownies. If anyone needs us this afternoon, we'll be under our desks in hyperglycemic comas.

Bountiful Bibimbop

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: A totally killer Korean-ish meal of bibimbop. Okay, this might not technically be the most authentic dish ever served, but it was pretty palatable nonetheless. The rice blend—including black-eyed peas, green peas, and pinto beans—made a lovely base for sesame-marinated Swiss chard, roasted acorn squash, sautéed butternut squash, and a sweet red chile paste sauce.

The Goods: These days, we're using squash any way we can around the VNHQ, and couldn't be happier about it. While it might seem like two varieties in one meal would catapult us into squash-overload mode, it was actually lovely to get to compare the flavors of the butternut and acorn squashes in today's lunch. Wait, have we said squash enough times in this post? Squash, squash, squash. Now go out and squash someone you love—culinarily, of course.

Superb Stuffed Squash

The Chefs: Lyndsay and Aurelia

The Menu: An extra-yummy, fall-inspired main course of soy-chorizo-stuffed acorn squash. Lyndsay and Aurelia tag-teamed the cooking duties today, and the result was a seriously delicious meal. Perfectly tender roasted acorn squash housed a savory mélange of couscous and soy chorizo, which was sautéed with tons of onions and garlic. Yes, we like it when two talented chefs team up to bring us lunch. A bright salad of romaine, black beans, shredded carrots, and a little couscous leftover from the filling made a splendid side.

The Goods: It's the start of another busy week here at the VNHQ, kind of like all of those that have preceeded it. Of course, it always helps to get the workweek started off right to enjoy a filling, delicious meal, and today's lunch did the job quite nicely. Okay, maybe we also brewed up a big pot of coffee this morning, and intend to taste test a few new coffees later this afternoon. Can we help it if companies submit coffee for product reviews? Indeed we cannot—nor, frankly, would we want to, especially on a Monday.

Rockin' Roasted Chowder

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: Maybe the best chowder that's ever been made. Seriously, Colleen blended up a savory delight that had us all over the moon with how tasty it was. Sweet potatoes, roasted eggplant and peppers, hearty amounts of garlic, and just the right spices came together in this thick, satisfying chowder. Oh, and that bright, lovely salad? That would be a marinated swiss chard salad, complete with fresh garlic dressing. Of course, no meal is complete without open-faced quesadillas, and thankfully we had some Teese just waiting to be melted over tortillas.

The Goods: Today, pretty much everything is "the goods." The sun is out, the food was awesome, and we're wrapping up another busy, bustling week here at the VNHQ. If looking forward to a well-deserved weekend is a crime, lock us up!

Mega Miso

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: Miso soup, with a few delicious additions. First, Elizabeth sautéed up some fresh kale with onions and garlic, then added steamed acorn squash and cubed tofu to the mix. A little soy sauce, a little sesame oil, oh, and maybe a little miso, and we had ourselves a soup. Continuing with the simple theme, a salad of spinach, tomatoes, and avocado served as a side. Maybe there was one more thing on the table, even though it didn't make it onto the plate here, and maybe that thing was a round of Dr. Cow Cheese. Our delightful Distribution Manager, Mrs. Katie Paul, is in the office with us this week, and claimed to never have tried Dr. Cow before. Whether or not that was the case, give us pretty much any excuse to bust out a tangy round, and we will. And we'll be stoked about it.

The Goods: Even though the sun was bright and warm outside it seems that a couple of our staffers have started to get the first of the fall colds, which meant that soup was the only option for lunch. Really, as much as we all love summer, it's always a long wait before soup season starts, and it's nice to be able to break the rules and make up a steaming pot a little bit early.

Homey Potatoes

The Chef: Jenny

The Menu: An almost-Thanksgiving spread of fluffy, hearty mashed potatoes with country gravy, roasted acorn squash, and fresh, steamed broccoli with spices. Yes, Ms. Jenny actually made country gravy from scratch just for this meal. Yes, it was savory and delicious and we love her.

The Goods: Today's comfort food couldn't have come at a better time, since today is our editorial deadline, we're gearing up for the unbe-freakin'-lieveable relaunch of vegnews.com, oh, and maybe this weekend we have a little party to throw and a World Veg Festival Weekend to celebrate. Of course, it would be difficult to say that there is ever a bad time for Thanksgiving-inspired lunches, but today's homey meal was especially appreciated.

Swan-Song Squash

The Chef: Katie

The Menu: Delicata squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash all roasted to crispy perfection with nutmeg and cinnamon. Sounds like a pretty sweet way to get over the mid-week hump, right? Well, right you are. These veggies, in all their beta-carotene filled splendor, served as a welcome base for the spices which Katie expertly applied. A side of couscous, a loaf of warm sesame bread, and a salad of fresh tomatoes, lettuce, and more of the Cheezly we seem to be putting on everything recently rounded out this colorful plate.

The Goods: Today was the last cooking day for our fantastic intern, Ms. Katie. Remember the earlier posts about her claims of not being able to cook? "Pshaw" is what we say about that notion now. While we're all very sad that her internship is coming to its end, we'll always have the lunch-blog memories. Kudos to Katie on another fantastic meal, and an admirable send-off!

Creamy Soup, Roasted Squash

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: Tricky cream of broccoli soup, which of course means that there isn't any cream in it. The trick part lies in blending up some waxy Yellow Finn potatoes and (shh, don't tell anyone) a handful or so of cashews. The creaminess makes it feel decadent, but then, blammo, there's the broccoli to bring back the nutritional edge. For sides, we got a little treat of cinnamon, cumin seed, and paprika roasted acorn squash. This is a favorite around the VNHQ; it makes the whole office smell like warming cinnamon. To round out the warmth, we had a quick salad with apple, yellow bell pepper, and avocado, and finished everything off with more rolls from Elizabeth's mom. She is still awesome.

The Goods: Did we mention that it's cold here now? Of course, it's not cold like other parts of the country, but, dang, we needed some nice, hearty soup to warm us up today. Since we got a big bag of the potatoes in our weekly organic grocery delivery (check out Organic Express if you're in the SF area!), a creamy soup was the natural fit. Yum!