Potato Soup, Simple Salad

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: A silky, garlicky soup of russet potatoes, green chiles, and a whole lot of garlic made for a soup-er satisfying lunch. Elizabeth paired this warming main with fluffy slices of vegan French bread and finished it off with a fresh, crunchy salad filled with mixed greens, mushroom, bell pepper, and tomato.

The Goods: If there's something wrong with the classic soup-and-salad combo, we don't want to be right. Basically, we're huge fans of this balanced lunch break standard. Another well kept secret: We're also huge fans of all things chocolate, sugary, and made of ice cream. Maybe that's why VN staffer Brooke decided to indulge in some to-die-for dessert at San Francisco's Holy Gelato! last night, and because it was Brooke's first trip to a vegan-friendly ice cream shop, she chronicled the adventure on Press Pass.

Lentil Soup, Saucy Salad

The Chef: Liz

The Menu: A super satisfying soup filled with red and green lentils, sweet potatoes, russet potatoes, onion, garlic, tomatoes, and spices including cayenne, curry powder, and Italian seasonings. Liz also whipped up a mighty appetizing side salad using spinach, arugula, tomato, mushroom, green olives, red cabbage, and cucumber, tossed in a lovely white almond-cashew dressing. Did slices of slightly warm bread round out the meal? In fact they did.

The Goods: We have no idea how it's officially the last week in July, but as it's a fun-filled, jam-packed week, we hardly have time to ask how or why. In addition to sending our September+October issue to press, we'll be indulging in cruelty-free cocktails at SF Vegan Drinks on Thursday, and working hard (read: eating a lot) at the SF Vegan Bakesale on Saturday. In short, yes, it's a busy week, and no, we still have no idea how it's almost August.

Salad & Southwest Hash

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: A spicy, savory Southwestern hash filled with potatoes, black beans, pinto beans, garlic, onion, bell pepper and spices including cinnamon and cayenne. Elizabeth paired this mega main course with a crunchy salad of mixed greens, carrots, and cherry tomatoes and finished the whole thing off with guacamole-covered garlic bread.

The Goods: This hearty lunch was exactly what we needed after a morning spent working on design for our September+October issue. With less than a week before we go to press, we're pretty much dying with excitement to share our fantastic Food Issue, full of the very best of all things veg. As we wrap up production on this issue, we're also gearing up to begin work on our November+December issue: And we need your help! Be sure to make your opinions heard by voting in the 2010 Veggie Award polls, the world's largest survey of vegetarian people, places, and products, running from August 1 to August 31. Get ready for it!

Vegan Frittata Time

The Chef: Lyndsay

The Menu: A spicy, highly delicious Tuscan Fiery Chili Frittata whipped together from a super simple mix from Lucini Italia's line of Cinque e' Cinque Tuscan Chickpea Frittata line. Lyndsay paired this zesty main with a mixed greens side salad including kale, spinach, grated carrot, avocado, and cucumber, and rounded the meal out with slices of crunchy bread topped with We Can't Say It's Sour Cream.

The Goods: We were already big fans of Lucini's frittata mixes, but this new, spicy variety was especially tasty; perfectly capturing the flavor of scrambled eggs with 100-percent vegan ingredients. Additionally, we love having breakfast for lunch whenever possible. Yep, this lunch has sufficiently crushed any case-of-the-Mondays that we might have been feeling.

Fully-Loaded Baked Potatoes

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: Perfectly cooked, fully-loaded baked potatoes brimming with coconut butter, We Can't Say It's Sour Cream, two varieties of sweet and savory chutney, and spicy tapenade. Colleen paired our hearty main course with an inspired salad of baked and seasoned bread and veggies, including onion, roasted red pepper, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes.

The Goods: This meal was a home run hit for two reasons: One, we love piling baked potatoes high with saucy condiments, and Two: the inclusion of bread in salad is awesome. Seriously, if you ever find yourself short on greens, we highly suggest creating a salad base out of crispy, flavorful cubes of french bread. Now that we've had a rejuvenating, carb-filled lunch, we're ready to power through our afternoons until 5pm, when our staff will head over to local watering hole Martuni's for SF Vegan Drinks! We always kick off the occasion with a bottle of budget-friendly Champagne from our local grocery store, thanks to a thrifty tip-off from VN's own Savvy Abby. We always look forward to this monthly event for the chance to share cocktails, stories, and veggie dogs—if you live in SF come out and join us at Martuni's from 6 to 8pm! Except you might have to buy your own veggie dog at the bar. We're not actually that good at sharing ours.

Lentil Soup Leftovers

The Chef: Lyndsay and Chas

The Menu: Hearty leftover lentil soup brimming with carrot, green lentils, garlic, kale, celery, rosemary, and onion paired with a simple, delicious leftover salad chockfull of mixed greens, halved cherry tomatoes, grated carrot, black olives, cucumber, and avocado. Naturally, we rounded out this classic soup-and-salad combo with doughy slices of sourdough bread.

The Goods: If this meal looks conspicuously like our Friday lunch prepared by Chas, it's because it is. Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to our good friend as he left for home this morning, so lets call our leftovers-filled lunch a lingering tribute to Chas—and not laziness. It definitely wasn't laziness. Seriously though, we can't wait until Chas visits the VNHQ again. We miss you Chas! In addition to missing Chas, we also miss lovely Ms. Elizabeth, who is taking the day off to—VN office policy—celebrate her birthday. So, happy birthday, Elizabeth! We can't wait to continue the celebration tomorrow.

Lentil Soup, Crispy Tofu Salad

The Chef: Chas

The Menu: A wonderful Italian lentil soup replete with kale, carrots, green lentils, celery, onion, garlic, and rosemary paired with steamed broccoli marinated in nutritional yeast and olive oil. As per usual, Chas rounded out our lovely meal with one of his signature mixed green salads brimming with avocado, black olives, cucumber, and shredded carrot, and topped it off with pan-fried crispy tofu.

The Goods: It's a bittersweet day here at the VNHQ. On the bright side, we're just about to send our July+August Anniversary issue to press and we couldn't be more excited. On the less bright side of things, today marks the last day of Chas' stay. While we've heard that all good things must come to an end, we're pretty set in our "we love Chas" ways and wish he never had to go home. Don't worry, we've already devised a plan to begin emailing him requests to return before he arrives at the airport on Monday. Does that sound a little creepy? Hey, if you knew Chas—or had tasted his to-die-for crispy tofu—you'd do the same. We'll miss you Chas! Safe travels!

Pasta e Tofurky

The Chef: Chas

The Menu: Perfectly cooked Racconto Essentials rigatoni pasta mixed with slices of zesty, seasoned Tofurky Italian sausage all tossed in a spicy marinara sauce made up the bulk of this Italian feast. Chas continued the Mediterranean theme by tossing halved olives into our mixed greens salad, adding a savory kick to the accompanying avocado, tomato, cucumber, shredded carrot, and broccoli. The inclusion of homemade crispy tofu squares to our salad and several servings of bread made this one hearty, heavenly meal.

The Goods: In case there was any doubt, we think this meal sets the record straight: We love carbs! This spread of Italian goodies was exactly what we needed to warm us up on this slightly chilly, overcast Thursday afternoon. Despite the lazy weather outside, we're hard at work indoors as we put the finishing touches on our July+August Anniversary issue. If you can hardly contain your excitement for said issue, we suggest you join the club—okay, so right now the club is us, but we're totally fun. Make sure to order your advance copy today to receive our largest, most celebratory issue yet.

Lentil Soup and Salad

The Chef: Chas

The Menu: A splendidly balanced, tasty soup and salad lunch. Chas anchored our healthful meal with a hearty bowl of green lentil soup teaming with potatoes, carrots, kale, onion, garlic, and a delightful mixture of herbs and spices. Chas also prepared one of his famous, fantastic salads complete with mixed greens, tomatoes, chickpeas, avocado, broccoli slaw, grated carrot, and cucumber marinated in Braggs Liquid Aminos, tarragon, olive oil, and rice vinegar. A side of marinated and steamed snap peas, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli added an extra dose of greens, and yes, Chas made sure we also had slices of bread to dip into our soup bowls.

The Goods: We're not sure how we survived before Chef Chas arrived at the VNHQ, and frankly, we're not asking questions. From plentiful pots of coffee to superstar lunches, we're pretty much the luckiest vegan magazine in town. Our fantastic, fresh lunch was made that much better by dining al fresco with our favorite weekly guest, VegWebmisstress Laura Beck. Over lunch Lyndsay regaled us with stories about her weekend trip to The Worldfest 2010 Earth Day Festival, an annual, veg-friendly event held in Lake Balboa, Calif. We were all delighted—and a little jealous—to hear about Lyndsay's celebrity sightings and opinion of new vegan desserts. Speaking of celebrities, subscribe now to receive our fabulous, star-studded July+August Anniversary Issue! To celebrate our 10th anniversary edition, world-famous artist Peter Max will be designing the cover of this collector's edition, which will be packed full of the most incredible vegan stories, personalities, and travel destinations.

Bright Green Soup!

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: A delectable, raw Spinach Thyme Soup that included loads of green veggies, herbs and spices, hemp oil, agave, meat-free chicken bouillon, and a subtle kick of garlic. Elizabeth paired this nutritious, bright green bowl of soup with a similarly hued side salad complete with mixed greens, mushrooms, tomatoes, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, and diced bell peppers. Were there also slices of sunflower seed bread to dip into our soup? Indeed there were.

The Goods: In case there were any doubts, this lunch acts as proof that we are still obsessed with making soup in five minutes in our new Vita-Mix. People, it's bright green soup! In five minutes! It will never get old. This light and fresh vegetable-filled lunch was exactly what we needed after a week of over-indulging in sweets. So, in true VN style, we followed our cleansing, healthful lunch with to-die-for desserts from Sticky Fingers Bakery. Yes, our publisher's did generously order us Valentine's Day treats from Sticky Fingers, and yes, we know that they are the best.

Stew and Salad

The Chef: Kristen

The Menu: A hearty, spicy bean stew served over perfectly steamed white basmati rice. This supremely satisfying stew included black beans, red bell peppers, diced tomatoes, sweet potatoes, russet potatoes, garlic, and Worcestershire sauce. To accompany the stew and rice, Kristen also prepared a fresh, zesty side salad replete with mixed greens, tomato, mushrooms, and garbanzo beans. She may have also warmed up slices of bread, which we may have happily devoured. 

The Goods: We're having a pretty awesome day here at the VNHQ. First, we had the pleasure of dining with company, as five of Joseph's good friends came for lunch today. Second, it's absolutely gorgeous outside—sunny, breezy weather that smells and feels like summer. Yep, it's pretty exciting. And last but certainly not least: big freaking news! Today marks the unveiling of our March+April cover gal, eco-entrepreneur Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart! Check out our exclusive web feature to learn more about Leanne, and make sure to pick up a copy of the March+April issue when it hits newsstands next month!

Cookbook Week: Sweet Potato-Lentil Stew

The Chef: Abby

The Menu: A light, lovely soup with lentils and sweet potatoes, as you might have assumed from the title. Sides of red quinoa and steamed broccoli continued the warm, homey trend, and a fresh spinach salad with orange sections and sunflowers added a little color to the plate. For dunking, where would we be without bread?

The Goods: The end of Cookbook Week is upon us, and we have just one more copy of Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet to give away. First, a hearty congratulations to Tanya from yesterday's comments! Tanya, send us an email, and we'll send your book right out. So now that we are at the end of the week, let's talk weekend plans. For the last copy of the book, tell us in the comments: how are you going to be kind this weekend?

Tomato Bisque and Kale

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: A lovely take on tomato bisque, inspiration courtesy of The Conscious Cook. Tomatoes, carrots, celery, and garlic provided the base for this wintery weather soup, while cashew cream added that special something. A fancy marinated kale salad delivered our daily greens, packed with shredded carrot, zucchini, and cabbage. Roasted olives and cherry tomatoes made for a pretty addition, and oh, don't forget the bread. You can't have soup without bread.

The Goods: Okay, so we're not exactly experiencing winter weather here at the VNHQ, but that doesn't mean this bisque was any less delicious. Maybe we're on a bit of a soup and salad kick this week. Maybe we like it. For those buried under mountains of snow across the country, we send our condolences and suggest a big bowl of soup.

Christmas Crab Cakes

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: A colorful composition of lemony crab cakes made with Match Meats and Le Grand Lemon Confit, sautéed spinach with garlic, peanut butter roll-ups with jalapeño jelly, a bright salad with red cabbage and mango, and hunks of warm bread.

The Goods: The inspiration behind this meal was clearly cleaning out the fridge before we leave for the holidays! Frankie and Kassie provided the roll-ups, and with so many ready-made ingredients on-hand, this complex-looking meal came together in just about half an hour. Oh, and there might be about 80,000 types of cookies, fudge, candy canes, and other holiday-type goodies hanging around the office, so we're all feeling pretty freakin' jolly. We're off for the holidays until the beginning of January, so we'll see you in 2010! Happy New Year!

Sammiches, Suckas

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: Sammies! Colleen toasted some walnut bread, caramelized some onions, and served some absolutely delicious sandwiches of Tofurky, veggie burgers, and tons of toppings. Chips and a simple cabbage slaw served as very tasty side dishes.

The Goods: We're a skeleton crew here at the VNHQ today. Lyndsay and Stacy are up in Seattle getting ready for the Green Festival which is appropriate enough considering Earth Hour tomorrow, Aurelia has been on vacation all week, Joseph's at a conference downtown, and as if that weren't enough, Colleen's taking some well-deserved time to visit with her family. But, of course, she was kind enough to make lunch for us before leaving! Suffice to say that those of us left holding down the fort are well-fed and quite happy, despite a healthy dose of onion breath. In case this small fact has eluded anyone, today is March 27, 2009. Divide 27 by nine, and you get three. Yeah, we're pretty good with numbers. Just saying. Oh, and maybe you're wondering what's up with the "suckas" in today's title. It's Friday, that's what's up.

Garlic 'n' Greens

The Chef: Lyndsay

The Menu: A tasty trio utilizing our favorite ingredient—garlic! Lyndsay spoiled us with a hearty helping of penne pasta tossed in garlic-infused olive oil, with Swiss chard and extra sautéed garlic added for maximum flavor. Thick slices of roasted garlic artisan bread were the perfect counterpart, while a robust kale salad with iceberg lettuce, broccoli, and carrots balanced the fragrant dishes.

The Goods: It's obvious that here at the VNHQ, there's no such thing as too much garlic. On top of having a fantastic lunch, we managed to get a little vitamin D, thanks to the sun's surprising appearance. The fact that it's December and 60 degrees outside might seem ridiculous to our cold-weather compatriots, but we couldn't be happier.

Lunch à l'Orange

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: What was to be an autumnal shepherd's pie, but somehow turned out, um, different. But isn't a stew of curried butternut squash, potatoes, garbanzo beans, tomato sauce, and carrots with a side of mashed potatoes really just as good? Well, that's what we got. Elizabeth blended yukon gold and sweet potatoes for the mash, and finished it off with a thorough dusting of cinnamon. A very sprouty salad and slices of fresh bread made nice sides to the strongly savory main courses.

The Goods: If you're thinking that maybe there's a little misleading going on in today's title, you might be right. There was nothing that actually had the flavor of orange in the dishes, though the vast majority of the vegetables used were decidedly beta-carotene colored.

Excellent Eggplant

The Chef: Jenny

The Menu: Absolutely delicious cornflake-crusted eggplant served alongside a rice rotini. For pasta sauce, Jenny used one of Amy's Tomato Basil Organic Pasta Sauce, which she doctored up with her own spice blend. As if the first two dishes weren't yummy enough, Jenny also busted out a simple side salad and some perfectly toasted bread with herbs.

The Goods: We were treated to another day of brilliant sunshine during today's all-too-short lunch hour. Once someone figures out how to make computer screens readable outdoors, we might move from our current beach-front offices directly to the beach. You know, it's important to get enough vitamin D. Yeah, that's it, sitting happily in the sun is important for our health. That's our story and we're sticking to it.

Ridiculously Good Roasted Vegetables

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: An incredibly yummy open-face roasted-vegetable sandwich featuring mashed avocado, toasted bread, and herbed bell peppers, eggplant, onions, and shiitake mushrooms. A fresh salad of romaine lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber perfectly complemented the homey goodness of the sandwiches.

The Goods: We were very happy that Ms. Colleen busted out an all-vegetable lunch today since reading over the entries in our monthly giveaway might have turned us off fake meat—at least for the day. In a nearly unanimous decision, Patricia was the clear winner for her response:

I was a 4th grader in 1971 and I don't know what was worse—the 10 cans of WHAM I had just spent a month of allowance on & made my mother drive all over Buffalo, NY hunting it down only to gag at it OR the "mock loaf" my Polish grandma made me out of kasha, nuts and some grey gravy shaped into little chicken-like legs that made me cry.

Patricia, send us an email and we'll send out your very own can of vegetarian haggis pronto. Congratulations!

Cookbook Week: You Won't Believe It's Vegan

The Chef: Aurelia

The Menu: In what is easily the fanciest meal that has ever graced our lunch plates, Aurelia made two outrageously delicious dishes from Lacey Sher and Gail Doherty's You Won't Believe It's Vegan. On the left you see Chickpea Socca, which featured a delectable marinara topped with chickpea-flour polenta, a rich white bean purée, sautéed greens, and finally caramelized leeks. Um, yum. Oh, and on the right? That's just a little molasses-laden, extremely tasty Tomato Pudding. Yeah, you know, no big deal.

The Goods: So, if anyone should need any of the VN staff, please come looking for us under our desks, happily dozing in cuisine-induced comas. Today's lunch was knock-your-socks-off good, and we'll likely be thinking about it well past dinnertime. For more on YWBIV, make sure to check out the November+December issue of VegNews for a full review! The level of elegance of our meal was unexpected, but conveniently appropriate as today marks the 200th entry on Café VegNews!