Casserole and Couscous

The Chefs: Aurelia and Frankie

The Menu: Just about the homiest home-cooked meal we've ever had! Aurelia whipped up one of her signature, savory casseroles, this time including perfectly tender potatoes, bright green broccoli, and a hearty dose of melted mozzarella-style Follow Your Heart cheese. She also created a delicious couscous salad with chopped cherry tomatoes, garbanzo beans, and avocado, and, in addition to everything else, we enjoyed steamed artichokes. That delectable dollop on the side? That would be a homemade, and greatly garlicky, aioli, into which we dipped our artichoke leaves, our fingers, and pretty much anything else that wasn't nailed down.

The Goods: You may notice that it says Aurelia and Frankie in the chef category today. Ms. Frankie decided to treat us to a surprise dessert so gorgeous (see below!) that we had to take a photo—before completely devouring it. With limes fresh from the tree in her backyard, Frankie brought in a stellar vegan lime cheesecake, which she decorated with pineapple sage, also from her yard. Hear hear for edible flowers! Tart, tangy, and perfectly textured, this cake was one for the record books. Finally, what's a pirate's favorite vegetable? (Hint: you can find it in today's lunch!)

Valentine Curry

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: A subtle, and subtly themed, Valentine's Day curry. See those tasty little red chunks of Swiss-chard stem dotting the curry? In combination with the red-skinned potatoes the chard made for a veritable Valentine's Day card, in food form, of course. Colleen also added some lovely purple potatoes, baby corn, and tofu to the mix, served everything over rice, and topped it all with some fresh cilantro. She also whipped up a bright salad of romaine, grated yellow beets, and blue-cheese-flavored Sheese.

The Goods: Sometimes eating such a lovely meal can put you in a certain mood—namely the mood for love. Since a certain holiday is tomorrow, and we thought you might enjoy a little foray into the world of veg dating. And remember, whether you're happily married or happily unmarried, chocolate affects your brain in much the same way love does, so don't forget to cover something delicious with it!

Super-Quick Slices

The Chef: Elizabeth and Kashi

The Menu: Pizza! Kashi recently released a new, vegan pizza—the Sicilian Veggie variety—which we had the pleasure of sampling today. The white-bean-infused tomato sauce was a hit, as was the addition of some melted mozzarella Teese, which we just happened to have on hand. The pizza's crispy crust was also topped with grilled eggplant, roasted red bell peppers, caramelized onions, and kale. Aside from turning on the oven, Elizabeth's big contribution to the meal was chopping up some mizuna, carrots, and bell pepper for a lightning-fast salad.

The Goods: We're deep in the fact-checking trenches this week, so it was a welcome relief to find our freezer full of ready-made lunch options. While the category of "The Chef" might be something of a misnomer today, we were all happy to quickly munch down a couple slices of warm, yummy pizza, and then head right back to work.

Bye Bye Breakfast

The Chef: Abby

The Menu: Once again, Abby dazzled us with a bounty of breakfast items. Did she whip up a batch of fresh biscuits? Yes, yes she did. Did she also create some of the most savory, delicious, bean-based sausage patties we've ever had? Why, yes, she did that too. We sandwiched said sausage and biscuits with dairy-free cheese slices, greens, and condiments, and gorged on sides of herb-roasted potatoes and a bright fruit salad of apples, pears, and dried cranberries. Yes, yum is the appropriate word.

The Goods: The greatness of today's lunch was only slightly tarnished by the knowledge that it marked Miss Abby's final turn as the VNHQ chef, as her editorial assistant days are nearing their end. While we'll miss all her amazing breakfast goodies, we'll certainly miss having her in the office more! (And that's saying something. Seriously, she makes a mean biscuit!)

Amazing Amaranth

The Chef: Jenny

The Menu: It is especially difficult to pick a starting point today, as absolutely everything you see on that plate was incredible. So, to take a cue from the title, Jenny made some utterly delicious amaranth, which she flavored and then combined with black beans and corn for an irresistible burrito-filler. On top of that, perfectly braised tofu added another savory level to the meal. And on top of that she added cheese sauce. Freakin' cheese sauce. If there's one thing we vegans (at least the ones at the VNHQ) can't get enough of, it's a salty, rich, dairy-free cheese sauce. Jenny used Galaxy Foods' Cheddar Flavor Rice Slices, nutritional yeast, and a little magic to create this amazing sauce. Oh, wait, that's right, there's more. Fresh tomatoes and avocado balanced out the heaviness of the rest of our burritos, and a light side salad perfectly completed the meal. Gah.

The Goods: So we know that in an entry like today's, (i.e. one that involves cheese sauce) amaranth might not seem like the most exciting part of the meal. But, since this light and lovely grain doesn't get to stand in the spotlight too often, here's to amaranth!

Tell-All Tuesday

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: Today we bring you another exciting round of "throw together everything in the fridge and see how it comes out!" Up at the top of the plate we had some steamed collards with sauteed onions, garlic, and sausage. Next Elizabeth totally piggy-backed on the delicious salad that Aurelia made yesterday by adding some more lettuce, tomato, mushrooms, and avocado to the leftovers. Finally, we got individual pugliese pizzas that had all the fun of garlic bread and pizza in one neat package. Okay, these pizzas were neither packaged nor "neat," but they did hit the spot. Pulled together with some leftover tomato sauce, a few cloves of garlic, an olive tapenade, and more of a certain kind of dairy-free cheese—this time in mozzarella flavor.

The Goods: Okay, just this minute we have received the official go ahead from the makers of our mystery cheese who are none other than the amazing guys over at Chicago Soydairy. Branching out from their already-awesome Temptation Vegan Ice Cream, their new product, Teese, is sure to take its place amongst the meltiest of all cheeses, dairy or otherwise. Teese is only going out to restaurants right now, so if you have a vegan restaurant and have been bombarded with requests for grilled cheese sandwiches, get in contact with them.