Cheese Week: Black Bean Soup

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: A stellar soup! Ms. Colleen blended black beans, sweet potatoes, and a tempting array of spices in this thick, filling soup, which she topped with ribbons of sautéed collard greens. She also toasted up some delicious sunflower-seed-crusted bread onto which she melted a little Follow Your Heart mozzarella—this is the last day of Cheese Week after all—with a light dusting of chopped cilantro for garnish.

The Goods: It's Friday! Maybe that's a bit of an obvious one, but it feels good to say it nonetheless. It's always satisfying to get to the end of the week after we've gone to press on Monday—it makes the last issue feel really, officially done. In addition to the joy of being at press, we got to share lunch today with the lovely Ms. Melissa, who'll be starting as an editorial assistant come Monday. It's very exciting to welcome a new member of the VN team, and we're thrilled to have her here!

Cheese Week: Muy Mexi Casserole

The Chef: Stacy

The Menu: A super-delicious Mexican-cuisine-inspired casserole, complete with melted cheese all over the top. Ms. Stacy wowed us with her combination of rice, black and pinto beans, corn, and a perfectly spiced tomato sauce, which she layered under melted Cheezly Nacho and Mozzarella Styles. She also served up crispy corn tortillas and Native Kjalii salsa, and a beautiful, leafy salad.

The Goods: Today's lunch utterly delectable, the kind of meal you'd expect if you went over to a good friend's house for dinner and she'd had all day to prepare. Instead, Ms. Stacy busted out this culinary gem in just an hour using our modest test kitchen and ingredients she found on hand. Iron Chef, eat your heart out.

Cheese Week: Cheese-free Curry

The Chef: Aurelia

The Menu: A delicious meal that was as heavy on color as it was light on cheese. Ms. Aurelia busted out a multicolor masterpiece of red quinoa topped with a super-yummy yellow curry featuring Turtle Island's brand-new Coconut Curry Tempeh. Yeah, you read that right. Also currying favor with the ravenous VN staff were the sweet potatoes, russet potatoes, and collard greens that Aurelia heartily sauced up. Oh, yeah, that was just the main course. We also enjoyed oven-roasted purple cauliflower, carrots, and golden beets, and a fresh, lovely salad of mizuna, cucumber, avocado, and Sunergia Soyfoods' Mediterranean Herb Soy Feta.

The Goods: After two days of non-stop, non-dairy goodness, we were decidedly in the mood for a more whole-foods-type lunch, which Ms. Aurelia graciously provided. While we tend to eat pretty stinking well around the VNHQ, this meal passed muster with flying colors.

Cheese Week: Melty Radiatore

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: More cheese! If there's one non-pizza way to enjoy cheese that we just can't get enough of, it's melty, gooey, pasta—much like what you see above. Ms. Elizabeth busted out a quick tomato sauce that she poured over tri-color radiatore, peppered with chunks of mozzarella-style Teese, and then melted more of the cheesey goodness over the top. Lightly braised leafy kale and a simple salad with more of our Bunnicula-style carrots and avocado finished off the plate.

The Goods: Yeah, why have we not had cheese week before? This is quickly becoming a favorite theme here at the VNHQ, but what do you guys think? Cheers for cheese or are you so over queso fake-o?

Cheese Week: Caribbean-inspired Pizza

The Chef: Lyndsay

The Menu: What better way to begin the week than with oozingly delicious soy-based mozzarella drizzled over Italian-seasoned tomato sauce and an assortment of whole grain crusts—aka pizza? A collard-romaine salad tossed with both yellow and standard-issue orange carrots, ripe avocado, and crunchy corn kernels completed this work of art. With a sparse supply of fresh produce in the VNHQ kitchen, Lyndsay creatively personalized Follow Your Heart's pizza-making kit with a sprinkling of sweet corn, reviving her—and inspiring our—love for Dominican Republic-style pizza.

The Goods: VN's official Cheese Week begins today, and there's no more delicious way to celebrate the completion of the March/April issue than with everyone's childhood favorite: pizza! Thanks to Follow Your Heart's easy-to-follow pizza package, lunch was ready early—a rarity in the VN kitchen. We were all pleased with the magically meltable mozzarella and would recommend it for all your pizza-making needs. Stay tuned this week for more cheesey creations, and be sure to enter our spa-inspired giveaway for your chance to win a wonderful winter pampering package ...