Hearty Kale Salad

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: A huge, delicious kale salad with a tangy lemon vinaigrette, chopped onions, halved cherry tomatoes, avocado, cucumber and grilled soy chicken.

The Goods: If there's one food I love in this world, it's kale salad. I could eat it every single day for the rest of my life, and, in fact, probably will if I'm lucky! There's just something so wonderfully hearty and healthy about a huge bunch of greens tossed in a yummy dressing with enormous chunks of avocado and a few other add-ins. I scored this particularly satisfying version from Herbivore, which is literally located around the corner from VN's new office. I've been going to the Valencia location since I was a teenager, and, as soon as I found out where the new office would be, planned to have my first blog day lunch there. Success! We hope to have as much success seeing you all at SF Vegan Drinks tomorrow night!

Quinoa Salmon Salad

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: A hearty salad with quinoa, heirloom tomatoes, English cucumber, cashews, mixed greens, and shredded fish-free salmon, all tossed in a rich dressing of Vegenaise and mustard.

The Goods: Every once in a while, I get this craving for either tuna salad sandwiches or some other faux-fishy dish, and this lunch was definitely a response to one such craving. I pretty much eat salad at every possible opportunity, and it's nice to vary up my regular kale-avocado-green onion routine with something a little bit more diverse. This satisfying meal was scrumptuous to scarf down before rushing back to work. We're busy putting the final touches on our November+December Veggie Awards issue, which is pretty stinking thrilling. Which Veggie Award category are you most excited about?

Chana Masala, Spicy Rice

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: A simple, lovely lunch featuring a delicious chana masala complete with tomato, kale, and spicy marinated chickpeas paired with two varieties of slow-cooked, seasoned basmati rice. Colleen also prepared a crunchy side salad chockfull of shredded romaine and cucumber slices.

The Goods: This hearty, Indian standard was exactly what we needed to warm us up on this chilly, windy Friday afternoon. We'd love to compare Colleen's tasty take on chana masala with the vegan eats served at India's first vegetarian hotel, or to all the tasty alternatives we'lll be dining on in October, when VN goes to India! Our first VegNews Vacations trip to Rajasthan, India sold-out in record time, and we can't wait to announce our plans for upcoming 2011 excursions!

Golden Soup, Kale Salad

The Chef: Liz

The Menu: An old-fashioned veggie soup filled with russet potatoes, sweet potatoes, roasted onion and garlic, spinach, and spices cooked and blended in the Vita-Mix. Liz paired this silky soup with a fresh salad overflowing with kale, spinach, diced tomatoes, crimini mushrooms, cucumber slices, chickpeas, shredded carrot, and avocado.

The Goods: It's been awhile—read: more than one week—since we've dined on a crisp, crunchy kale salad, and lets just say that no one is complaining about its return. It's a quiet day here at the VNHQ, with operations slightly slowing after sending our July+August Anniversary issue off to press last Thursday. Don't worry, we're definitely not celebrating by eating our weight in dairy-free Mango Custard. That would be an absurd, delicious waste of time.

Mexican Meets Pie

The Chef: Colleen and Bike Basket Pies

The Menu: Oh boy. A mouthwatering feast of Mexican burrito fixins' including homemade guacamole, diced tomatoes, slow-cooked black beans, and fragrant, flavored basmati rice mixed with spinach and tomatoes all served with perfectly cooked crispy, crunchy corn tortillas. In addition to Colleen's superb burrito spread we were also treated to a savory, expertly crafted pie filled with Daiya cheese, roasted potato slices, and chard which VegWebmisstress Laura Beck had delivered from Bike Basket Pies. We rounded out the meal with a healthful, fresh romaine and cucumber salad—that balances out the second helping of pie, right?

The Goods: So, it would be an understatement to say that we were pretty much floored by this pie. The light, soft puff pastry crust and the gooey, melted, cheesy filling made us long for the hearty potpie's of our youth—hence the second helpings. Seriously, anyone living in the San Francisco Bay Area should probably order one—or six—of these pies immediately. In addition to bringing us half of lunch, Laura also picked up dessert from another local business, Wholesome Bakery. The sweet shop opened in SF last week, and well, lets just say that to taste these baked treats is to know how good they are.

Gourmet Pizza

The Chef: Colleen 

The Menu: Mounds of veggies atop melted, vegan jack cheese, fire-roasted tomatoes, and a crispy, whole-wheat crust. Thinly sliced red bell pepper, red onion, shiitake mushrooms, and a dusting of rosemary made for a healthy twist on this Italian classic. The gourmet part? Not only were we privileged to have our pie prepared by professional-grade hands, but we also had the pleasure of savoring Vegan Gourmet's jack cheese, which made for a perfect Monday melt. Our taste buds were doubly entertained by the salad of fresh greens adorned with cucumber, red onions, and homemade Italian-seasoned sesame-bread croutons.

The Goods: Once again, the VNHQ is lookin' a little barren this afternoon, as a significant portion of our staff is still scattered across the country after a jam-packed weekend of amazing veg events. As we enter the final design week for our July+August issue, we are as excited as ever to see the end result, which we'll be celebrating on Thursday evening at VN's first-ever Urban Dessert Soirée! No tickets? No problem! Make your own version of Ani's Raw Food Desserts at home, with her latest cookbook in hand!

Stellar Stir-Fry

The Chef: Aurelia

The Menu: An absolutely stellar stir-fry served atop perfectly fluffy basmati rice. Aurelia made the most of the veggies in the fridge, including bok choy, red bell pepper, ginger, garlic, green onions, and walnuts in her savory main dish. We also got a taste of veggie shrimp, procured from our local Asian grocery, which added an, um, unexpected element to the meal that some of us really enjoyed, others not so much. Aurelia also made a delicious spinach salad with cucumber and grated carrot, which we doused with organic French dressing from Organicville. Yum!

The Goods: Fittingly, we followed up this fab feast by brainstorming our upcoming September+October Food Issue, about which we're all pretty stinking excited. Since pretty much everything on the plate today was of a savory persuation, we'd like to remind everyone to satisfy your sweet tooth!

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.

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!

Delish Dumplings

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: Oh dumplings, we love you so. Today's little pleasing pouches were filled with a crazy, off-the-cuff garbanzo paste, sautéed shiitake mushrooms, and faux pork in a soy sauce and rice vinegar sauce. Topped with chopped scallions, toasted sesame oil, and a touch of extra soy sauce, these dumplings were—like so many meals here at the VNHQ—a unique marriage of inspiration and available ingredients. A crisp side salad of romaine lettuce, avocado, tomato, and cucumber was a nice balance to the doughiness of the dumplings.

The Goods: While enjoying today's radiant sunshine and munching on the lovely lunch you see pictured above, we got to talking about the history of San Francisco, and, in particular, all the great attractions that used to be right in our neighborhood. Playland, the Sutro Baths, and a host of other summertime entertainments once stood just steps from where we are today. Talking about all the old-timey fun got us to wondering: what's your favorite part of your city? Where is the place you head to at the first sign of a summer's day?

Tasty Testing

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: There's a lot going on here, so we'll take it one step at a time. Ready? Okay, first up top there you see a bowl of laksa, a savory Singaporean soup with rice noodles, tofu, scallions, cucumber, and sprouts. Moving counterclockwise (there's a reason, trust us) we have a barbequed tempeh skewer bathed in velvety peanut sauce. To lighten things up, a small cucumber salad with fresh mint and soy sauce-based dressing. Finally, a dessert (see—dessert should be last, there's the reason) couscous infused with dried fruit, toasted almonds, and cinnamon.

The Goods: Wondering what prompted this culinary collage? The secret component that all these dishes have in common is: the July+August issue! That's right, the recipes for all these delightful edibles will soon be yours. Well, just as soon as the end of June rolls around, and you get your hands on a copy of VegNews! Until then, we hope this photo supplies a sufficient stand-in.

Quesadillas Verdes

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: Amazing open-faced quesadillas with sautéed collard greens, orange bell peppers, and corn tortillas made an inspired and delicious main today. "Inspired" here can also be taken to mean: "yet another creative way to use the seemingly endless supply of dairy-free cheese we have in the office." Equally edible were perfectly re-heated leftover rice and a fresh salad with sliced button mushrooms and cherry tomatoes.

The Goods: Since tomorrow's the last day to get your entries in for our second-ever Café VegNews giveaway, we thought you might like a little extra encouragement to get those theme-week ideas posted. Usually we like to be a bit mysterious about the goodies that winners will receive, since it's always nice to get a bag of surprise treats in the mail. This time, however, the goods are just too good to keep to ourselves. Looky here:

Oh yes, that's a giant box of vegan kettle corn. A 16-inch box of vegan kettle corn, to be exact, which the lucky winner of our giveaway will soon be seeing on their doorstep. (Unfortunately, we can't ship beyond the US. Sorry!) Divvies sent us this delicious, sweet treat and we were thrilled that they did. Warning: this is 5 gallons of kettle corn. You will need to have water ready. Good luck!