Easy Salad & Edamame

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: A robust, flavorful salad of mixed greens, green olives, shredded carrot, cherry tomatoes, avocado, celery, and basil dressed in a zesty summer vinaigrette. Colleen added some crunch to our veggie-filled lunch with fresh, salty edamame.

The Goods: In a bid to outshine yesterday's super sunny lunch, today's al fresco fare was even more satisfying, as San Francisco's two-day high temperatures have us riding a serious vitamin-D wave. When the hot, hot, heat gets to be too much, however, it's good to seek fun indoors, preferably where there is air conditioning. Ready for the perfect summer evening event? Enter to win two tickets to see vegan comedian Myq Kaplan's performance in San Francisco at The Warfield on Sept. 10! Kaplan was recently a top-five finalist on NBC'S Last Comic Standing, and VN recently caught up with the meat-free funny man to discuss everything from eating vegan on the road to sharing veganism with fellow contestants.

Baked Ziti, Great Greens

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: A healthy, hearty take on baked ziti using gluten-free pasta, tomato sauce, and a tasty tofu ricotta. Elizabeth chose an all-green theme for today's lovely leafy salad, including romaine, green olives, cucumber, avocado, and grated zucchini.

The Goods: Is it just us, or is this week rapidly whizzing by? We can't believe tomorrow is already Thursday, which marks a celebratory occasion: SF Vegan Drinks! With the weather finally turning sunny, we can't wait to trek over to Martuni's, San Francisco's most happening piano bar, and throw back a few $5 vegan Orange Creamsicle Martinis (this month's special!) at our favorite monthly meet-up. In addition to enjoying a few drinks, we're also pumped to nosh on veggie dogs and vegan popcorn—yeah, it's pretty much the perfect trifecta of summertime treats. If you're local, stop by to meet the VN staff, make new friends, and down a few stellar sippers.

Soup, Salad, & Spelt

The Chef: Liz

The Menu: A rich, silky soup including roasted butternut squash, carrot, red lentils, green lentils, onion, garlic, potato, and spices paired with a mixed green salad brimming with mushroom, tomato, avocado, celery, green olives, and chickpeas. Liz also toasted slices of Spelt Right's Whole Grain Spelt Bread, which we promptly smeared with Earth Balance and devoured.

The Goods: For most of America, July means high temperatures, and for a lot of the country that goes hand-in-hand with humidity and heat waves. Well, not in San Francisco. We can't say we're mad about the mild in our City by the Bay, but we can say we're happy that today warmed up enough for a refreshing al fresco lunch. Yes, today we happily dined outside and discussed something else we're also currently loving: The upcoming grand opening day of the Bay Area's first all-vegan sweet shop, Cinnaholic! If an entirely vegan, totally rad cinnamon roll bakery sounds like something you need in your life—and trust us, it is—then don't miss the grand opening celebration this Saturday, July 17. Meet Cinnaholic's fantastic vegan staff, eat vegan cinnamon rolls to your hearts content, and laugh at the sugar coma-induced VN staff.

Big Time Burritos

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: What a feast we enjoyed this Friday! Colleen made us huge burritos with seasoned rice, black beans, mashed avocado, chopped tomatoes, green olives, and chutney. Did you ever wonder how many things you could fit into the confines of a tortilla? Today we tested the outer limits. Oh, and we had salad. Of course.

The Goods: It's Friday, which is very good. Here's to a fantastic weekend for everyone!

Great Green Curry

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: A tasty, tangy Thai green curry of broccoli, bell pepper, and Swiss chard cooked in a rich marinate of green curry sauce and coconut milk. Elizabeth served this snappy curry over fluffy white basmati rice, and rounded out this satisfying meal with a crunchy green salad filled with mixed greens, romaine, tomato, and green olives.

The Goods: This warming, stick-to-your-ribs meal was exactly what we needed to liven up our foggy San Francisco morning, and lets just say that the inclusion of olives in the salad made at least one VN staffer's day. The only thing better than happily devouring Thai green curry at the VNHQ might be happily devouring naan and curry on the VegNews Great Adventure to India in Rajasthan, India. Yes, that's right, our second co-sponsored trip with VegVoyages is happening February 6 to 18, so be sure to sign up today and reserve your spot on this dream vegetarian vacation!

Kale Pasta

The Chef: Chas

The Menu: A super garlicky (read: super delicious) pasta with kale and beans. Yep, those were pretty much all of the ingredients in today's hearty, yummy main course. We also enjoyed a huge salad with green olives, grated carrots, garbanzo beans, avocado, tomato, cucumber, and a fantastic homemade salad dressing. Are those fresh strawberries you see on the side? Indeed they are.

The Goods: You might have noticed that our chef today isn't someone from our regular lineup. No, we didn't hire a new staffer, but we might if Chas keeps cooking up lunches like this one! He's a friend of Joseph's and has kindly agreed to cook for us while he's in town. To that we say, well, fine!

Super-Protein Burritos

The Chefs: Joseph and Abby

The Menu: Big, bold, beany burritos. Joseph whipped up a blend of black, pinto, and kidney beans, which he mixed with corn, red peppers, tofu, Daiya, and one secret ingredient that he likes to sneak into any meal possible. Curious? The answer is veggie bacon bits, which are not just for your baked potato anymore! Joseph served this mighty mixture over brown rice on rice tortillas, and topped it with vegan sour cream, chopped tomatoes, and salsa. Abby contributed a highly delicious salad that featured kale, green olives, tomatoes, and chopped onions.

The Goods: Today we edited the proofs of our November+December issue, aka The Veggie Awards issue. That's right, the winners are all set in print, and we're pretty freaking thrilled with them. Usually on proof day we order in burritos, since there isn't generally time to make a fantastic lunch with the intense editing demands of the day. This time, though, Joseph and Abby split up the cooking duty, and the results were totally delicious.

Couscous à la Charlotte

The Chef: Charlotte

The Menu: A tasty trio of treats. Charlotte spiced up a package of couscous and served it alongside a mixture of roasted potatoes, onions, and green bell pepper. For a pop of fresh color she whipped up a lovely side salad with sliced green olives, more bell pepper, and crunchy bites of celery.

The Goods: It's very much Friday. We're bouncing around the office, there was a surprise delivery of spectacular fruit, and if we're not mistaken that big ball of fire in the sky is called the "sun" which is currently yielding something relatively foreign to our land that we've heard referred to as "warmth." Oh, and for those of you keeping track at home, just about 12,500 people have voted in the Veggie Awards. If you haven't already, we recommend that you take this opportunity and do it!