A Salad, Sandwich, and Guacamole

The Chef: Anna and Valencia Whole Foods

The Menu: A random smattering from the salad bar (lettuce! hummus! rice!) and half of VWF's beloved veggie sausage sandwich, filled with hummus and avocado. Bonus: homemade guacamole!

The Dish: I was super jazzed to go to VWF today for some spring rolls, but after the last package was stolen from me (ahem, Jennifer Chen), I had to improvise. And you know, I think improvising with one of our office favorites is a good way to go. The office feels a little empty today, with Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig off to Virginia for Charlottesville VegFest and Publishers Joseph Connelly and Colleen Holland in Thailand with VegNews Vacations, but we're coping the best way we can (with guacamole and delicious sandwiches). Want to travel the world with VegNews? Our trips for Bali and India are sold out, but there are a few spots left on this November's Vegan Yoga Retreat in Mexico. Sign up today!

Hello, homemade guacamole. Won't you get in my belly?

Brunch at Lunch

The Chef: Anna and Herbivore

The Menu: Southwestern scrambled tofu with black beans, house potatoes, salsa, guacamole, vegan sour cream, and a hearty slice of blueberry cornbread.

The Dish: A well-known fact about me: I'm a serious breakfast-food gal. Give me a tofu scramble at any time, and hey, some house potatoes wouldn't hurt either. Today was no exception, and Herbivore hit it out of the park with this dish. My favorite part was the warm cornbread, which had just the right amount of sweetness to it. Let us know what your favorite vegan restaurant is by voting in The 2011 Veggie Awards! But you better hurry—there are only a few days left to vote! Polls close August 31 at 11:59pm PT.

Holy Guacamole!

The Chefs: Joni and Jeremy

The Menu: Amy’s Kitchen pre-made black bean burrito topped with Jeremy’s spicy guacamole, a side of Beanfields bean and rice chips, and sweet, crispy palmier cookies for dessert. 

 
The Goods: In between preparing updates for VegNews.com, writing VegNews Dailies, and consuming mass amounts of caffeine via cup after cup of coffee, I managed to stop and take a break with a California-inspired lunch. My boyfriend Jeremy makes the most amazing guacamole ever, with onions, spicy red peppers, lime juice, and more. Whenever he makes it, we’ll put it on everything we eat until not even a molecule of the green stuff remains in the bowl, so I had to take some to work with me before it all disappeared. And as for the Beanfields chips, the VNHQ staff cannot get enough of them; there always seems to be an open bag tempting us somewhere in the office! This lunch was great and will surely power me through the rest of this writing-intensive day. 

Media Lunch over Burritos

The Chef: Colleen and Taqueria Cancun

The Menu: Grilled burritos filled with rice, black beans, onions, tomatoes, and guacamole—plus chips, two kinds of salsa, and melon agua fresca

The Dish: This week couldn't be busier here at the VNHQ, but we love it! Today, VN Publisher Joseph and I dined with friends/media colleagues Mike, Thea, and Maire from Next Steps Marketing. They hadn't been to our new digs, so we finally had them over for the grand tour plus lunch from our favorite Mexican taqueria. If you're ever in San Francisco's Mission district and need good food fast (and cheap), Taqueria Cancun is the place to make it happen. So tasty, so fresh, and always a hit. It's a gorgeous day in the city, but I am still dreaming of my vegan weekend in Salt Lake City—the veg scene there is off the hook! Check out our just-posted Vegan Food Tour of Salt Lake City for all the evidence you'll need (think vegan quesadillas, chocolate-dipped vegan soft-serve, and two vegan bakeries). Plus, several members of the VN staff will be in Los Angeles this weekend for the Animal Rights Conference. If you're going, be sure to stop by and say hello!

Vegan Burrito

The Chef: Anna and Papalote Mexican Grill

The Menu: A veggie burrito stuffed with rice, black beans, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, and guacamole, plus tortilla chips and the Best. Salsa. Ever.

The Goods: Happy Mardi Gras to all! While today is quite possibly the worst day of the year for insecure people named Tuesday, it's one of the best for the rest of us. An entire day devoted to indulgence and gluttony? I'll take one those with a side of indigestion, please. In honor of this most dizzying of days, I decided that a big fat burrito would be a delicious and fitting lunch. Now all I need is a brownie to wash it down. Want to win a membership to Allison's Gourmet Brownie-of-the-Month Club? It's the first prize in our eight weeks of Vegan Bucket List Giveaways, so enter now! And the next week, and the next week... You get the idea.

Veggie Burrito with Chips

The Chef: Anna and Papalote Mexican Grill

The Menu: An enormous veggie burrito, stuffed with black beans, rice, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, and guacamole. Throw in a big heap of tortilla chips with Papalote's perfectly spicy salsa? Don't mind if I do.

The Goods: I went to Papalote today in order to correct a traumatic experience. I know what you're thinking: how on earth could one have a traumatic experience involving burritos? Well listen here. This past Monday on my way to my first day at VNHQ I shuffled down 24th street toward Valencia and BAM! Papalote's windows were covered in brown paper. Could it really be that this delicious food was disappearing from my life? But fear not, dear readers, they were only remodeling. So in order to give myself the proverbial pinch that wakes me from my "Papalote's is closed" nightmare, I (along with fellow VN Editorial Assistant Alexandra) trekked on over there today. And I have to say it tasted better than ever. The carrots were roastier, the black beans were creamier, and I think they gave me some extra super yummy guacamole after I told them about my Monday morning freak out. While devouring my burrito and chips, I couldn't help but think about the So Delicious chocolate Coconut Milk that was delivered to VNHQ yesterday. A girl needs her dessert, right? And in case you were wondering, yes, my stomach is three times the size of a normal person's.

Enormous Burritos

The Chef: Elizabeth and Papalote Mexican Grill

The Menu: A really big, really delicious veggie burrito! Filled with refried beans, potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, perfectly done rice, and a generous serving of guacamole, this burrito is one of my favorites on the planet. Does a handful of chips make everything better? Why yes, indeed they do.

The Goods: It's always a tough call between the veggie burrito and the soyrizo burrito at Papalote, since I love the big slices of carrot in the veggie, but soyrizo has the benefit of, well, soyrizo, which is effing delicious. Either way, a good dose of guacamole makes me a happy gal. One other thing that's making today wonderful is that our November+December Veggie Awards issue ships out today, which means the winners are going to be revealed! Can't wait to hear what everyone has to say about this year's crop of incredible winners!

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!

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.

Burrito Day!

The Chefs: El Burrito Express and Joseph

The Menu: Burr-freakin-itos. We love these. Whole-wheat tortillas wrapped around perfectly flavored rice, yummy refried beans, and tons of guacamole make these the preferred proof-day food. With a side of roasted veggies from Joseph and a hearty helping of chips and salsa, these fantastic foil-wrapped goodies made a mean meal.

The Goods: As you may have guessed, today is proof day, which means that we have the proofs of the March+April issue back from the printer, and need to exhaustively go over them to catch any last-minute edits. Consider this thing edited. Also, we might have gotten a delivery that had us jumping up and down with glee. One word: Vita-Mix.

World Vegetarian Day Chili!

The Chef: Sara

The Menu: A triple-chili treat! Ms. Sara prepared three varieties of Eden Organic Chili (the black bean and quinoa, Great Northern bean and barley, and kidney bean and kamut, in case you were wondering), which we topped with hearty handfuls of Daiya. She also made a delicious cornbread from scratch, and a fresh guacamole. Are we spoiled? Yes.

The Goods: Happy World Vegetarian Day, everyone! To give lunch an international feel, we had the pleasure of dining with Helen, a long-time friend of VN who's in town for World Vegetarian Festival from Switzerland. There are a couple reasons to love Helen, one of which being that she's amazing, and the other that she brings Swiss chocolate with her! Again, spoiled. We like pretty much any excuse to celebrate, and this one just happens to be near and dear to us! To make an awesome day even more fun, we're giving away an enormous shipment of Sticky Fingers goodies. Yes, you definitely want these. But! It's a one-day giveaway, the winner will be picked at 11:59 pm tonight, so make sure to comment quickly!

The World's Saddest Burritos

The Chef: El Burrito Express

The Menu: Perfect Friday fare: black-bean burritos with whole-wheat tortillas, chips, and extra fresh guacamole.

The Goods: Why, you might ask, are these the world's saddest burritos, if they were so delicious? Well, they marked the last official lunch of Kailey and Charlotte as editorial assistants, and in order to deal with our sadness (and the surprise high-80's temperature today!), we had to drown our sorrows in burritos and ice cream. Thankfully, our freezer was packed with pints of Purely Decadent Coconut Milk Ice Cream—Vanilla Bean and Chocolate were big hits—and we made it through lunch without totally losing it. On a much happier note, we have a new winner to announce! Congratulations to Vegan Epicurean, whose response was chosen by our trusty random number generator, despite her anti-karaoke stance. VE, send us an email with your name and address, and the calendar is all yours! Now, for the final Go Vegan! 2010 Calendar, answer us this question in the comments: who is the person you most want to go vegan?

Burrito Blitz

The Chef: El Burrito Express

The Menu: You guessed it: burritos! And chips, naturally. Today we enjoyed either black-bean or refried-bean burritos with salsa, guacamole, rice, and lettuce, which basically means we enjoyed the perfect meal. An element of crunch came from the chips, and the sides of salsa supplied a splash of spice.

The Goods: Today is proof day, otherwise known as our very last chance to make edits to the September+October issue. Yes, we can sometimes be a little bit more frenzied on proof day than our normal calm composure might lead you to believe. Since we were long on work and short on time, having burritos was the perfect way to feed our frenetic selves. Oh, does it just so happen that tonight is SF Vegan Drinks, and maybe we could use a martini or seven? Yes. Is tomorrow your very last chance (really, no joke) to vote in the Veggie Awards Survey? Yes. Should you go vote now, and then imbibe the aforementioned martinis? Yes.

Vittles Variety Hour

The Chef: Kailey

The Menu: A corn, bean, and sweet potato medley with a heapin’ helping of chipotle rice and a sizeable dollop of spicy and smooth guacamole. Throw in some chips for shoveling it all in and add some crisp, green roughage, and you’ve got a meal to be reckoned with.

The Goods: Kailey has vowed to incorporate delicious sweet potatoes into all of her meals, and we’re not complaining. And speaking of sweet, the annual Veggie Awards survey will be launched tomorrow. That’s right, no big deal—it’s only the zenith when it comes to tracking the veg zeitgeist, that’s all. OK, it is kind of a big deal, so keep your peepers peeled for the awards!

Brunch Week: Polenta Rancheros

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: A big bowl of Polenta Rancheros and side salad with fresh corn and grated zucchini. What, exactly, is involved in Polenta Rancheros, you ask? Mostly, this dish is made of black beans simmered in a spiced tomato sauce, topped with a fluffy spoonful of polenta, which is all then topped with fresh guacamole. In short, a huge amount of awesomeness is involved! We could each have eaten about six bowls of this savory standout.

The Goods: Yes, Brunch Week is maybe our most favorite theme of all. Holy heck, every recipe we've made so far has been amazing. Congratulations to Connie, our lucky winner from yesterday's comments! Connie, send us an email with your full name and mailing address, and your copy of Vegan Brunch will be sent out asap! For today's copy of this too-good-to-be-true tome, tell us in the comments: What's your fantasy brunch dish? Yes, you have to pick just one, and of course it has to be vegan!

Rockin' Rice and Beans

The Chef: Aurelia

The Menu: A totally rockin' array of Mexican-food-inspired goodies. Aurelia spiced up the rice and black beans with diced green chiles, which made both dishes extra delicious. Alongside she served fresh guacamole and a lovely spinach salad with red onions, red bell pepper, and French dressing. We used two different kinds of chips for scooping up the main courses, a lime flavor from Food Should Taste good and organic tortilla chips from Salba Smart. We also tasted a trio of salsas, all from Organicville. You really can't go wrong with a base of rice and beans, but it's always nice to have a variety of toppings like we did today.

The Goods: Yeah, if anyone needs us, we'll be at our desks, rubbing our incredibly full bellies this afternoon. Oh, and in case anybody out there needs a little piece of good news, we've got something for you: VegNews just won Best Digital Design in the 2009 Nichee Awards! This may certainly go down in VN history as the most award-filled week ever.

Burritos Muy Buenos

The Chef: Stacy

The Menu: Burritos! You know we're big burrito fans here at the VNHQ, and homemade versions are always appreciated. Stacy started with hemp and whole-wheat tortillas, added brown rice, black beans and Soy Ground, grated carrots, guacamole, and sautéed kale, red onions, and bell peppers. Yes, the word you're looking for is "yum."

The Goods: Today's lunchtime discussion was just a little bit livelier than usual. While we always have fun munching and chatting, today we were getting a little bit fired up about, well, veganism. This probably doesn't come as a huge shock to anyone out there, but the veg lifestyle is something we care about pretty passionately around here. Somehow, the conversation segued from what would happen if everyone on the planet went veg tomorrow (eeep!) to the songs that get stuck in our heads. Oh yes, Joseph busted out his laptop and treated us all to a little lunchtime rock, inspired by the song that has, inexplicably, been in Elizabeth's head for the last few weeks. Enjoy!

Potage du Potato

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: Soup! It's raining and blah outside, so soup was definitely in order. Thankfully, we had an abundance of onions, potatoes, and parsnips, which all got blended together to make today's chunky soup. A simple salad with spinach, red-leaf lettuce, grated beets, and croutons made a satisfying side. Oh, and that lovely edible flower on the side? That would be a nasturtium which Frankie brought in and filled with guacamole. Trust us, if you haven't experienced the spicy delicious kick that nasturtiums provide, you might want to go ahead and do that—asap.

The Goods: Today is a pretty big stinking day here at the VNHQ. We have an announcement: officially, we are doing that thing that all the kids these days are doing. Yes, we've joined Twitter. Wonder what we'll tweet about? Oh, maybe something along the lines of our cover contest, maybe something about our current giveaway, and, of course, what we're eating for lunch!

Delicious Delivery

The Chef: Dharma's

The Menu: A freakin' smorgasbord of awesome vegan yumminess from one of our favorite restaurants! Starting from 12 o'clock and moving clockwise, we've got a soup, salad, and rice combination, then the Dan Dan Noodles—cooked noodles in a peanut-sesame sauce with fresh cucumber, tofu, and green onions—then the BBQ Tofu-de-Beast, which looked way more beautiful than beastly with its side servings of mashed potatoes, gravy, and vegetables. Finally, over on the left side you see the Tofu Rancheros, which featured ice-cream-scoop-sized dollops of guacamole, fresh salsa, tofu scramble, and black beans, all on a corn tortilla. Um, yum.

The Goods: Yes, it's an awesome day when your prestigious publishers have an early morning meeting in Santa Cruz and are nice enough to pick up lunch for everyone before coming back to the office. Joseph and Colleen are, without a doubt, our favorite delivery people! Considering the popularity of our cover contest over on VegNews.com, here's another challenge for you: can you match the dish to the VN staffer? Colleen was able to guess who had ordered each dish without any hints at all—but since you don't have the benefit of working with all of us every day, we'll help you out. OK, there are four dishes visible, and six staffer options (Aurelia, Colleen, Elizabeth, Lyndsay, Melissa, and Stacy—Joseph was too full from breakfast to eat lunch!). Elizabeth and Stacy got the same dish, as did Aurelia and Lyndsay. Let's see how well you know your VegNews-ers! The first person to correctly match all the diners with their dishes will receive a Hawaiian Ruby Guava gift set! Ready? Go!

Bienvenidos Burritos!

The Chef: El Burrito Express

The Menu: No lie, we had burritos. We know, we know, with a title so ambiguous it might have been difficult to decipher just what exactly we ate, but let us assure you—they were big, delicious burritos. Whole-wheat tortillas stuffed with rice, black beans, guacamole, lettuce, and salsa generously surrounded by crispy chips made a filling, fabulous lunch.

The Goods: No, it isn't just that bienvenidos makes a convenient alliteration with burritos (though when have you ever known us to pass one of those up?!); we really were doing some welcoming today at lunch. That's right—it's Ms. Melissa's first official day as an editorial assistant, and if there's one thing that says "welcome to the team" like a big, beany burrito. As it turned out, Melissa told us that her first priority during any trip to California is always to get one as soon as possible, so we were thrilled to welcome her appropriately.