Hot Dog!

The Chefs: Elizabeth and Rodger's

The Menu: A delicious hot dog with sauerkraut and a spinach and kale salad with hummus.

The Goods: You know how sometimes you have leftover salad waiting for you in the fridge, but when lunchtime rolls around, the idea just doesn't strike as appetizing? That's precisely what happened to me today. I know, it's a pretty good story. But wait, there's more! Thankfully, my craving for something more satisfying than soggy salad was sated after a quick jaunt across the street to Rodger's to pick up a nice dog on a toasted bun. If there's anything better than the combination of bread, mustard, and sauerkraut, I don't even want to know about it.

Vegan Cheesesteak

The Chef: Alexandra and Jay's Cheesesteaks

The Menu: A seitan cheesesteak packed with mushrooms, lettuce, pickles, and vegan mayo.

The Goods: Office Manager Lyndsay and I had originally planned on getting the highly recommended spicy BBQ chicken sandwiches from Rhea's Deli (sounds amazing, right?), but they had to deny us because their oven wasn't working. Lyndsay comforted me as we walked away from the land of broken dreams, our lunch seemingly ruined. Fortunately, all was well when we decided on a staff favorite, the trusty Jay's Cheesesteaks, for an equally as delicious sandwich. Upon ordering, the man behind the counter informed us that not only does Jay's have more than 10 different seitan sandwich options, they now carry vegan Italian hot dogs! We both still decided on cheesesteak, but I'm keeping my stomach ready for trying out those hot dogs in the near future. With SF Vegan Drinks tonight, I might end up eating one sooner rather than later...

Quinoa Salad and Black Bean Soup

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: Soup and salad, the perfect combination. Colleen makes this black bean soup for us every once in a while, and it's stellar. Rich, tasty, and filling, it was a lovely complement to her veggie-filled quinoa salad. Zucchini, spinach, carrots, red onions, and kalamata olives all starred in this "souper" side dish. See that? See what we did there? The salad was served as a side to the soup!

The Goods: OK, back in reality we are gearing up for SF Vegan Drinks, which will feature a hot dog time machine! Well, fine. We're not 100-percent sure that the hot dog machine at Martuni's doubles as a time machine, but we are sure that there will be hot dogs, and they will be vegan. And, of course, all the usual fun you've come to expect at Vegan Drinks!

Barbecue and Biscuits

The Chef: Abby

The Menu: Surprise! There are biscuits! Abby's stand-by made yet another appearance, this time accompanied by barbecue-baked hot dogs and a hefty helping of home fries, which were slathered in a sweet and savory combo of sea salt, black pepper, rosemary, and maple syrup. For our daily greens, Abby whipped up a big salad with carrot, avocado, and a generous sprinkling of Kaia Foods Teriyaki Sprouted Sunflower Seeds.

The Goods: And we're back, everyone! After a whirlwind weekend at Expo West, the entire crew is back at the VNHQ and ready to work. Despite the hours and hours we spent eating the past few days—no, we're not exaggerating—this filling meal was welcomed at the lunch table. Want to know more about our Expo West adventures? Check out Joseph's LA recap on Press Pass, and read all about our Best of Show awards for the inside info on the latest, greatest veg products.

Underdog(s)!

The Chef: Underdog

The Menu: A perfect picnic triptych of savory goodies. Veggie dogs—of the Polish, Smoked Apple Sage, Italian, and Mexican Chipotle varieties—smothered in relish, onions, ketchup, sauerkraut, and two kinds of mustard were served alongside tater tots and potato salad.

The Goods: We dined al fresco today, as we went on a little lunchtime adventure. To get the full details, make sure to check out our editorial assistant Sara's first Press Pass entry ever! In the meantime, go make yourself a nice big veggie dog and go nuts with condiments—it'll be just like you had lunch with us! If you happen to be in the SF Bay Area, come see Elizabeth on the Politics of Food panel at the BlogHer Food '09 conference tomorrow!

Veggie Burgers and Vegenaise

The Chefs: Joseph, Frankie, and Kassie

The Menu: A picnic! Yes, we totally indulged in the world's most Vegenaise-laden picnic ever today. Not only did we enjoy some super yummy veggie hot dogs and burgers, we also had two salads (macaroni and potato) that were primarily comprised of Vegenaise. With tons of vegetable-type toppings, and even some edible flowers thanks to Frankie, we managed to add some non-'naise to the meal.

The Goods: Why a picnic when the current weather conditions are low 60's and overcast, you ask? Because our good friends over at Vegan Outreach sponsored Team Vegan—a group of super-awesome runners who competed in both half and full marathons over the weekend. Was one of those runners our own Joseph Connelly? Yes. Was there some leftover food from the post-run celebration? Yes. Does Joseph Connelly + leftover food = catered lunch for the VN staff? Indeed it does! Frankie and Kassie helped Joseph get everything ready, which was no small feat considering the often-ravenous nature of our staff. Here are the three chefs, the bounty of their toils before them.

Hot Dog!(s)

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: Fan-freakin'-tastic Friday frankfurters. Colleen warmed some delicious whole-wheat buns, and we piled these pups high with a smorgasbord of sauces. Ketchup, spicy Dijon mustard, relish, barbecue sauce, Artichoke Hummus, Vegenaise, Roasted Green Salsa, and Roasted Mole were just a few of the ample options. Alongside these barely contained buns we enjoyed crispy fries and a vibrant salad with dried cranberries and Swiss chard.

The Goods: Ever wonder just exactly what a group of educated, professional, dedicated vegans talk about during lunch? Saving the animals? Bettering the movement? Opening new, exciting restaurants/boutiques/animal sanctuaries? Not today, friends. Today we discussed such enlightening topics as the work histories of Sandra Oh and Margaret Cho, who had/had not seen Saved by the Bell during their youth, and which of the incredible, delicious treats from Sticky Fingers that arrived yesterday were our favorites. Yes, it's Friday. Yes, that's good news all around.

Hot Dog!

The Chef: Rizza Punzalan of Underdog

The Menu: Hot dogs! Today we took a very special field trip to the Inner Sunset neighborhood to check out Underdog, an all-organic hot dog joint that serves up a selection of vegan dogs. And tater tots. We're talking like, baskets of delicious, hot tater tots, which, in case it wasn't abundantly clear, made us all very happy. There are four vegan dogs on the menu—a classic dog, Bratwurst, Polish, and Italian—and the homemade potato salad is to die for. With homemade sauerkraut, chopped onions, fresh relish, perfectly toasted buns, and a selection of ketchup and mustards, these dogs totally hit the spot.

The Goods: Why the extra-special lunchtime outing, you ask? Today we honored the birth of our very own publisher, Mr. Joseph Connelly. We won't be saying how many candles there were on his cake at the office, but suffice it to say that he started the day off with an 18-mile run. Seeing as most of the rest of us started the day off by, uh, rolling out of bed shortly before leaving the house for work, we were all rather impressed. Happy Birthday to Joe, and happy vegan hot dogs to all! In case you're wondering what happy vegan hot dogs look like, here's a photo of the whole VN team, hot dogs in hand:

A Lotta Latkes

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: A load of latkes, which were flavored simply with fresh oregano, salt, and pepper. Alongside a fresh salad of romaine, avocado, red bell pepper, tomato, and tofu-feta, the heavily potato-y latkes made for a balanced plate. Up there at the top of the photo you'll also notice some chopped-up Foot-long Veggie Dogs, for color. Okay, hot dogs may not be the most traditional garnish, but when you don't have any faux breakfast links on hand, they make a great sub.

The Goods: Elizabeth often wishes that we could eat brunch for every meal, and just can't help herself from making something that would be more appropriate served at 11am than during the lunch-hour proper. But really, who doesn't like brunch? For all those of you who long for recipes on this blog, make sure and check the last link for an amazing Tofu Florentine—something perfect for your next brunch, regardless of the time of day.

Birthday Halloween Bonanza

The Chef: Colleen (we usually only cook once per week each, but today was an exception, see below)

The Menu: It's scary sometimes just how good lunch can be. Today we were treated to cumin- and rosemary-roasted sweet potato fries, perfectly cooked veggie dogs with all the fixin's, and the salad that is fast becoming our signature—mixed greens, pear, apple, and bleu cheese. (FYI, fixin's in this case translates to: baked beans, avocado, dijon mustard, garlic and/or chili flavored mayo, and, of course, ketchup. Yum!)

The Goods: We happened to be celebrating two of our favorite Scorpios, Aurelia d'Andrea and Jen Pickens, two indispensible members of our editorial team. Not to mention the best holiday ever, All Hallow's Eve, which we've chosen to represent here with an emblematic pumpkin. In honor of the birthdays, our intern extraordinaire Katie made, get this, two cakes. That's right, two. One was a two-layer chocolate raspberry extravaganza, the other was a cinnamon, pumpkin, and chocolate-chip cake with cinnamon vanilla icing. We would show pictures, but that would mean removing our faces from said cakes, which will not be happening any time soon. Happy birthdays to our ladies, and Happy Halloween to all!