Chili and Cornbread

The Chef: Abby

The Menu: Three-bean chili filled with pinto beans, kidney beans, black beans, onion, tomato, meat-free hamburger mix, and sweet potato topped with squares of Wholesome Chow Homestyle Cornbread and dollops of We Can't Say It's Sour Cream. Abby baked a fresh batch of tasty, fluffy corn muffins for our chili-dipping pleasure, and completed the meal with a crunchy salad of mixed greens, onion, cabbage, and grated carrot.

The Goods: Nothing is more satisfying on a chilly, cloudy afternoon than a hearty bowl of vegan chili—unless it's a hearty bowl of vegan chili and cornbread. Lets just say that if we weren't pretty big fans of Wholesome Chow before lunch, we definitely are now. Okay, so maybe we were already in love with its line of all-vegan baking mixes before lunch. Seriously, from its perfectly spiced Chai Spice Cake Mix to its exotic Lavender Cake Mix, every product we've taste tested so far has been a home run. In review, we feel a 4pm cake-sized snack maybe be an appropriate afternoon treat.

Baked Beans, Crispy Cornbread

The Chef: Abby

The Menu: A sampling of Southern stick-to-your-ribs standards including sweet-and-savory hot water cornbread, baked beans and kabocha squash slathered in barbecue sauce, a fresh, crunchy cucumber, onion, and carrot tossed with Annie's Goddess dressing, and a batch of Abby's signature fluffy biscuits.

The Goods: Supplies in the VNHQ kitchen are running a bit low, but luckily Abby is an expert at throwing together a fabulous meal with only a few items. While her standby recipe for hot water cornbread is a gem, she switched things up today and used the hot water cornbread recipe appearing in VN's fantastic July+August Anniversary issue Soul Food Feast feature. These crunchy cakes were perfectly complemented with savory barbecue sauce, sweet maple syrup, and agave. Oh, and did we mention that Abby also made biscuits? We did? Sorry, it's just kind of a big deal. Biscuits aren't the only exciting thing happening around these here offices, as tomorrow marks the final proof day for our July+August issue. This means two things: We'll be having burritos for lunch per VN tradition, and after the magazine officially goes to press we will be drinking champagne at our desks.