A Little of Everything

The Chefs: Hilary and Valencia Whole Foods

The Menu: A conglomo-salad of mixed greens, Kalamata olives, beets, couscous, hummus, white beans with sun-dried tomatoes, kale, and tofu. 

The Goods: After a highly nutritious (...) breakfast of a So Delicious coconut-milk ice cream sandwich, greenery was in order for lunch. My salad-bar strategy is to take a scoop of every single vegan thing and then throw some lettuce on top in attempts to aesthetically homogenize everything. The result is a salad that's like seven salads in one. Yippee! I've also got to start saving up my eating mojo for our holiday Thanksgiving table—if it's half as mouthwatering as the VegNews Holiday eCookbook, I'm going to be full for a week. Salad today, Pumpkin Cake with Vanilla Buttercream next week. 

Colleen's Friday Salad

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: My favorite lunchtime salad—organic greens, English cucumber, cherry tomatoes, olives, shredded carrot, green onion, avocado, fresh garlic, and grilled Gardein "chicken", all tossed in an orange-balsamic vinaigrette.

The Goods: I am a creature of habit, what can I say. I'll do my best to change up my go-to lunchtime meal, but you'll most likely be seeing some variation of this (delicious) salad every Friday. Don't get me wrong—the food in the Mission is as good as it gets (vegan Mexican, Japanese, comfort food, raw food, fresh-baked pies, and so much more literally exists all within a two-block radius of the new VNHQ), but I enjoy bringing my own lunch. I like to eat as much organic as possible, I like to know where my food comes from, and it just tastes good. For some major homemade-food inspiration, have you seen the just-released VegNews Holiday Cookbook? VegNews' editors have armed you with everything you need this Thanksgiving to create an unforgettable vegan feast. Get your copy now! And have a wonderful weekend.

The Best Pizza Ever

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: Pizza that was so good we freaking died. Made on Indian-spiced naan, covered with melty Daiya cheese, red onions, kalamata olives, rosemary, greens, and sun-dried tomatoes, today's main course was insanely delicious. Once again, despite its own gorgeousness and garlicky dressing, our salad of greens, sliced bell peppers, tomato, and avocado played second fiddle to the incredible pizza.

The Goods: Of course, the food today was phenomenal, or, as the chef herself might have put it, "phenom." The goods didn't end there, however, since today we also had the pleasure of dining with Jennifer Fearing of The Humane Society of the United States—who brought with her some of the best homemade chocolate-chip cookies we've ever had—and Jayne Harless, aka Kailey's mom. The weather was gorgeous, the food was awesome, and the company couldn't have been better. Oh! And in case anyone didn't already know, today's Friday, which means the weekend is mere hours away. Yes, this makes us happy.

Makeshift Muffaletta

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: A sandwich—of sorts—and a side salad. We didn't quite have all the ingredients for an actual muffaletta today, but we did have some olives, which Elizabeth processed into a tapenade, and some garbanzo beans that she turned into a homemade, heavy-on-the-garlic hummus. With slices of Frankie's pigless ribs, lettuce, and condiments, today's burger-bun-encased sandwiches were not so much accurate as they were yummy. The salad had fresh basil and corn, pumpkin seeds, and avocado, which basically means that it was the perfect salad.

The Goods: We're a small group in the office today, with just the editorial team holding down the fort. Want to know what everyone's doing out and about? Well, you'll just have to keep up with our extracurricular adventures on Press Pass. Oh, and did we mention that there are now more than 8,000 votes in the Veggie Awards Survey? The word for what we are is "thrilled."

Pizza Perfecta

The Chef: Charlotte

The Menu: Two totally delicious pizzas! Charlotte busted out two perfect pizza pies with the help of a couple ready-made crusts (herbed and plain) from Trader Joe's. She topped these tasty starting points with kalamata olives, caramelized onions, and sliced mushrooms. A bright side salad of butter lettuce, avocado, and olives made the perfect complement to our perfect pizza.

The Goods: It's Friday! Voting for the Veggie Awards is in full swing! We had pizza! All these things are good. Happy 4th of July to everyone tomorrow!

Monday Mezze

The Chef: Lyndsay

The Menu: A delicious Mediterranean treat! Ms. Lyndsay busted out a light and lovely couscous, some pimento-stuffed and kalamata olives, a fresh pinto-bean dip, a mixed green salad with homemade lemon dressing, and triangles of whole-wheat tortillas and pita, with which we scooped everything up. Eff yes to finger food!

The Goods: Today's lunch matched the absolutely gorgeous sunshine that's blasting down on us here in SF. We could just as easily have been dining al fresco alongside the sparkling Mediterranean as we were today here in the city. With a new magazine in our hot little hands, it's the start of an exciting, heat-wave week here at the VNHQ.

Perfect Pizza

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: A perfect summer pizza with big chunks of diced tomato, kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, and caramelized onions. With a handy, ready-made whole-wheat crust, Colleen was able to bust this pizza out in no time flat. For accompaniment, she made a vibrant salad of baby greens, kale, bell pepper, avocado, and homemade croutons.

The Goods: This is the perfect Friday meal: relaxed, delicious, and served in the bright sunshine. Tomorrow some of us are headed to Los Angeles for more vitamin D, and to attend the very glam Animal Acres Gala. It's hard to say which element of the trip excites us most, considering we are getting to hang out with fancy celeb types, we'll be eating a dinner catered by Madeleine Bistro, we get to hobnob with rescued animals, and there just might be a trip to Veggie Grill squeezed in to the weekend too. Be sure to get the full report on Press Pass!