Curry in a Hurry

The Chef: Stacy

The Menu: A spice-infused, stick-to-your-ribs substantial, sickness-be-gone curry. Contrary to the title of this post, Stacy most certainly did not cook our meal in haste, but we have to admit that this colorful and creative quinoa, black-bean, and parsnip-studded star was certainly consumed in, well, a hurry. We just couldn't quit serving ourselves spoonfuls scooped up with whole-wheat naan and heaped with Sriracha hot sauce and Parma for extra pizazz.

The Goods: It's a beautiful Friday afternoon, which means we're pretty much automatically in a good mood at the VNHQ. There's also the fact that, oh, a little thing we like to call our May+June issue arrived in the office today. Let's just hope that no dogs were nearby when we emitted our high-pitched shrieks of delight. Now that the initial excitement has faded a bit, we've settled back down to work, and dogs in the vicinity appear to be unscathed, we have an über-important question for you: Which part of your May+June VegNews are you extra excited about reading?

Perfect Parsnip Pie

The Chef: Melissa

The Menu: A healthy, hearty helping of root-vegetable-inspired vegan Shepherd's Pie. Eager to tame the elusive parsnip, Melissa whipped out her own version of this traditional casserole, complete with a mashed-parsnip crust. Short a couple of said carrot-relatives, which were later discovered deep within the cavernous VN fridge, she added a couple good ol' potatoes to the mix. Underneath, she combined caramelized onions, peas, zucchini, and textured vegetable protein in a savory blend of spices, which had us going back for more until, well, sadly, there wasn't any more. A spinach side-salad adorned with carrots, zucchini, and walnuts made a perfect complement to the main dish.

The Goods: One of our favorite topics of conversation managed to find its way into today's lunch: food. We discussed edible delights from every corner of the globe, from Djibouti to Ethiopia to Haight Street. As inspired as we were to jump on the next flight to South India, we were pretty darn pleased with the plates right in front of our faces. But just to take the edge off of our international appetites, we savored the sweet taste of vegan Soy Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles for dessert, compliments of our one and only neighbor to the north.

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!