Fancy Phyllo, Fancier Ice Cream

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: Um, sometimes you find mini phyllo-cups in the freezer and the question immediately becomes how to fill them. Sometimes, you answer that question by imagining a savory white-bean purée, only to find that in reality all you have is a can of kidney beans. Are kidney beans the same color as white beans? No. Does a caramelized-onion and kidney-bean purée look slightly strange? Yes. Anyway, that's what Elizabeth filled our phyllo cups with today, and dotted each with a caper. Alongside she served lightly sautéed summer squash and a green salad with cherry tomatoes and green olives.

The Goods: Maybe you think phyllo cups are fancy. If so, that is only because you have not yet had the pleasure of homemade ice cream courtesy of one Laura Beck. Ms. Laura, who's moderating VegWeb.com and is decidedly awesome, treated us to chocolate-peanut butter ice cream with mini-chocolate-chips and bits of freaking toffee. We are dead with glee.

Cosmic Casserole

The Chef: Aurelia

The Menu: An out-of-this-world sweet potato casserole, which Aurelia topped with layered phyllo dough and Parma. Yes, we are wearing our extra-fancy pants today around the VNHQ. Not only did she bust out the delicious main course, she also prepared a quinoa, corn, and dried cranberry (or craisins, if that's how you roll) salad, which she garnished with crispy onions. Finally, a simple mixed-green salad with a perfect vinaigrette finished off the meal.

The Goods: If there's phyllo dough in the office, you can bet that Aurelia will up her already high culinary ante. We couldn't be happier about this fact, and would encourage anyone who's been shy toward this crispy dough in the past to break out and give it a try. Speaking of trying new things, if you've never tossed craisins in your grain salad before, you're crazy! We are the proud owners of roughly 800 pounds of craisins thanks to the generosity of Ms. Abby, who left them in our hands in order to avoid being charged for taking them back to Missouri with her. Thanks, Abby!