South Asian Leftover Mash-up

The Chef: Joni

The Menu: A mishmash of leftover Thai, Burmese, and Indian foods—spicy tofu, glazed eggplant, yellow veggie curry, and coconut rice

The Dish: I had family in town recently, which means lots of dining out (no complaints here!). I’m pretty sure we ate at every South Asian restaurant in San Francisco, hence the assortment of leftovers for lunch today. While South Asian cuisine occupies a large portion of my love for food, so does dessert, and I’m ready for some cookies! We spent much of yesterday sorting through the myriad of recipe entries to the VegNews Holiday Cookie Contest and our top 10 finalists sound amazing. We’ll be having a bake-off on Friday to determine the winners and I can’t wait to bake the Peanut Butter Blossoms. It will surely be the perfect end to the week.

Salad & Bagel

The Chefs: Elizabeth and Valencia Whole Foods

The Menu: A spinach salad with roasted red peppers, garbanzo beans, cherry tomatoes, and artichoke hearts, and a whole-wheat bagel topped with vegan cream cheese, capers, red onion, and tomato.


The Goods: After a truly exquisite meal at the home of Associate Editor Jennifer Chen last night—she made an all-star lineup of VN recipes, all of which were phenomenal—it was really tough to decide what to have for lunch today. Nothing, it seemed, would compare, and indeed, this salad-and-bagel combo, while delicious, just couldn't stand up to the memory of Beer-Battered Tempeh Fish with Tangy Tartar Sauce, Hot Chocolate Ice Cream, and Mac 'n' Cheese. Until we meet again, tartar sauce...

VegNews Signature Mac 'n' Cheese

The Chefs: Jennifer and VegNews

The Menu: VegNews' signature Mac 'n' Cheese recipe

The Goods: I just moved to Berkeley, and after unpacking what seemed like a billion boxes, my kitchen was finally organized. My first meal to make in my new home? Why, the VN signature mac 'n' cheese of course. If you haven't made it, I suggest you run home right now and whip up a batch. If you have made it, then you understand why this vegan version makes grown men weep and non-vegans want to get with the program. Have I oversold it? No way. I even posted up the recipe on my friend's Facebook page, ordered her (suggested nicely) to make it, and she did. Her response: The cheese sauce is amazing! And it is. That's why I always double the ingredients for the sauce.

Kale Kick-Off

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: Marinated kale salad topped with sliced avocado and baked teriyaki tofu

The Goods: With temperatures in the high 70s in San Francisco today, I needed a fresh salad to cool myself down. And my go-to lunch salad these days is marinated kale (finely chopped kale in a lemon-olive oil vinaigrette with sea salt) topped with avocado and baked tofu (I cube a block of tofu, marinade it in Bragg's, sesame oil, orange juice, and maple syrup, and bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes). It's healthy and delicious—and the ideal lunch before a surprise dessert: vegan ice cream! Sarah from San Francisco-based Rocket Ship Ice Cream dropped by our offices today with just-made batches of Toasted Coconut, Sweet Mint, and Coffee ice cream, and we happily devoured all three. We needed some good news in the ice cream department after the closure of our beloved MaggieMudd this weekend (custom cakes will still be available through its website). Clamoring for your own vegan sweets? We're giving away three dozen cinnamon rolls (complete with icing) on VegNews.com this week. Good luck!

Celebratory Salad!

The Chefs: Herbivore and Elizabeth

The Menu: A deliciously huge kale salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, soy chicken, and gigantic slices of avocado.

The Goods: A salad this size is basically heaven for lunch. Packed with my favorite vegetable of all time, kale, and avocado, there's absolutely nothing missing from this fantastic lunch. This salad is celebratory not only because tonight is the first night of Hanukkah (Need recipes? Check here!), but also because today marks our 400th post on Café VegNews! We've come a long way (literally—the office moved across town!) since our very first post, and it's been a pleasure to have our readers along for the ride. Here's to the next 400 delicious vegan lunches!