Celery Soup and Spinach Salad

The Chefs: Hilary, Whole Foods Market, and Gracias Madre

The Menu: Cream of celery soup, with a side of spinach salad studded with red onions, walnuts and crispy shiitake mushrooms. 

The Goods: As we trudged through the final trenches of the editing process for our mind-blowingly, brain-meltingly, hair-fryingly, skull-pulverizingly cool March+April Issue, wacky California's indecisive late-morning sun emerged, then hid, then winked from beneath a sky-wide pallor of wispy clouds. Unsatisfied with my initial feast of spinach salad, I had no choice but to seek warming soup from cashew-cheese quesadilla palace extraordinaire Gracias Madre. While filling, my lunch was still light enough to not interfere with this evening's inaugural SF Vegan Drinks event at its brand-new location, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, a boozy top-shelf pub a mere half-block from our headquarters. Beer-battered fried pickles, sweet potato tater tots, my heart is aflutter in anticipation of our union after dusk falls. 

Shiitake-Saké Scallopini

The Chef: Lyndsay

The Menu: An utterly incredible, Asian-food-inspired meal. Last week we got in a surprise shipment of Gardein chick'n cutlets, and so Lyndsay served them scallopini-style over crispy udon cakes in a shiitake-saké sauce. Um, hell yes. Also, if your day is feeling slightly glum, just say "shiitake-saké sauce" a few times, and things are sure to start looking up. Is that some of the most gorgeous braised bok choy we've ever seen? Yes, indeed it is.

The Goods: It's a busy week here at the VNHQ, which means it's extra satisfying to start out the week with such a scrumptious meal. With the sun finally peeking through the clouds—something that always seems to happen after we finish lunch—it's back to our editorial grind getting ready for the November+December issue!

Cool Collard Wraps

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: Totally delicious collard wraps! We filled these lovely leaves with leftover quinoa and chili from yesterday's awesome lunch, and enjoyed sides of sautéed mushrooms, spicy peanut sauce, and a crisp, crunchy salad with spears of zucchini and carrots. Colleen was slightly concerned that she might be slipping back into her Raw Week habits by using the collard leaves as wraps, but we assured her that filling them with very cooked chili would alleviate any confusion.

The Goods: It's Friday. We are, um, happy about this. The technical term for how we feel right now might be something close to "utterly and totally exhausted," but we don't want to put too fine a point on it. It's been another whirlwind week here at the VNHQ, and maybe we're just a little teeny bit excited about the beginning of the weekend. Also, Happy Meatout Day! Feel free to encourage your friends and family to go vegan one or two extra times today.

Indian Delight!

The Chef: Aurelia

The Menu: An Indian-inspired feast including perfectly cooked rice, curried lentils and garbanzos, lightly spiced shiitake mushrooms, freshly toasted pappadam, and sautéed swiss chard with red bell pepper. If there's anything better than a delectable Indian meal on a gray, foggy day, we don't even want to know about it. With dabs of mango marmalade and tamarind sauce, we were very nearly able to imagine ourselves on an Indian vacation.

The Goods: Back in reality, we're gearing up big time for a swanky little soirée called the Vegan à Go-Go Book Bash! On the off chance you've not heard of this little do, we're throwing a big ol' party celebrating the launch of Sarah Kramer's new travel/cooking/how-to-be-awesome book. In case you haven't, now would be the prudent time to get tickets. Just sayin'.

In-The-Fridge Smorgasbord

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: A tantalizing trio of treats. Colleen always adds a gourmet flair to her meals, as evidenced today in a roasted-corn and black bean salad with tomato, avocado, and olives, an Asian-food-inspired stir fry with shiitake mushrooms, broccoli, homemade seitan, and tofu-based House Foods Tofu Shirataki noodles, and finally, she toasted rosemary focaccia with Dr. Cow cheese and basil. Yeah, Fridays are good eating-days around these parts.

The Goods: Tonight's the night we're going to make it happen, tonight we'll put all other things aside. All things other than karaoke, that is! As a sweet sendoff to our lovely Lisa, we're going out "singing" this evening. What does this have to do with lunch? Nothing. Do you fondly recall our past karaoke exploits? We certainly hope so. Happy long-weekend Friday!

Culture-Clash Chapatis

The Chef: Lisa

The Menu: A whip-quick mix of black beans blended with garlic, onions and shiitake mushrooms sautéed with some of the sauce from yesterday, and chopped romaine spread over spinach-flavored chapatis. We're not sure if this meal counts as Indian, Mexican, or miscellaneous, but we are sure that it was tasty.

The Goods: Since Aurelia—who would have been today's chef—is en route to AR 2008, Lisa stepped up to make another meal. As we've probably mentioned before, we're big fans of the happy-accident style of cooking that involves throwing together whatever is on-hand in the kitchen and calling it lunch. Add a couple artistically placed drops of hot sauce, and it's cuisine!

Sensational Stir Fry

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: A fan-freakin'-tastic stir fry of broccoli, zucchini, carrots, ginger, kale, shiitake mushrooms, and tofu. Served over yummy curry-flavored udon noodles, Colleen's Asian-inspired creation was a one-dish meal to die for. We've been a little burrito and mac 'n' cheese heavy recently, so this savory stiry fry was a welcome, veggie-packed change of pace.

The Goods: Okay, this is big. Are you ready? Voting is open for our 2008 Veggie Awards! This is the largest survey of its kind in the world, and is one of our most-favorite features every year since we get to find out what our readers really love. Make sure and vote for your favorite restaurants, blogs, bakeries, cookbook authors, and more! Last year 20,000 people voted, and we hope to make that 30,000 this year with new categories like Favorite Animal Sanctuary and Favorite Online Forum. Polls are open now and will be open until August 31. Congrats to all of our amazing nominees!

Tummy-Taming Thai

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: An utterly yummy yellow Thai curry. Served over perfectly herbed rice, this filling meal featured potatoes, bell pepper, zucchini, eggplant, shiitake mushrooms, and some of Frankie's famous faux chicken all stewed in a luscious, coconut-milk-based curry. An equally appetizing salad of romaine lettuce, heirloom tomatoes, sliced fennel, and avocado balanced out the curry's hint of spiciness.

The Goods: In case it wasn't already abundantly clear, we like eating here at the VNHQ. Right around 11:30 am, each of our stomachs starts to rumble, and by noon we're ready to eat the morning's coffee grounds. The ever-present thought of lunch makes sitting down to a meal as delicious as this one even more satisfying—and keeps our dignity intact.

Everything-in-the-Fridge Fajitas

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: Sautéed faux turkey, zucchini, kale, red peppers, and shiitake mushrooms tucked into a warmed tortilla and nestled atop a bed of crisp romaine, velvety avocado, cherry tomatoes, and drizzled in a tangy vinaigrette.

The Goods: Befitting the tie-up-all-the-loose-ends spirit of Fridays here at the VNHQ, Colleen brought her practical and resourceful efficiency to the kitchen and churned out a delicious, colorful meal in record time. With some tortillas and a fridge full of the week's delicious remains, no meal works better than the equal-opportunity fajita. After partaking in a hearty meal peppered with even heartier laughs, we return rejuvenated to our respective corners of the office.