Cio-freakin'-ppino

The Chef: Aurelia

The Menu: An incredibly veganized version of the San Franciscan original! That's right, cioppino was created right here in the City by the Bay, and today's delicious dish did the fish-free crowd proud. A rich tomato base, celery, carrots, purple potatoes, and hearty helpings of faux fish and shrimp comprised these belly-busting bowl fulls. Ms. Aurelia served up the soup with the other well-known SF favorite—sourdough bread. Sides of couscous with garbanzo beans and shredded greens and a fresh, bright salad made the meal complete.

The Goods: Faux fish can be dangerous territory for even the most accomplished veg chefs, but everyone agreed that today's cioppino was an outstanding success. The recipe was adapted from that of Tadich Grill, San Francisco's oldest restaurant. In addition to the utterly yummy eats we got to enjoy the company of four guests: Justin Torrellas of Organic Athlete, and Adrian, Mariana, and Emilia Carstens, who happen to be related to a certain senior editor. Emilia happens to be the cutest baby on the planet—yes, that's her official title—so it would be a crime for us to keep her to ourselves. Here she is with today's incredible chef!

Sandwich Week: Messy Muffaletta

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: Muffaletta. The New Orleans original usually comes stuffed with meaty and cheesy weirdness, but today's veganized version was a savory treat. Olive spread made from black and green olives, roasted red bell peppers, and garlic is the main flavor in this handful of a sandwich. Layered atop the olivey goodness we enjoyed faux salami, mozzarella-style Teese, roasted red and yellow bell peppers, and then another dollop of olive love. Also, we munched on herbed croutons in a spring mix salad with roasted zucchini strips. This took nearly as long to describe as it did to eat!

The Goods: The trick to muffaletta is to get a good, sturdy round of sourdough bread (it could be French bread, but since we're in San Francisco, sourdough it is), cut open the top, and hollow out the insides. Pack the ingredients into the bread all the way to the top so that the whole sandwich is one, solid piece, which will make slicing it into sections easier. (You can see that Elizabeth didn't quite stuff today's full enough, as the top sunk in a bit. More practice!) This is the perfect picnic sandwich, since it gets tastier and tastier as it sits all assembled and the oils from the olives get into the bread.