Meyer Lemon Pasta, Calamari, & Strawberries

The Chef: Jennifer

The Menu: Vegan Meyer lemon pasta with rainbow chard and vegan fried calamari and a side of sweet strawberries.

The Goods: I mentioned on Savvy Vegan that I made this meal from shopping at my farmers' market, but I got the crispy calamari from my local Whole Foods, which sells Sophie's Kitchen vegan seafood. I topped the pasta with some roasted garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil. The organic strawberries I picked up near the VNHQ at a local market for $1.39 a carton. Seriously. As a kid, my mom would buy me roadside strawberries and I thought they were the best thing in the world. I still do. This weekend, there are not one but two vegan bake sales in the Bay Area (Oakland and San Francisco) so I might indulge in my second favorite thing from when I was a kid—sweets!

Veggies, Tofu, and Strawberries

The Chef: Anna

The Menu: Stir-fried vegetables in a tamari-peanut sauce and baked tofu on a bed of spinach, plus a side of fresh strawberries

The Dish: It's a very dreary day here in San Francisco, so I decided to go with a big bowl of warm veggies  and my favorite homemade baked tofu. While it's not the prettiest meal, the peanut sauce and perfectly seasoned tofu (tamari, a hint of stevia, onion powder, and garlic powder is all!) really hit the spot. Considering the meal took me about 20 minutes to make was just a bonus (and adding some delicious in-season strawberries for dessert didn't hurt, either). Check out more super simple summer dinners, snacks, and more in our new featurette, Easy Vegan Meals. 

Crispy Tofu and Birthday Cake

The Chef: Chas 

The Menu: A splendid spread complete with crispy breaded tofu and seasoned brown rice made up the bulk of this hearty, rainy day lunch. Chas balanced out the meal with a bounty of greens: steamed kale and a salad overflowing with cabbage, broccoli, shredded carrot, chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, and mixed greens topped with a delicious avocado, lemon, and tofu salad dressing, to be exact. 

The Goods: We're officially adding crispy, crunchy, perfectly breaded tofu and tangy, zesty avocado dressing to the ever-growing list of Chas' lunchtime specialties. We followed this tasty feast with a strawberries-and-cream cake—vegan, of course—to celebrate Lyndsay and Laura's recent birthdays. Colleen whipped up this decadent, rich delight from scratch, and expertly topped it with fresh strawberries covered in chocolate and sprinkled with sugar. Were we complaining about it? No. Were there leftovers? Are you new here? Happy Birthday, Lyndsay and Laura!

Corn Fritters and Caesar Salad

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: Crispy corn fritters—featuring fresh corn—dolloped with ketchup and vegan sour cream, a lovely Caesar salad with big, crunchy croutons, and fresh strawberries on the side. Yes, Colleen is a fancy chef and spiralized the carrots for the salad. Yes, we like that about her.

The Goods: It's been quite the week of eating here at the VNHQ, and today marks our very last copy of Vegan Yum Yum to give away. First, congrats to Carll from yesterday's comments! We love Danielle Konya too! Carll, send us an email with your name and mailing address, and we'll send your book right out. Now, for the last copy of our Vegan Yum Yum giveaway, here's another blog-related question. Tell us in the comments: What's your favorite weekend adventure? You can check out a few of ours over on Press Pass!

Tofu Stir-fry and Gyoza

The Chef: Abby

The Menu: Cabbage-tofu stir-fry, pan-fried vegetable gyoza, and a simple side salad. While it may not be the most photogenic of one-pot meals, this stir-fry was a light and satisfying way to kick off lunch. Abby created the main course with Napa cabbage, red and green peppers, broccoli, and baked tofu, all cooked in a tangy mustard-maple sauce. Trader Joe's provided the tasty veggie-filled gyoza, and a fresh salad of mixed greens, strawberries, kidney beans, and sunflower seeds finished off the Friday fare.

The Goods: It's a bit of a ghost town here at the VNHQ today, with most of our staff out of the office. While they were dearly missed during our cherished lunchtime banter, an extra-cozy meal was the perfect Friday treat. Now if the sun would just come out in time for the long Labor Day weekend, we'd be set. Today also concludes our two fresh-faced editorial assistants' first week. Congratulations, Sara and Liz!

Le French Toast, Round Deux

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: Oh, hello. Yep, that's a big, beautiful plate of French toast you see. Is said toast smothered in sliced strawberries and fresh blackberries? Yes, yes it is. Is it also dusted with cinnamon-cocoa and powdered sugar? Yes. We are dead with glee. Oh, and what's over on the right-hand side? Just some roasted potatoes and kabocha squash with rosemary, that's all.

The Goods: What makes an awesome lunch of brunch even better? A fabulous guest, of course. Today we had the pleasure of dining with Lisa Jervis, the co-founder of Bitch Magazine. Though Lisa's no longer with Bitch, we enjoyed a little magazine shop talk at lunch. Want to have your mind totally blown? Bitch moved from Oakland, Calif., to Portland, Ore., which is where Lyndsay will be for the Let Live Conference this weekend. Whoa!

Brunch Week: Banana Rabanada

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: An astoundingly awesome brunch. Really, look at that thing. Colleen set out to end Brunch Week with a bang, which is precisely what she did. First and foremost, there's the Banana Rabanada (aka Brazilian French Toast). This is how French toast should always look: covered in strawberries and mint, and dusted with cinnamon-cocoa and powdered sugar. For the savory element, Colleen marinated and roasted both yellow and sweet potatoes, which we devoured. Finally, a refreshing slice of honeydew finished off the meal.

The Goods: Um, yes. This is what a plate of brunch should look like. Brunch Week has been amazing, and we're all stuffed to the gills. Vegan Brunch, consider your mission accomplished. There are two orders of business that need attending. First off, congratulations to Marni! Marni, send us an email with your full name and mailing address, and we'll send out your signed copy of Vegan Brunch! And second, for the very last copy of this utterly satisfying book, tell us: What should our next lunch theme be? Could be a type of food, or another cookbook from which to try recipes. Put your nominations in the comments!

Plenty o' Polenta

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: A big pile of polenta, topped with a wine-infused tomato sauce with simmered garlic, onions, raisins, and Swiss chard. A simple spinach salad turned into something spectacular with the addition of huge, ripe, delicious, amazing strawberries, which were hand-delivered, fresh from the farmers' market. They got tossed in with some cucumber, avocado, and pumpkin seeds, and topped with a cherry-balsamic vinaigrette.

The Goods: Not only were today's strawberries outrageously good, they were also a thoughtful gift from our lunch guests! We had the highly enjoyable company of Melissa's parents, Dave and Sue, which means that we have now met the entirety of la familia Feineman. Our guests lucked out on getting a very sunny day here in SF, which just might have thrilled us slightly more than it did them, since they are currently visiting from Texas, where the daily temperature hovers somewhere around 8 bajillion degrees.

Stupendous Celebration Brunch

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: An absolutely stellar brunch! It's difficult to decide where to begin when describing the awesomeness that is the plate you see before you, since everything was outrageously delicious. Up at the top there, we had an out-of-this-world tofu scramble, with cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, spinach, and a special blend of spices. Moving clockwise, we gobbled up garlic-roasted white and purple potatoes, which were crisp on the outside and perfectly cooked on the inside. Even today's salad boasted something special, with slices of strawberries drizzled in a homemade balsamic vinaigrette. Finally, oven-fresh blueberry scones finished off our heaving plates. Oh, and was there sparkling white wine and orange juice for mimosas and toasting? Yes, yes there was.

The Goods: So, as we're sure you all know already because you follow us on Twitter, VegNews is officially the recipient of not only Best Lifestyle Magazine in the 2009 Maggie Awards, but also of Best Website!! Yes, we're utterly freaking thrilled. To help us celebrate, Aimee and Allison of Vertebrae, the design firm that did our major website redesign in October last year, joined us for today's special lunch. And, just because she happened to be in town on this celebratory day, Yvonne Smith, aka The Traveling Vegetarian, also shared in the fun. And by fun we mean food and booze. And yes, we could totally deal with every Monday going exactly like this. Want to help us keep the celebration going? Then don't miss SF Vegan Drinks this Thursday!

Celebratory Drumsticks

The Chefs: Aurelia and Frankie

The Menu: Faux-chicken drumsticks slathered with barbecue sauce and baked to perfection were the main-course stars of today's stellar lunch. Potatoes sautéed with smoked paprika and kale and a bright salad of mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, avocado and strawberries—side note: is there anything better than strawberries in a salad? Yeah, we don't think so either—with a chopped basil vinaigrette made lovely complements to the faux-meaty main. Oh, and is that a little glass of bubbly? Well, yes and no. Yes, there are bubbles in that glass, but since we eat lunch at noon-thirty it was a tad on the early side for alcohol. Thank goodness for sparkling cider!

The Goods: Maybe you want to know why we're celebrating. Maybe it's because we got the absolutely fantastic news today that VegNews is a finalist for two (count 'em!) Eddie Awards! Maybe this is a huge freakin' deal and we are totally beside ourselves with glee. While we don't know which honor we've received yet (the Eddies have gold, silver, and bronze designations), we do know the categories which are Best Enthusiasts/Hobbyists Magazine, and Best Online Column or Blog. Yes, that means that you are right now, this very second, reading an award-winning blog. Eeeek! Preemptively feeling the celebratory spirit, Ms. Frankie brought in a delicious dessert—her signature fruit pizza! Oatmeal cookie crust meets pudding sauce meets fruit toppings. Yes, we're dead from excitement. And sugar. And glee. And eeep.