Colleen's Friday Salad

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: My favorite lunchtime salad—organic greens, English cucumber, cherry tomatoes, olives, shredded carrot, green onion, avocado, fresh garlic, and grilled Gardein "chicken", all tossed in an orange-balsamic vinaigrette.

The Goods: I am a creature of habit, what can I say. I'll do my best to change up my go-to lunchtime meal, but you'll most likely be seeing some variation of this (delicious) salad every Friday. Don't get me wrong—the food in the Mission is as good as it gets (vegan Mexican, Japanese, comfort food, raw food, fresh-baked pies, and so much more literally exists all within a two-block radius of the new VNHQ), but I enjoy bringing my own lunch. I like to eat as much organic as possible, I like to know where my food comes from, and it just tastes good. For some major homemade-food inspiration, have you seen the just-released VegNews Holiday Cookbook? VegNews' editors have armed you with everything you need this Thanksgiving to create an unforgettable vegan feast. Get your copy now! And have a wonderful weekend.

Soup and Salad

The Chefs: Colleen and Chas

The Menu: A classic lunch combo, le soup et salad. The soup was a stew of sorts with potatoes, carrots, veggies, and other goodies while the salad included romaine lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, grated carrots, and avocado.

The Goods: If you're hoping that the mention of Chas in the chefs here is our subtle way of announcing that our lunchtime hero has returned, you're not alone. (Seriously, we miss that guy big time.) Unfortunately, he has not. He did, however, freeze one of his amazing soups for us before he departed, which Colleen thawed out today and paired with a delicious side salad for a perfect end-of-the-week lunch. Today did see the return of another of our favorite fellows, Mr. Paul Russell, tech guru extraordinaire to VN. He's now on his way back to his native England, but it was lovely to lunch with him while he was in town. With that, we bid you all a happy weekend!