No-Oil Hummus Wrap and Mushroom Barley Soup

The Chefs: Hilary and Whole Foods Market

The Menu: A no-oil hummus wrap filled with carrots, tomato, lettuce, and avocado, and a comforting bowl of mushroom-barley soup. 

The Goods: While I've oft heard healthy-eating buffs such as the Esselstyns extol the virtues of a no-oil diet, I never had the incentive to give it a shot for myself (I've noticed that things that are bad for you taste good! Weird!). But, whilst idly shopping at Whole Foods today, I saw that they had prepackaged wraps of the oil-free persuasion and decided to go for it—but paired with a rich soup just in case. It tasted like health, which I suppose is a good thing. I'll be ditching the coat in favor of cutoffs next month for Coachella Music Festival (as will Online Editor Anna Peraino) and I can't wait to swelter in the desert heat. Will you also be in attendance? Check out our guide to a Weekend Getaway to Palm Springs for the scoop on the best food and fun under the Mojave sun. 

Wraps, Collards, & Kale Salad

The Chef: Abby

The Menu: Half wraps! Abby baked Mediterranean Couscous wraps and Veggie Curry wraps by Evol Foods and served half of each with a comforting side of sautéed collards mixed with mushroom and onion. Abby finished off this perfect Friday feast with a crunchy kale salad complete with carrot, cabbage, and avocado.

The Goods: We're big fans of these flaky, splendidly seasoned wraps that boast big, creative flavor and healthy, mostly organic ingredients. These tasty vegan wraps also pack a powerful nutritional punch, with both clocking in at more than 10 grams of protein a piece. Yep, lets just say that the next time we hear that tired old question, "Where do vegans get their protein?" we'll be answering, "Evol wraps. Duh."

Black Bean and Broccoli Wraps

The Chef: Abby

The Menu: A very tasty, and beautifully presented, array of treats wrapped in tortillas, which, as you may know, is pretty much the best way to eat anything. Today we wrapped broccoli, black beans, sweet potatoes, carrots, quinoa, and salsa all up in whole-wheat tortillas. Abby also made flattened biscuits, which also seemed vaguely tortilla-esque, aka delicious. Finally, a simple salad finished off our plates.

The Goods: It's the weekend! We like that! Here's to enjoying some quality time with your non-work life. Speaking of non-work, are you in need of a vacation? Perhaps one in India? With us?! If you want to take part in our first-ever VegNews Great Adventure to India, the time to reserve your space is now. The trip is already half sold-out!

Wrap-It-Up Wraps

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: Some hearty, delicious wraps that may have been inspired by what we had in the kitchen. What we had, it turns out, were whole-wheat wraps, pinto beans, greens, mushrooms, carrots, and potatoes. Colleen roasted the spuds, sautéed the beans, 'shrooms, and carrots, and wrapped everything together with mashed avocado. Yum.

The Goods: We're not bragging, but this week we might have whipped up one of our all-time favorite covers, double checked our document, and talked endlessly about Thanksgiving. Oh, did you know that's happening next week? If you are in a panic over what to serve, take the advice of one of our favorite chefs, Jesse Miner. He'll be chatting away over on VegWeb this Sunday, answering all your vegan holiday questions. The guy knows his stuff, including knowing the way into our hearts, which—as if there were any question—is through chocolate. Jesse joined us today and generously brought along chocolate-covered peanut-butter truffles. Um, yeah. That's how you wrap up a week!

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.

Time-Warp Wraps

The Chef: Aurelia

The Menu: Lickety-split teriyaki wraps courtesy of Amy's Kitchen—yes, one of the awesome job perks here is getting to try brand-new yummy wraps—steamed broccoli and cauliflower, a lovely salad with peppery radishes, and a couple of extra-freaking-super garlicky dips. Like, no joke, we are one vampire-free office right now. Yes, we totally pity the fools who are so unlucky as to be seated near us on the plane later today.

The Goods: Today's lunch was not only appropriate because it was a time saver, but also got our new-product-testing game faces on, which we'll definitely need down at Expo West this weekend. Sadly, our trip south means that today's is the last lunch entry for the week, but rest assured that we'll be back in action come Monday!

Cookbook Week: The Vegan Soulfood Guide to the Galaxy

The Chef: Lyndsay

The Menu: Some seriously good soul food! Today's Tofu-Tater Wraps started out with whole-wheat tortillas, which Ms. Lyndsay topped with marinated tofu and very peppery seasoned potatoes. Next came a layer of spinach, tomatoes, onions, and avocado, all of which we doused with a savory dijon-soy dressing. Hearty and healthy are definitely how we'd describe this meal, which is just how we like to start out the week.

The Goods: Yes! Cookbook week is back by popular demand! Well, OK, technically no one demanded it, but we couldn't bear to keep all the great cookbooks in the office to ourselves. This week we'll all be making meals straight from the pages of hot, new cookbooks. Today's effort comes from The Vegan Soulfood Guide to the Galaxy by Afya Ibomu, and, according to Lyndsay, the recipe was very easy to follow and well-organized. According to all of us, the results were delicious and we can't wait to bring you more cookbook-centered creations! Happy MLK day!

Warm-Up Wraps

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: A light lunch of very yummy wraps. Like all good things, these started with whole-wheat tortillas, which we then topped with freshly made hummus and a salad of marinated collard greens, shredded carrots, cubed tofu, sliced mushrooms, and chopped onions. In a word, today's eats were stupendous.

The Goods: So, as delectable as Colleen's meal was, it also served a secret agenda. What could possibly be better than a freshly made wrap of greens, you ask? Oh, maybe a little something we like to call the VN Holiday Party which will be held tonight at Millennium! We consider ourselves very lucky to get to dine in such high style this evening, and in preparation for what is sure to be a flat-out phenomenal meal, Colleen was kind enough to keep lunch on the lighter side. Now that our stomachs are all warmed up to the idea of food, they'll be good and ready to get stuffed with amazing edibles this evening! As we're pretty sure ours isn't the only festivity going on tonight, let us officially say, Happy Holiday Party Season!

Vegan à Go-Go! Week: Day Four

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: Aloo-Yoop Curry Potato Wraps! Between yesterday's burritos and today's awesome main dish, we are getting spoiled rotten with yummy wraps! Colleen busted out these inventive, flavorful goodies—straight from the pages of Vegan à Go-Go!, of course—using freshly warmed tortillas, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, garbanzo beans, peas, coconut milk, and curry spices. Savory and just a teeny bit sweet, we each could have eaten about six of these were it not for the fact that they were also totally filling. Colleen also made a blended balsamic vinaigrette which she poured over romaine, spinach, tomatoes, and grated zucchini for a perfect side salad.

The Goods: And so Vegan à Go-Go! week comes to a close. We've been having a great time making recipes from this little book, and if you're curious to know the whole scoop be sure to look for a full review in the pages of the January+February issue of VegNews! Speaking of things that are coming to an end, today is the last day to get your comments in on our Press Pass giveaway, so don't delay!

Rad Wraps

The Chef: Aurelia

The Menu: Big, warm, yummy tortillas filled to the brim with seasoned potatoes, roasted zucchini and bell peppers, romaine, avocado, tomato, and a delicious mixture of tofu, onions, and smoked paprika. With a light splash of homemade vinaigrette, these hand-holds were flavorful and filling.

The Goods: As of today, we have officially less than a month left before a certain event. In case you somehow haven't already heard, Sarah Kramer is making her triumphant return to the world of cookbook publishing, and we're throwing her a little party. Tickets are available now, so be sure to reserve yours before they sell out. Mini root-beer floats, retro snacks, and faux tattoos will be the order of the evening, so break out your kitten heels and skinny ties, and we'll have ourselves a bash!

Chapati Party

The Chef: Colleen & Frankie

The Menu: Folks, feast your eyes upon our "all-you-can-squeeze- spread-and-stuff-into-a-chapati" event. Beginning with pan-fried black beans and rice, we piled Frankie's smokey homemade un-turkey, vegan mayonnaise, avocado, and a crisp cherry tomato and romaine salad onto the warmed flatbreads for a complementary explosion of distinct flavors—and a sticky, two-handed, delicious mess.

The Goods: Not only is today the sunniest Friday we've had in weeks, we're less than a week away from our issue launch party! We're so excited that we're plowing through our respective piles of work so we can join the masses on the beach—and attend to last-minute party details. When it comes time to wrap up the work-week, we want to know what ya'll look forward to the most about the weekend?

California Wraps

The Chef: Colleen

The Menu: A warm, sunny San Francisco day calls for true California fare, so we celebrated with a warm whole-wheat tortilla smothered with housemade guacamole and topped with organic vegetables, pinto beans, and cured olives. Surprisingly satisfying, we all returned to our desks feeling healthy and nourished. Now if we could just control that sweet tooth ...

The Goods: As you know, we've been busy testing recipes all week for our first-ever Reader Recipe Showdown. Although the testing is complete, the fridge was teeming with leftover produce, providing the perfect provisions for a summer meal. Knowing San Francisco, however, we'll be back to our soups, curries, and stir-frys next week as the real summer weather kicks in! Here in SF, that means the mercury drops and the fog rolls in.

And because we love our readers, we currently have TWO very-fabulous giveaways going on. The first is right here on Café VegNews and ends today. Simply tell us what your ideal post-fast meal would be (if you've ever done a cleanse, you know you do nothing but obsess about food). On Press Pass, we're giving away a very-heavy, very-filled Farm Sanctuary Gala goodie bag, complete with a Matt & Nat silver tote, a white-chocolate-covered pretzel from VeganTreats, energy bars, vegan cookies, doggie treats, Beverly Lynn Bennett's latest cookbook, a soy candle, body creme, and much more. Just let us know why you want it, and you may win it! Have a great weekend, everyone, and we'll see you on Monday—same time, same place.