Quesadillas and Salad

The Chef: Hilary and Gracias Madre

The Menu: Sweet potato and caramelized onion quesadillas with cashew nacho cheese and pumpkin seed salsa; plus a salad of farm lettuce and stone fruit tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette, topped with toasted hazelnuts and served with grilled Acme bread and vegan queso blanco

The Dish: After a late night at Homestead celebrating a friend's birthday, my friend Kris and I decided to meet up mid-workday and take the Tuesday afternoon edge off via the ever-delicious culinary stylings of Gracias Madre. I needed something light due to my Cinnaholic hangover and vegan Japanese feast last night at Cha-Ya, so we decided to share a couple of the smaller dishes and call it a lunch. Every time I dine at Gracias Madre, I pray that they'll start selling vats of their incredible cashew cheese so that I can drench everything that I eat in it. They won the 2010 Veggie Award for Restaurant of the Year, and I can't wait to see who takes the top honors this year. Don't forget to vote! 

Kris loves vegan quesadillas and voting in the 2011 Veggie Awards.

Vegan Mexican Food and Confusion

The Chefs: Anna and Gracias Madre

The Menu: The torta-and-Caesar salad lunch special and olive oil-roasted potatoes topped with spicy cashew-nacho cheese

The Goods: I hadn't been to Gracias Madre in more than a month (blasphemy, I know!), so when my friend asked me where we should go for lunch, I knew just what to say. I decided to venture away from my typical order of tacos and instead noshed on the sandwich-tacular lunch special. The combination of creamy black beans, avocado, and cashew cheese with spicy pico de gallo and crunchy lettuce was heavenly, and the potatoes my friend and I shared didn't hurt, either. On my way home, I ran into VN Publisher Joseph Connelly at a nearby pizza place. I could have sworn it was a Gracias Madre-induced food coma (it's happened before), but Joe was noshing on a slice with decidedly non-vegan cheese topped with decidedly non-vegan pepperoni and sausage. Joseph said he was inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi's redefining of vegetarianism to include fish, and "just wanted to remember what pig tastes like." I can't really judge. I bake with refined sugar, after all. We might have lost Joseph, but at least we gained Paula Deen!

Psst...it's April Fool's!

Veggie Tacos and Black Beans

The Chefs: Jennifer and Gracias Madre

The Menu: Three corn tortilla tacos filled with seasonal greens, butternut squash, and mushrooms, topped with cashew cheese, and a side of black beans.

The Goods: When you have a bright, sunny day in the city, you take advantage of the free vitamin D and you dine outside. In this case, VN Managing Editor Elizabeth Castoria and I had lunch with cookbook author Terry Walters whose latest book is Clean Start. Walters is on her book tour and visiting from Connecticut (where it was five degrees) so she was delighted to soak up the sun and try the deliciousness that is Gracias Madre. As you know, we're a bit obsessed with this vegan Mexican organic eatery. Sometimes so obsessed, we might forget to take a picture of the actual tacos we ate. But luckily, I'm not the only one who loves the tacos (thanks, Lyndsay!). Walters is a big proponent of eating fruits and vegetables so that you have a rainbow of color on your plate. After she mentioned that, I wised up and ordered some nice butternut squash, greens, and some roasted mushrooms in my tacos. Eating well never tasted so delicious.

The 2010 VN Holiday Lunch!

The Chefs: Colleen and Frankie

The Menu: Today we feasted on what is quite possibly our favorite dish of all time: the VN Mac 'n' Cheese. We know that it's a special day when this baby is taken out of the oven. Colleen also made an incredible side salad, with mixed greens, sliced apples, toasted walnuts, and a maple-balsamic vinaigrette. Colleen wasn't the only one contributing to today's awesome eats, however. The VN cheesemaker extraordinaire, aka Frankie, brought in her latest: peppercorn soft cheese. Yes, this totally homemade, vegan cheese deserves its own photo.


The Goods: Hello, holiday luncheon! If there's one dish we could eat at every celebration for the rest of our lives, it is this Mac 'n' Cheese. Today was the first time that VegWebmistress Laura Hooper Beck tried it, and she died of joy, appropriately. The reason for the fancy eats is that today we toasted 2010, VegNews style. It's been an incredible year in many ways (ahem, just to name a few, remember that 10th Anniversary Issue, our first Great Adventure to India, or our brand-new stylish digs?), and it was wonderful to have the whole staff together to celebrate. It's also when the staff receives holiday gifts from our publishers, Joseph and Colleen. The gifts are always a-ma-zing—last year, we all got Vita-Mixes!—and this year proved just as exciting! Come 2011, you'll see the VN staff cruising around town in our very own Vaute Couture coats!! Pandemonium erupted when we all opened our gifts—it's not every day that you get to take home an amazing coat by a completely phenomenal vegan company on the cutting edge of fashion! Here's hoping everyone has had an equally fantastic day, and thanks to all who've been part of VN in 2010!

Gracias Madre Special

The Chef: Elizabeth and Gracias Madre

The Menu: GM's signature lunch special, featuring a fully loaded torta (the sandwich) with black beans, sauteed chiles, cashew cheese, avocado, pickles, and romaine on a delicious roll, a side Caesar salad, and house-made pickles. Yes, you get that all for $10. Yes, the green juice is also delicious!

The Goods: Today I had the pleasure of dining with VN columnist, vegansaur, and all-around human extradorinaire, Laura Hooper Beck. Though I've often (read: nearly every day since we moved offices) enjoyed the lunch special at GM, Laura had never had it and I was thrilled to have the excuse of introducing it to someone new to feast upon it again. You know what else is good enough to eat again and again? Wasabi & Soy Sauce Almonds. Once this torta settles, I'm hoping for a handful—or 10—of these.

Flour-Free Fajitas

The Chef: Elizabeth

The Menu: Free-form fajitas featuring pan-friend tempeh and veggies including carrot, bell pepper, onion, tomato, garlic, and spices served over fluffy, flavorful basmati rice. Elizabeth finished off this free-form fajita feast with a great green salad of spinach, carrot, tomato, and sunflower seeds.

The Goods: Who says a hearty helping of fajitas calls for an extra side of carbs? We say, in a pinch, the exclusion of tortillas doesn't matter one bit—it's the savory fixins' that really make the fajita. While we wouldn't say that these fabulous fajitas were exactly skinny, we do think they'd meet the approval of one Skinny Bitch author, Ms. Rory Freedman. In Skinny Bitch, Freedman, along with co-author Kim Barnouin, discuss the pros of whole grain carbs and meat-free substitutes, so we think they'd love our Latin-inspired lunch. Want to win a copy of Skinny Bitch and read all about it for yourself? Enter VN's weekly giveaway for the chance to win a copy, along with a signed copy of our 2008 Veggie Awards Issue featuring cover girl Rory Freedman.