Everything-but-the-kitchen-sink Sandwiches

The Chefs: Stacy and Melissa

The Menu: A smorgasbord of sandwiches! Our chefs today used just about everything they could from the fridge, and the results were as delicious as they were varied. Melissa whipped up a lovely tofu salad with almonds, raisins, celery, and a touch of curry powder, which we slathered on toasted bread and topped with Tofurky slices, baby spinach, grated carrots, and more condiments than we could count. Some of Aurelia's awesome millet salad got reinvented with the addition of grated beets and carrots, sliced zucchini, and chopped green onions. We also doused carrot sticks, baby white carrots, and chips with Roasted Mole sauce, garlic dips, and spiced ketchups.

The Goods: Usually Fridays serve as our clean-out-the-fridge days, but today our chef tag-team pulled out all the stops. It's amazing just how many different condiments one magazine staff can fit into a standard-size refrigerator. Sandwiches are pretty much made for loading up with savory extras, which means that today's meal was pretty much perfect.

Millet Mania

The Chef: Aurelia

The Menu: A lovely combination of soup, salad, and toasted bread smothered in Parma. Do we like three-course lunches? Yes, indeed we do. The grain in today's salad was millet, which Aurelia mixed with kidney beans, chopped red onions, diced carrots, raisins, and baby spinach, onto which we all dumped slightly embarrassing amounts of Parma. Yes, we pretty much do that with everything that comes across our plates. The soup was a blend of potatoes, onions, and green chiles, which combined for a warm, flavorful effect. Multigrain bread, which we're pretty sure also contained millet, got toasted and topped with Parma, then heartily devoured.

The Goods: Today we got not only to eat a delicious lunch, but also to enjoy it with the company of a special guest. Our editorial assistant, Stacy, invited her twin sister to join us today, and it was a treat to get to host Kelly, who's recently moved to SF. Yes, you get extra points if you can tell which lovely lady below is Stacy and which one is Kelly. (Here's a hint: you can find photos of Stacy on Press Pass and on VegNews.com.)

Award-Winning African Stew

The Chef: Jill Nussinow, The Veggie Queen

The Menu: An award-winning West African sweet potato stew served over a perfectly fluffy bed of millet and absolutely delicious winter salad. The savory stew had tomatoes, swiss chard, peanut butter, and just a little kick of ginger. A slightly sweet salad of greens, persimmons, and dried cranberries dressed in a balsamic vinaigrette completed the yummy meal.

The Goods: Today's lunch was full of treats! First of all, it's not every day that we have a cookbook author come over and make lunch for us. Not only did we get the day off from cooking, but lunch was absolutely scrumptious. Jill also gave us her tips for perfect pressure-cooker meals, which sounded totally ideal for the coming winter nights. Here's the whole gang: