Sweet Potato Appetizer Bites

These sweet potato bites are a fun and festive party appetizer! A nutty, tangy avocado tartare tops thin rounds of roasted sweet potato.

How cute are these sweet potato appetizer bites?! The topping is my plant-based riff on classic tuna tartare, with diced avocado in place of the fish. It tastes fantastic, with a yummy mix of nutty, tangy, creamy, and crunchy elements. It’s also pretty! The vibrant sweet potato contrasts with the pale avocado, and watermelon radish adds a big pop of pink. If you ask me, these sweet potato bites are almost as fun to look at as they are to eat. Speaking of eating, these sweet potato appetizer bites are totally vegan and gluten-free! As a result, they’re a perfect…

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Citrus Cabbage Salad

This napa cabbage salad is a stunning showcase for colorful winter produce. Sweet & tangy with lots of veggie crunch, it's an entertaining showstopper.

There’s exactly one thing I love about winter – the colorful produce! I know, I know, the winter is not so bad here in Austin, but I feel for those of you up north, because I used to be one of you. I live for warm sunny days, so I made this cabbage salad of bright winter produce with you in mind – to send some love – and lemons… and well, also some clementines. What’s in this Cabbage Salad Recipe? This recipe includes two major categories of ingredients. You start with a base of crispy veggies: Cabbage –  Tender napa cabbage or savoy…

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Raspberry Vegan Cheesecake

A tart raspberry layer, a creamy "cheesecake" layer, and a gluten-free walnut crust make this easy vegan cheesecake recipe tangy, rich & delicious.

Happy early Valentine’s day… or Galentines Day… or whatever holiday you like to celebrate with heart-shaped treats and little paper cards. As I’ve written about many times before, Jack and I have this Chocolate Molten Cake Valentine’s tradition. This year I switched things up a bit and made this decadent yet mostly raw raspberry vegan cheesecake. How cute are those layers!? Vegan Cheesecake Recipe Variations I have two versions below – one version uses raw cashews for the white “cheesecake” layer and the other version uses vegan cream cheese. I wanted to offer these two options because one requires a fancy…

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Lemon Shortbread Cookies

These lemon shortbread cookies are a fan favorite, and once you try them, you'll see why! They're tender, buttery, and filled with bright lemon flavor.

When life hands you lemons, make lemon shortbread cookies! When we first planted our lemon tree, I had this romantic idea that I’d be able to pick fresh lemons all year round. Obviously, I’m not good with plants, or I would have known that the famous saying is literally true. You get lemons once a year, and you get a lot of them. Needless to say, life has been lemony lately in many ways, but today it’s all about these lovely lemon shortbread cookies. Lemon Shortbread Cookies Ingredients When I was testing this recipe, I made a ton of lemon…

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Creamy Polenta Recipe with Roasted Beets

Top creamy polenta with lemony raw & roasted beets, and you have a healthy, comforting, delicious dinner. Great for date nights!

We celebrated Valentine’s day early this year with this creamy polenta recipe. We actually celebrate most holidays early around here… at least food-wise. Christmas cookies in October, Thanksgiving food in late August and so on.  I’m not sure what we’re doing for “real” Valentine’s yet – but once I got this recipe just right and the pictures were done, Jack and I sat down to a romantic (albeit reheated) meal for two. The only caveat – Jack doesn’t like beets. He’s not a picky eater but beets are on his short list of foods he usually won’t touch. I originally tried…

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Winter Spiced Moscow Mule

A fun and festive holiday spin on a Moscow Mule - perfect for New Years Eve! This healthier version uses ginger kombucha instead of ginger beer.

Hello from Holiday Vacation-land… aka, my parents house where Jack and I have been spending the week. We flew in just in time to have a white Christmas before the snow melted. Other than spending time with family, we’ve been spending time in the house because we’re really not winter people. I binge-watched Shirley Temple movies; Jack fixed my parents computer. We’ve been eating my mom’s Christmas cookies, and I’ve been working on a few new recipes – spending time in front of the stove is the best way to stay warm around here! All in all, it’s been a much-needed…

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Vegan Gingerbread Cookies

These vegan gingerbread cookies are perfect for the holidays! Soft, chewy, and deliciously spiced, they're fun to make, fun to decorate, and fun to eat.

These vegan gingerbread cookies might just be my new favorite holiday cookie! They’re so good that I’ve made them quite a few times this month already. We (ahem, Jack) kept devouring batch after batch, so I just had to make them again this weekend so we could snap some photos and share them with all of you! These vegan gingerbread cookies are soft, chewy, and deliciously spiced. If you ask me, they’re just as good as traditional gingerbread, but they’re made with wholesome, plant-based ingredients like coconut sugar, coconut oil, and almond butter – my secret ingredient. It makes these…

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Brussels Sprout Salad Avocado Toast

This smashed avocado toast is topped with a tangy Brussels Sprouts salad. Great for breakfast, a snack, or to serve to family.

There’s a shaved Brussels sprout salad in our Cookbook (page 68) that’s one of my go-to salads in the fall and/or winter. It has a tangy citrusy dressing and it’s tossed with cranberries and pine nuts. A few weeks ago while I was planning to make that salad for Thanksgiving, I saw a sprout and ricotta toast recipe on Epicurious and got the idea that my favorite little salad would make a bright festive appetizer. Instead of using ricotta cheese to hold the filling onto the toast I used smashed avocado – because I can never resist yet another seasonal avocado toast. This…

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Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

Topped with a sweet and savory rosemary cashew cream and a lemony broccoli salad, these twice baked sweet potatoes are totally irresistible.

These twice baked sweet potatoes are a complete departure from the sweet potatoes I ate growing up. Then, I only had them once a year at Thanksgiving, where they were layered into a casserole loaded with mini marshmallows. For years, I thought I didn’t like sweet potatoes. It turns out, that casserole was just too sweet for me! I actually love sweet potatoes, but not when they’re loaded with brown sugar and marshmallows. These twice baked sweet potatoes are a perfect balance of sweet and savory. They take the potatoes’ natural sweetness and offset it with cozy, bright, and tangy flavors.…

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Sweet Tea Sparkling Apple Cider

Sweet Tea Sparkling Apple Cider is the best fall/Thanksgiving cocktail! With just 6 ingredients, it's easy to make and full of festive fall flavors!

Happy almost-Thanksgiving week! Do you have your menu set? Are you getting together with family or having a Friendsgiving? Either way – here’s a sweet and oh-so-pretty cocktail that would be lovely for your turkey day. This one couldn’t be easier: mix apple cider with iced tea, let it chill for about 2 hours with diced apples, cinnamon sticks and star anise. When your guests arrive, pull it out of the fridge and serve with sparkling wine. That’s it!

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Red Curry Kuri Squash Soup

This creamy curried squash soup comes together in two easy steps: roast & blend! Made with coconut milk and plenty of veggies, it's totally vegan.

I had this red kuri squash sitting on my countertop for the longest time. I didn’t really know what to do with it until I picked up some lemongrass from the market and then it hit me – Red Curry Kuri soup! They say “what grows together goes together.” Well in this case, what rhymes together… also works. If you can’t find a red kuri squash, you could sub in kabocha squash or butternut squash. If you can’t find lemongrass, use a bit of lime zest here instead. The rest is pretty straight forward and simple – plus this is…

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A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.