Vegan Cheese

This oozy, gooey vegan cheese sauce is just as good as the real thing! Versatile and easy to make, it's delicious on pasta, nachos, and more.

You don’t have to be vegan to fall for this vegan cheese recipe! It’s creamy, tangy, and rich, with a crave-worthy oozy texture just like that of dairy-based cheese sauce. Even Jack – the biggest real cheese lover I know – adores this recipe. Last time I made it, we stood at the counter, scooping it up with tortilla chips. We only got halfway through the first batch before we decided to make a second. Yep, it’s that good! Serve this vegan cheese as a dip with tortilla chips or fresh veggies, toss it with pasta to make vegan mac…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Best Homemade Brownies

The BEST brownie recipe! With crispy edges, fudgy middles, and rich chocolate flavor, these homemade brownies will disappear in no time.

For years, I couldn’t seem to find a recipe for brownies that met my standards. Anytime I made homemade brownies, I wanted them to be just like the ones I ate as a kid – super fudgy, moist, and chocolaty, with crispy edges and crackly tops. But the thing is, these brownies didn’t come from a recipe. We always made them from a box. Nowadays, I prefer to bake from scratch, but no brownie recipe I tried could live up to the chocolate brownies of my childhood. So this fall, as I flipped through Michelle Lopez’s new book Weeknight Baking,…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

How to Make Cashew Cream

This easy vegan cashew cream is a delicious dairy-free alternative to sour or heavy cream! It's creamy, versatile, tangy, and bright. What's not to love?

If you’re interested in eating more plant-based recipes, cashew cream will be your new best friend. It’s easy to make, it requires just 6 ingredients, and it’s every bit as rich and creamy as sour or heavy cream. I love to add it to creamy vegan pasta sauces, top it onto baked potatoes, serve it over burrito bowls, and more! My vegan cashew cream recipe uses basic ingredients. Raw cashews make it thick and creamy, water helps it blend, extra-virgin olive oil adds richness, and lemon juice, garlic, and salt give it a bright, tangy flavor. To make it, just…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Vegan Bacon

Learn how to make vegan bacon three ways! Crispy, smoky, salty, and slightly sweet, it's just as good as the real thing.

Whenever I take a tray of vegan bacon out of the oven, Jack, my bacon-loving husband, appears instantly. “What’s this?” he asks. As soon as I say, “Vegan bacon,” he reaches for it right away. Now, Jack is no fool. I make vegan bacon three ways: with tempeh, with coconut, and with shiitake mushrooms. None of these ingredients transforms into an exact replica of real bacon, and they wouldn’t fool him for a second. However, seasoned the right way, they have all the traits that make bacon so irresistible: they’re smoky, salty, and slightly sweet with a perfect crispy texture.…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Homemade Taquitos

Meet my new favorite appetizer: Baked Green Chile Taquitos! They're crispy on the outside, gooey in the middle, tangy, lightly spicy, and so. much. fun!

Who would have guessed that moving to Chicago would have made me a taquitos fan? Just after Jack and I moved here, a new bar opened up down the block from our house. At first, we went there for drinks, but we’ve kept going back for taquitos! As it turns out, this bar has an inventive chef who comes up with a rotating menu of homemade taquitos. They make their tortillas from scratch and stuff them with seasonal, local ingredients. After just a few visits, Jack and I were total taquitos converts, and I knew I had to try making…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Easy Peanut Sauce

Try this easy peanut sauce recipe once, and you'll want to have it on hand at all times. It's perfect for jazzing up noodles, salads, bowls, and more!

Does anyone else absolutely love peanut sauce? Creamy, spicy, savory, and a little sweet, it’s a sauce that I’m equally happy drizzling over dinner or enjoying straight off a spoon. I can’t get enough! This peanut sauce recipe the first thing I turn to whenever I want to jazz up a simple stir fry, bowl, or salad at home. It’s super easy to make, and it calls for basic pantry ingredients that you likely already have on hand (no fish sauce here!). Peanut butter gives it creamy texture, rice vinegar or lime juice makes it nice and tangy, tamari or…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Peanut Summer Rolls

Fresh veggies, herbs, and peanut noodles pack these summer rolls with bright, refreshing flavors. They're a delicious appetizer or light lunch!

Summer rolls are my favorite thing to make when I’m craving something light and healthy, but totally fun. I love stuffing rice paper wrappers with lots of fresh produce, mixing together a flavorful dipping sauce, and digging in! In this recipe, I toss noodles with an easy, sweet and savory peanut sauce made of peanut butter, sriracha, tamari, and a drop of maple syrup. Then, I roll the noodles into wrappers with avocado, sautéed mushrooms, green onion, and fresh basil and mint. How to Make Summer Rolls If you’ve never made fresh rolls like these before, it may seem intimidating,…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Avocado Toast

Love avocado toast? Learn how to take it to the next level with this simple recipe (+5 amazing variations!) and my best tips and tricks!

When avocado toast came onto the scene years ago, lots of people wrote it off as a trend. But as someone who still eats it for breakfast or lunch a few times a week, I have to say that I think avocado toast is here to stay! It’s super easy to make, it’s healthy and satisfying, and it’s a blank canvas for flavorful seasonal toppings. What’s not to love? Below, you’ll find my basic avocado toast recipe along with 5 fun & fancy variations. Whether you toss them together for breakfast, enjoy them for lunch, or make them for a…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Marinara Sauce

Make this homemade marinara sauce recipe once, and you'll never get the store-bought kind again! It's simple to make, and it has a rich tomato flavor.

Buying marinara sauce is easy, but I’ll let you in on a secret: so is making your own! Meet my go-to homemade marinara sauce recipe. It’s simple to make – all you need are 10 pantry ingredients and 30 minutes – and it tastes immeasurably better than any kind I’ve found in a jar. Its base is canned crushed tomatoes with their juices, which I simmer with sautéed shallot and garlic for depth of flavor. Red pepper flakes give it a touch of heat, and dried oregano adds Italian flair. Balsamic vinegar makes it nice and tangy, while salt and…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Spinach Artichoke Dip

This baked spinach artichoke dip is a guaranteed party hit! It's deliciously creamy and cheesy, but shhh! A secret veggie ingredient is hiding inside it.

If you want to impress guests at your next holiday party, make this spinach artichoke dip! It’s creamy, cheesy, and rich with briny artichoke flavor. In fact, it’s so good that every time we make it, Jack and I devour it standing at the kitchen counter. We can’t get enough! But I’ll let you in on a secret: this spinach artichoke dip is made of mostly veggies. Sure, it’s loaded with the essentials – spinach and artichokes – but it also contains a surprising veggie ingredient: cauliflower! Instead of using cream cheese, sour cream, or mayonnaise to make this dip’s…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

How to Make Oatmeal

Learn how to make oatmeal on the stovetop and in the microwave! Piled with your favorite toppings, this easy oatmeal recipe is healthy and delicious.

Let’s make oatmeal! This healthy breakfast is warm, creamy, and SO easy to make. I think it’s delicious with toppings like nut butter and fresh fruit. I didn’t always feel this way. When I was in college, I made instant oatmeal every single morning. By the end of those four years, I didn’t want to see a bowl of oatmeal again, let alone eat one. I thought oats were bland and mushy—totally not for me. But over the years, oatmeal recipes like overnight oats and steel cut oats have gotten me back onto the oatmeal train. I’m committed to getting fellow oat skeptics…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>
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.