Butternut Squash, Kale & Quinoa Stew

This spiced fall stew is full of butternut squash, kale, quinoa & tomatoes. It's one of our favorite healthy dinners, and it's great to pack for lunch!

And soup season continues! It might not be snowing here, but the fact that it’s been 80 degrees outside doesn’t stop me from craving big pots of stewy vegetables. Plus I just love having the leftovers around for lunch all week. They get better on the second day, and even better on the third day. This stew has pretty much all of my favorites: hearty butternut squash, quinoa & kale. It all gets simmered in a stewy tomato broth. It’s a pretty simple recipe that you should spice up as much as you like. I used cumin, coriander & smoked paprika, but…

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Valentine’s Molten Chocolate Cakes

Valentine's Day = time for molten chocolate cake! With 6 ingredients & 20 minutes, you'll have the perfect treat to share with someone you love.

Happy almost-Valentine’s Day! Jack here reporting on my first baking love – molten chocolate cake. See, way before this blog, I pretty much had one staple “date night” dish. That dish was seared scallops and it was always a hit. Well, one Valentine’s Day, I decided to kick it up a notch and shoot for the moon… by trying out molten chocolate cakes. I had never made anything like a molten chocolate cake before, and for those unfamiliar, it’s a cake that spills out chocolate sauce when you cut into it. It’s a great show when it works. My first time making…

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Roasted Cauliflower Kale Salad

When I want a fast, healthy meal, this salad is my go-to recipe. I dress it up with fresh citrus juices, seasonal veggies, and my favorite nuts & cheese.

When I’m not in the mood to cook (and yes, that happens), our dinner often looks something like this roasted cauliflower salad. While there are a lot of salads on this blog, I probably don’t post as many kale salads as I actually consume. I love them because they’re hearty and filling and are pretty much a blank canvas for any seasonal vegetable. Plus, they’re great to pack away for lunch the next day. Kale might be “so last year,” but it’ll always have a special place in my heart. How to Make This Roasted Cauliflower Salad This is a…

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Peanut Butter Goji Berry Granola Bars

Delicious & healthy homemade granola bars made with peanut butter, goji berries, pepitas, pistachios, and a little chocolate. Gluten-free and easy to make!

Happy New Year! Today I’m guest posting over at Better Homes and Gardens’ Dish Delish Blog. These granola bars were inspired by their recipe for Chocolate-Peanut Butter Granola Bars, which reminded me of the ones my mom used to pack into my school lunch everyday. I might not have that Barbie and the Rockers lunchbox anymore, but I thought it would be fun to recreate this favorite afternoon treat in a healthier way. My version is packed with goji berries, chia seeds, pistachios, pepitas, (and of course, chocolate)… These are so quick & easy to make. Click over to the BHG Dish…

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Buttercup Squash Crumble Bars

The ultimate fall dessert - these crumbly, creamy butternut squash bars are topped with chocolate and coconut. (Plus a video!!)

I had this buttercup squash (perhaps the funkiest looking squash of them all), sitting on my countertop for the longest time. It likely would have become soup had it not been for the name itself –  “buttercup” which spoke to me and said: let’s make a crumbly & buttery dessert! I won’t go as far to say this is healthy, but hey, it’s the holidays and we’re making dessert, so let’s live a little. These bars are made with good quality organic ingredients (and remember: squash). This recipe is loosely based on my recipe for raspberry crumble bars. I switched out…

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Vegan Kale & Artichoke Dip

Vegan Kale & Artichoke dip is a healthy spin on the classic spinach artichoke dip. It's the perfect appetizer for holiday parties or winter gatherings!

Hey all, Jack here – now that it’s the end of the year, it’s holiday party time! And what does it normally mean to eat at a party in the winter? To a lot of Americans, that means spinach artichoke dip. I mean, what makes you feel like partying more than eating an entire loaf of bread dipped in cream cheese and mayonnaise? Well, Jeanine and I don’t really think that’s much of a party any more. Our idea of a party is one where the next day you (or your guests) don’t feel awful. So we took a bit of…

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Mini Sweet Potato Pizzas

our Mini Sweet Potato Pizzas are topped with brussels sprouts and kale. Customize the recipe with ingredients you happen to have on hand.

I feel like I missed the boat on the Thanksgiving leftover trend – sorry no mashed potato sandwiches happened here. (and um, eww). Instead, I turned a bunch of random veggie scraps and a chunk of red onion into fancy little veggie packed pizzas. In other words – it’s pretty much a non-recipe made on mini naan breads. You can customize these with whatever veggies you have on hand. Red onion and brussels sprouts are a tried & true combo (this recipe is still one of our favorites), and the sweet potatoes add a nice hearty bite. I slathered ricotta cheese…

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Sweet Harvest Pumpkin Ice Cream

Made with just 4 ingredients, this vegan Pumpkin Black Tea Ice Cream recipe is a simple & healthy pumpkin spice treat! Perfect for fall and winter holidays.

Are you all pumpkin-ed out yet? Hopefully not – but even if you are, you just have to try this one. If you’ve been following for long you know I have just a slight love for ice creams made with coconut milk. But this one? This one not only takes the cake but probably the pumpkin and apple pies too. It’s a rich & creamy, yet healthier, take on holiday desserts. I’ve had tea ice cream on my mind ever since tasting a tea-infused sorbet while visiting Celestial Seasonings last month. Their Sweet Harvest Pumpkin Black Tea is warmly spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg…

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Stuffed Acorn Squash

I first made this stuffed acorn squash recipe for Thanksgiving, but its spiced quinoa filling is so good that it's become one of my go-to fall recipes.

The year I first became vegetarian I truly missed the turkey part of turkey day. It seems like ages ago now, but back then I barely knew how to cook for myself, let alone embrace seasonal foods like squashes, Brussels sprouts, and sweet potatoes (you know, the kind without marshmallows). Now, with hearty vegetarian main dishes like this stuffed acorn squash, I couldn’t miss the turkey less. When I started working on this recipe, I knew I wanted to make an unconventional stuffed squash. Obviously, you won’t find ground beef or a sausage and apple combination here, but I also veered off the traditional…

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Pistachio Cranberry Cookies

I made a half batch of these cookies, which was clearly a mistake. I ate the last one for breakfast this morning and I could really go for another one right about now. Chewy, oaty, nutty… slightly sweet and warmly spiced… it’s the kind of cookie that’s just healthy enough to get by as breakfast but would be even more perfect as a 2pm snack. If only… This recipe is just slightly adapted from Amy Chaplin’s book At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen, which is hands down one of the most beautiful cookbooks I’ve ever held. I’ve been a fan of Amy’s for the…

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Autumn Farmhouse Salad

Sweet potatoes, apples & greens fill out this hearty autumn salad. With sweet, salty, crunchy & nutty elements, it's a perfect side dish or meal on its own.

I have a love/hate relationship with farro. It takes forever to make, and quinoa is quicker, but the chewy, nutty grains bring a real heartiness to this not-wimpy fall salad. The catch is that you have to pre-plan for farro – it’s easiest to make a big batch and keep it around all week. I’m not usually that organized, but I happened to have made farro the day before my Farmhouse vegetables arrived, so here we are… a farro salad with more veggies than could fit onto the subject line of this post. Fall Salad Recipe Ingredients This delicious salad recipe is sweet, salty, crunchy, nutty… Here’s what…

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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.