Sesame Cucumber Salad

Chilled cucumbers and wakame in a sweet & tangy dressing make a quick & healthy summer condiment or snack. Sesame seeds add crunch. Vegan and gluten free.

This is hands down my favorite hot weather snack. Is it hot where you are? It’s about 95 degrees here and I have about a million cucumbers growing in my garden. Sadly, in this heat, the cucumbers are about all I have growing at the moment. But I’ll take my cucumbers and be happy about them. And make salad. This one is generally in my fridge all summer long because it’s just so quick and easy, and it keeps for days. I also find that it’s a great way to add in sea vegetables. They’re not necessary here: the cucumbers are…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Leek Almond Chickpea Tart

Sautéed leeks and lemony, herb-filled creamy almond spread are layered over socca to create a unique, healthy spring or summer dinner. Vegan & gluten free.

This is so not my week. I’m going to keep this very short because I badly injured my thumb last night, and you don’t want to know how long it just took me to type out the recipe at the end of this post… Jack and I made this last Saturday night for dinner. I got the inspiration from this photo of a leek tart that I pinned. Leeks aside, my recipe is entirely different. I decided to try socca (a chickpea flour pancake/dough) as a healthier alternative to puff pastry… not that it’s equivalent to a flaky puff pastry, it’s…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Chickpea Nicoise Salad

Tossed with an herby lemon dressing, this vegetarian take on the classic Nicoise salad makes a healthy weeknight meal for spring or summer. Gluten free.

We were on vacation in Nice around this time last year, and I think I ate a nicoise salad for lunch every day of that trip. Or as Jack has coined it, the “Nizzan” salad, because the Italians call Nice “Nizza” (pronounced like pizza). We learned this as were running through the Rome airport (we are always running), and the airport desk workers were yelling out “Nizza! Nizza! last call for Nizza!” So that’s what we call it now. The city and the salad. This is one of my favorite main course salads because it’s so filling yet light and…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Red Curry & Miso Veggie Bowl

Your favorite veggies are roasted with a spicy miso glaze to make this easy vegan & gluten free veggie bowl. Perfect for a healthy weeknight dinner.

“Quick and easy weeknight cooking” hasn’t been something I’ve focused on much here. If something I’ve made happened to be quick, it was by accident more than anything else. I enjoy the process of cooking, and when I’m inspired, hours can fly by. (Although I’ll add the disclaimer that recipes on this site should, by no means, take “hours”). After a particularly stressful day last week, inspiration ran out. I was tired and preoccupied. I had a plethora of vegetables lying around the kitchen begging me not to abandon them for a restaurant. But my jumbled mind couldn’t figure out…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Black Bean Tacos with Zucchini Salsa

Healthy beans & greens tacos and a creamy avocado-zucchini salsa make a crowd-pleasing spring or summer dinner. Vegan. Gluten-free option.

It’s funny when inspiration strikes, or where a good idea finds you…The other day I was sitting at the Discount Tire store, waiting on my car…bored out of my mind. Just me and my phone. After every last email had been replied to and every last tweet read, I went to my go-to time-passing app, Epicurious. They aren’t paying me to write this, but I love this app. It saves me every time… dentist offices, bad movies, you name it… I stopped on this zucchini salsa recipe which completely intrigued me. How could zucchini possibly become a replacement for tomatillos?…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Peanut Soba Noodles with Kale

This soba noodle bowl loaded with green veggies, herbs, and zesty, sweet, and spicy peanut sauce makes a healthy 30-minute weeknight dinner. Gluten-free.

I admit, this picture is minimal, even for us. I mean, is there even a bowl here? Modern art was not exactly what we were going for… we were just hungry. Sometimes we spend a lot of time on our photos, other times, it’s “Got it? Look good? Is it clear? Yes. Great, let’s eat…” In front of my computer the next morning is when I sit alone shaking my head and go, “If only we woulda… Next time we should really…” and then I take a break and enviously pin other people’s photos. But really, I’d rather spend time figuring…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Swiss Chard Pasta Bake

This healthy, veggie-filled pasta bake will satisfy meat eaters and vegetarians alike. Great for company or a weekend dinner. Gluten-free and vegan options.

The week of bribing people with food and drink continues… my dad is still working around the house (and he’s staying an extra week now – oh the projects I’m going to dream up right after I finish this post). The other night, Jack’s sister came by to help organize the pantry and closets… I’m on this kick where I want things in order (I’m not always this way), and I’m not above delegation to get things done. So my part was to, of course, make dinner for everyone. My dad and Jack are easy, they are human vacuums for…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Lemon-Walnut Quinoa & Chickpea Salad

A zesty, nutty lemon-walnut dressing brightens this hearty vegetarian salad. Filled with herbs & veggies, this salad makes a healthy weeknight dinner.

My role this week while my dad is visiting = food machine. Which I don’t mind one bit… he’s been hard at work knocking tasks off our “house-to-do” list, and I’m more than happy to be doing the heavy cooking rather than the heavy lifting. I can’t get him to stop for lunch (unless you count the beer… liquid lunch) so for dinners, big bowls of substantial food are in order. I made this quinoa & chickpea salad the other night with some other stuff I happened to have, including beautiful radishes from my CSA box. And I always seem…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Strawberry Basil French Toast

Delight guests at your spring or summer weekend brunch with this easy strawberry & basil topped French toast. Sweet, surprising, and dairy-free!

I realize the contradiction. Yesterday I was talking about not eating bread, and today I’m sharing french toast. That was just poor planning… Last week, after a chat with myself about basil and desserts, the idea for a strawberry maple basil-ey breakfast stuck in my head. I rarely make french toast these days. In a previous, less healthy life (college), I ate it just about every day. Sometimes for breakfast and for dinner. I don’t recommend that, but I do recommend a sweet indulgent morning every now and then… Here are some other sweet strawberry breakfast ideas that caught my…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Veggie Sushi with Sunflower Miso Paste

Raw vegan sushi filled with crisp vegetables, creamy avocado, and a tangy, salty sunflower miso paste. A light gluten free meal for spring or summer.

We eat a lot of sushi… probably similar to the rate normal americans consume pizza. I don’t want to make this blog about weight loss, but sushi is my skinny secret. I don’t crave breads like I used to, I crave nori. Sushi at home might seem intimidating, but once you get the hang of it, it’s really not hard. I’m no Jiro or anything: it just takes a bit of a steady hand and some focus (which gets harder with the more sake you consume)… but honestly, if it comes out a little sloppy looking, it’ll still taste good. Don’t…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Spring Green Lemon & Basil Pasta

This is the pasta we made for my sister and her husband on this unintentionally-late-cooking night. We actually handmade these pasta noodles, which I’ll have to show in another post. Between messy flour, sticky noodles, and it being 11pm… we failed to get photographs of any part of that process. Despite starting this meal way too late, it comes together super fast. The lemon and olive oil highlight the crunchy spring vegetables in a bright but simple way. And especially if you’re using homemade pasta, the flavors don’t overwhelm the taste of the fresh noodles. I was pleasantly surprised that this…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.