Creamy Vegan Pasta Bake with Brussels Sprouts

The secret to this vegan pasta bake is a velvety, savory almond-miso sauce that creates a creamy coating for the veggies and pasta.

Happy first week of spring! With summer on the horizon, at least in my still-Austin-based mindset, I really want to be making lighter and brighter food. But then I’m reminded that it still snowed here last week. Sooooo… a creamy pasta bake it is! This veggie-ful dish is hearty yet cheese-less – it won’t weigh you down, but it will fill you up! Instead of a bunch of cheese and cream, I used my secret creamy blender sauce: almonds, Almond Breeze almondmilk, white miso paste, garlic, lemon juice for tang, and a bit of Dijon mustard for the depth you…

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Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad

You only need 7 ingredients to make this easy, delicious shaved Brussels sprout salad! Make it ahead for a holiday meal or pack it for a healthy lunch.

winter / salads

I just woke up to a snowy white Saturday morning, which means that it’s the perfect day for… Brussels sprout salad! Ok, maybe I’m the weird one that just loves salad no matter what’s going on around me. If you’re craving something warm and cozy, go make a mug of hot chocolate and then come back here if you’re looking for an easy Brussels sprout salad to make for weekend holiday festivities. This one will be your go-to throw-together winter salad that you’ll crave when you want a break from cookies and other indulgent treats. Why I Love This Brussels Sprout…

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Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Stumped for healthy dinner ideas? Make stuffed sweet potatoes! These 4 stuffed sweet potato recipes are all easy, cozy, delicious, and fun!

dinner / vegetarian

For so many years, I didn’t think I liked sweet potatoes. It turns out, I LOVE sweet potatoes and I don’t like marshmallows (which is how they were always served to me growing up). These days, stuffed sweet potatoes are one of my go-to dinner solutions, especially for chilly nights when I’d rather stay inside than head out to dinner. They’re cozy, filling, and easy to make. Plus, the sweet potato acts as a canvas for whatever you’re craving. In the mood for Mexican? Stuff yours with black beans and cumin-spiced cabbage. Craving Greek food? Fill it with quinoa tabbouleh!…

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Quinoa Risotto

This creamy quinoa risotto is just as delicious as traditional risotto, but it comes together with half the fuss! Top it with roasted veggies, and enjoy.

vegan / gluten free / dinner

This creamy quinoa risotto comes from The First Mess Cookbook. If you’re not already a fan of Laura’s blog, The First Mess, you should be! This quinoa risotto recipe exemplifies so much of what I love about her work. It appeals to the eyes as well as the appetite, it’s healthy and accessible, and it combines plant-based ingredients in a really unique way. Traditional risotto is made with arborio rice, and it requires a lengthy amount of time standing over the stove stirring. This recipe is every bit as creamy and delicious as the classic Italian dish, but it streamlines…

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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.

appetizers / vegetarian / gluten free

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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Brussels Sprouts with Farro & Cranberries

Roasted Brussels sprouts with balsamic and maple star in this delicious autumn recipe. Serve it as a side dish, or enjoy it as a light meal on its own!

fall / side dishes

This balsamic Brussels sprouts recipe is an updated spin on one of our first-ever blog posts. In that recipe, I roasted the sprouts with a combination of balsamic vinegar and maple syrup. As a result, they became sweet and caramelized, with a great tang from the balsamic vinegar. This balsamic Brussels sprouts recipe starts in the same way, except that I roast the sprouts with onions. Then, when the veggies come out of the oven, I toss them with nutty farro to make a more substantial side dish. The combination of the oven roasted Brussels sprouts with balsamic, the roasted onions,…

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Farro Fried Rice with Brussels Sprouts

Have a leftover grain in your fridge? Then you've come to the right place. We love this easy fried "rice" made with Brussels sprouts & leeks.

dinner / vegetarian

If you caught Friday’s post, then you’ve already seen the shorthand version of this recipe. I love this one because it’s an easy go-to “use what you have in your fridge” sort of thing. Especially if what you have in your fridge right now is leftover farro. If you don’t have cooked farro in your fridge at this moment, I suggest making this hearty salad tonight, and this fried “rice” recipe tomorrow. You’ll be halfway there. Of course, you can just make this with brown rice or white rice or whatever you have. I thought farro was a fun alternative because I just love those…

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Kale Salad w/ Avocado Tahini Sauce

This green-on-green salad was inspired by St. Patrick's Day, but its fresh flavor & creamy dressing have made it one of my year-round lunch favorites.

salads / vegan / gluten free

I have a very green, yet not very St. Patrick’s Day-themed recipe today. Maybe next year will be the year that I finally decide to revamp the shamrock shake (why don’t I think of these things earlier?). But for now, I’ve got green-on-green-on-green. Kale, brussels sprouts and avocado…. with some other veggies tossed in for crunch and a pop of color. The trick to raw kale salads is usually to massage the kale – this time I just chopped the leaves really small, mixed them with shaved brussels sprouts, and tossed it all with a creamy avocado tahini dressing to help wilt…

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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.

fall / winter / vegetarian

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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Shredded Brussels Sprout & Apple Salad

This simple slaw is made with just 8 ingredients, but it gets wonderful sweetness & crunch from apples, kohlrabi, dried cranberries, and pine nuts.

salads / vegan / fall

You may or may not have noticed, but I love salads. I intended to start November off with big hearty Thanksgiving inspiration… but, well, I’m not sure if the thought of mashed potatoes made my jeans feel tighter or if it was all the Christmas cookies I ate last week (don’t ask)… this week I ended up craving soups and, especially, salads. I’m really excited about this salad because it’s so simple yet so delicious with all of its shred-y, crunchy textures. If you have a mandoline, this will go really quickly. If you don’t, you can use a sharp knife, just try to slice everything as thinly as you…

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Hazelnut Tahini Pasta

pasta / vegan / gluten free

I keep a pretty full pantry (to say the least). I love to have a variety of oils, vinegars, grains & nuts on hand… but every now and then “on hand” becomes completely out of hand. This little sauce came about one day when I was cleaning out my shelves and found five separate stashes of hazelnuts. Some were newly purchased, some were tucked waaay in the back. Also, back beyond my immediate reach was a still-pretty-new-yet-forgotten-about jar of tahini. I had pasta noodles to use up, but this would be great as a dressing drizzled over a farro salad, or over…

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