Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Made with Yukon gold potatoes and lots of roasted garlic, these garlic mashed potatoes are creamy, rich, and flavorful. An easy, delicious side dish!

The first time I made these garlic mashed potatoes, I didn’t know what my husband Jack would think of them. See, Jack grew up eating his Uncle Billy’s mashed potatoes, and he still reminisces about them. They were creamy, fluffy, and rich with (lots of) melted butter and (lots of) sour cream. These garlic mashed potatoes aren’t exactly like Uncle Billy’s. Instead of dairy, olive oil and starchy potato cooking water give them an amazing creamy texture, and roasted garlic fills them with rich, nutty depth of flavor. When I tried them, I thought they were delicious, but Jack’s opinion would…

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Kale & Olive Oil Vegan Mashed Potatoes

This rustic vegan mashed potatoes recipe is made with olive oil, rosemary, garlic, scallions, and kale. A delicious, easy vegetarian holiday side dish!

vegan / gluten free / side dishes

Thanksgiving is next week, but I’ve been eating mashed potatoes for a while now because blogging life means eating holiday recipes early! I first made these vegan mashed potatoes for a family dinner a few weeks ago. While I was in the kitchen mashing stuff in a bowl, my brother-in-law came over and asked, “What’s in the mashed potatoes?” I said, “Potatoes…” and he said, “No, I mean, what’s the ‘potato’…is it cauliflower…is it parsnips?” He knows me so well. It dawned on me how rarely I make actual potatoes, but we’re changing that today. This Thanksgiving our potatoes are…

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Yellow Split Pea Soup

Yellow split peas fill this cozy soup with plant-based protein, cashews add richness, and smoked paprika and fresh corn give it a sweet, smoky flavor.

vegan / gluten free / soups

Until I tried this yellow split pea soup from Gena Hamshaw’s cookbook Power Plates, I didn’t think split peas were something to get excited about. I’d only ever had them when I was growing up, in classic split pea soup. You know, the kind that’s cooked with chicken stock and a ham hock and that’s really not my thing. This recipe takes the best parts of that traditional soup – smoky flavor, tons of plant-based protein – and heads in a totally new direction. It’s 100% vegan, sweet and savory, creamy, cozy, and totally delicious. If you’ve never cooked with…

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Chipotle Cauliflower Nachos

The ULTIMATE vegan nachos, these are loaded with smoky cauliflower "cheese" sauce, sweet pineapple salsa, black beans, cilantro, and tomato.

vegan / gluten free

If you made Thursday’s stuffed peppers and have leftover pineapple salsa and leftover chipotles, this recipe is for you! And if you didn’t, well that’s ok, you can still make it anyway 🙂 This is a nacho plate that you can feel good about! Instead of weird boxed nacho cheese, we’re making an oozy, spicy cheese-like sauce out of cauliflower. Seriously, is there anything that the mighty cauliflower can’t do? What’s in Chipotle Cauliflower “Cheese” Nacho Sauce? Good question! This irresistible sauce consists of 10 simple ingredients: Cauliflower makes up the bulk of the sauce and contributes to its luscious creamy…

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Grilled Potato Salad with Scallion Vinaigrette

This is not your average potato salad recipe! Grilled potatoes, grilled scallions & grilled blueberries make a fresh & flavorful summer side.

summer / vegan / gluten free

Happy Sunday! If you need one more recipe idea to make for your weekend celebrations, give this grilled potato salad a try! When I say the words “potato salad,” my mind can only think of the kind that is laden with mayonnaise… which, admittedly, I will eat and enjoy once in a blue moon, but I love this one SO much more. By using par-boiled and then grilled potatoes, you get to taste the wonderful char-ry taste of the actual potato and not just a bunch of mayo. Punch Up Your Grilled Potatoes with a Scallion Vinaigrette! And speaking of…

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Loaded Potato Skins

You'll love these loaded potato skins with black bean salad, sunflower sour cream, and crispy coconut bacon. Great for parties!

vegan / gluten free / snacks & dips

I wanted to share this fun healthi(er) “game day” recipe before the Super Bowl even though, admittedly, we’re not big football fans. And by “we,” I mostly mean me. Jack will socially watch a game at a party, but my relationship with football didn’t exactly start off on the right… foot. Beginning in 1st grade, every year in gym class, we started the year with a football written test. Way to get kids interested in sports, right? The teacher would hand out worksheets to bring home and study (which I never did) and every year I’d bring home a failing…

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Vegan Broccoli Soup

You'd never guess that this creamy vegan broccoli soup is totally dairy-free! It's made of a rich, savory blend of potatoes, veggies, and herbs.

vegan / soups

Drumroll, please! This vegan broccoli soup recipe is super creamy, comforting, and brimming with cheesy flavor. I started working on it after I posted a photo of this gorgeous pile of broccoli on Instagram with a call out for broccoli recipe requests. Overwhelmingly, people asked for a healthy/vegan broccoli cheese soup. Jack loves cheesy broccoli soup (and most cheesy things, to be honest), so we were both excited to take on the challenge. I’m happy to report that the results do not disappoint! This vegan broccoli soup recipe is not to be confused with cream of broccoli soup. I have…

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Farmers Market Potato & Asparagus Pizza

Celebrate spring with this light & bright asparagus pizza! Fresh herbs, crisp radishes, and a sprinkle of cheese make it an explosion of flavor & texture.

summer / dinner / vegetarian

If you caught Monday’s post, I wrote all about my strategy for coming up with a dinner recipe while shopping on the fly at the farmers market. And, drumroll please… here’s what I made! It’s a big green, veggie potato pizza loaded with chopped asparagus, asparagus ribbons, cheese, flowering thyme, chives, and those pretty chive blossoms that I got at Chicago’s Logan Square Farmers Market. It’s spring on a plate… or rather, spring on dough. I know I say this all the time, but I LOVE letting local produce lead my meal planning. These fresh impromptu meals just really make…

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Vegan Carrot “Queso” with Nacho Snacks

Who would have thought potatoes & carrots could blend into a creamy vegan queso? I sure didn't, until I made this tangy, smoky, delicious dip!

appetizers / snacks & dips / vegetarian

This vegan queso recipe takes me back to college, when I used to binge on super unhealthy things like chips and queso at night while trying to eat reasonably healthier and more vegetarian during the day. My transition to eating healthier foods took a few years to settle in. As a busy college student, the foods from Amy’s Kitchen really helped me make this transition. I loved their Vegetable Lasagna, the Breakfast Burrito, and of course these Nacho Snacks. So when the folks at Amy’s reached out to me, I knew I wanted to make a recipe that incorporated these snacks in a slightly healthier holiday appetizer. The secret…

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Mini Potato Pizzas

Mini Potato Pizzas are the perfect easy & healthy party appetizer.

vegetarian / appetizers / snacks & dips

If there’s any vegetable that’s under-represented on this blog, it has to be the potato. If you take a glance at our recipe index, you’ll notice that I while I have a mild obsession with sweet potatoes, I often skip over other potato varieties. But I have to tell you, I’m in love with all potato varieties (russets, red, whites, blues, the list goes on…), which are especially great for entertaining. These little pizzas are SO delicious and so so easy. A perfect appetizer to serve this Sunday for the big game. To make these, first seek out some colorful pretty petite potatoes. Ok, just kidding, if you…

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Green Bean & Purple Potato Salad

spring / salads / gluten free

If you’re at a picnic, do you go for the potato salad or the cole slaw? I’m a cole slaw person always – the really sweet mayonnaise-y kind. But potatoes smothered in mayo? No thanks. Why is cabbage in mayo better than potatoes in mayo? No clue. But while I don’t go for “potato salad,” I do like a potato salad. Of course, what I mean is that this is a salad… with potatoes (and green beans and yellow wax beans and some other things). Instead of mayo, it’s dressed with everything that I think goes best with potatoes: olive oil, good dijon…

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