Arugula Salad with Lemon & Fennel

This easy arugula salad is light and lemony with peppery arugula, marinated fennel, crisp radishes, creamy avocado, and toasted walnuts.

This bright arugula salad is one of my favorite simple side dishes. It’s so easy to toss together: marinate thinly shaved fennel and radishes for a few minutes before tossing them with arugula, toasted walnuts, and creamy avocado. And if you have it on hand, a dollop of pesto really takes it to the next level. With a simple lemon dressing, this salad has the perfect balance of creamy, crunchy, bright, and bitter components. It’s an excellent choice for a weeknight, but it’s good enough to serve as a side salad for a special occasion. Arugula Salad Recipe Variations Like…

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Simple Sweet Potato Bowl

Meet one of my favorite combos: sweet potatoes + feta. In this recipe, they're the perfect hearty, tangy topping for grains, greens, and nuts.

This easy bowl is what I make for dinner most often when no one is looking. It’s my go-to meal when I’m not working on new recipes, when I’m tired after a long day, and when I’ve definitely had too much take-out pho for one week. It’s not a 30-minute meal because roasting a sweet potato takes at least that long, but the rest is so darn simple. Plus, nothing actually calms me more than the wafting aroma of sweet potatoes roasting in my kitchen. There’s no fancy sauce in this recipe. You won’t even dirty an extra bowl to…

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Pumpkin Avocado Tostadas

Pumpkin Avocado Tostadas are a fun fall snack or weeknight dinner! Topped with chile pumpkin spread, sliced avocado & lime. Healthy, vegan & gluten-free.

“They” say you should eat an apple a day – but according to everyone’s Instagram feeds these days, I think we can all agree that the almighty avocado is the way to go. I don’t care if they’re trendy or not, the good fat that you get from avocados always makes for a delicious, nutrient-dense meal or mid-day snack. In an effort not to show you yet another version of avocado toast – I have the next best thing – the avocado tostada. It’s like avocado toast in disguise. I baked organic corn tortillas until crispy, layered them with an…

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Carrot Ginger Soup

This 7-ingredient carrot ginger soup is one of our favorite recipes for brightening up cold days. Creamy & refreshing, it's a satisfying, cozy meal.

If you went to your farmers market over the weekend and came home with a beautiful bunch of carrots, then this carrot soup recipe is for you. They’re the main ingredient in this easy recipe, along with a few staples that you likely already have in your kitchen. Carrot Soup Recipe Ingredients This easy soup recipe is just 7 ingredients, and it’s so simple and delicious with no cream, no cashew cream, and no coconut cream (ok just a tad for garnish, but it’s really not necessary). The creamy base of the soup comes purely from the pureed carrots. Here’s what else…

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Butternut Squash Breakfast Hash

An easy veggie breakfast hash made leftover roasted zucchini and butternut squash topped with fried eggs. A perfect weekend or holiday brunch. Gluten-free.

I’m probably the last to know this – but have you heard that they’ve cancelled Saturday morning cartoons? I suppose on-demand or Netflixed cartoons are probably more convenient, but I am still sad to hear the news. Growing up (without cable), Saturday morning cartoons were what my sister and I looked forward to all week. Pancakes, cereal commercials, the whole bit. Jack and I still have a weekend ritual – although our “cartoon” is Shark Tank instead of Muppet Babies, and our breakfast is usually eggs instead of pancakes. This recipe is a great “use up what you have” kind of breakfast. Butternut squash is the base…

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Curried Red Lentil Sweet Potato Stew

An easy weeknight curry recipe made with red lentils, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, and spinach. Vegan, gluten-free, healthy, and delicious.

This is a big day, friends. No, I don’t have any new book or baby announcements on the agenda – but today is the first day in four years that this vegetarian food blog has a lentil recipe! I have at least 39 chickpea recipes (more if you count the ones I probably forgot to tag) but let me present – the almighty lentil. I realize that many of you probably really love lentils… they’re a great source of protein, especially if you’re vegan or vegetarian. My relationship with lentils has been so-so, but lately I’ve been giving them another chance. So far, I’ve…

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Ribollita – Tuscan White Bean Soup

If you hate to waste stale bread, this ribollita recipe is for you! It's a delicious vegetarian Tuscan white bean soup thickened with cubes of bread.

This Tuscan white bean soup recipe grew out of Jack’s new weekend hobby: bread-making. Over the last few weeks, he’s made some really delicious focaccia and a few loaves of ciabatta which, I have to tell you, were super impressive. I previously had this idea that rustic crusty bread would require wood-fired ovens and other non-household equipment to make. It doesn’t. The ingredients are simple, but it does require an afternoon’s worth of babysitting. Knead, fold, wait, rest… repeat… like 15 more times. After all of this hard work, when the last chunk of ciabatta went stale a few days later, I…

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Super Stuffed Chipotle Sweet Potatoes

A good stuffed sweet potato starts with the "stuff," and this fresh corn, black bean & red cabbage filling makes these guys totally irresistible.

I’m slowly becoming a baked potato lover, but not just any baked potato lover. I still can’t get behind white baked potatoes slathered with sour cream and butter, but I could eat these mega stuffed sweet potatoes for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Case in point, as I started writing this post, I went and polished off the leftovers I was saving for my lunch… for breakfast. I’m telling you, I have no self-control sometimes. A good stuffed sweet potato, of course, starts with the “stuff.” I made my filling by mixing black beans with corn, Cotija cheese, avocado, jalapeño, and generous squeezes of…

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Pumpkin Coconut Curry

Pumpkin Coconut Curry is the perfect healthy comfort food for fall! Creamy vegan pumpkin curry sauce coats tofu and steamed vegetables. Spicy & simple.

I made a lot of things with pumpkin over the weekend – not just because it’s the cliché fall food blogger thing to do, but because I roasted one pumpkin and cooked from it for days! It was the roasted pumpkin that kept on giving… I’ll admit that when it comes to pumpkin I often reach for a can, but the flavor and texture that come from a fresh pumpkin are really worth it. I made pumpkin hummus, pumpkin salad, pumpkin soup… and of course the pumpkin coconut red curry sauce that is pictured here. This sauce is rich and creamy, so to keep things…

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Sweet Potato Recipes

What’s your favorite fall vegetable? If you’re not saying “sweet potatoes!” with an exclamation, then, well, you might want to switch over to another post. My favorite has to be the almighty and ever-so-versatile sweet potato. I love the way my kitchen smells when I roast them and I love how they’re easier to cut (without injury) than most squashes. For some sweet inspiration, here are some of our favorite recipes: Pictured above: Sweet Potato & Brussels Sprout Skillet Sweet Potato Tahini Crostini / Curried Sweet Potato Soup Sweet Potato Avocado Tacos / Sweet Potato Pomegranate Salad Sweet Potato Quinoa Quesadillas …and a bunch more in the…

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Tahini Noodle Salad with Carrots & Chickpeas

This healthy noodle salad is one of my favorite lunch recipes. Tossed in a tangy, nutty sauce, it's filled with crispy chickpeas & lots of veggies.

Today, I’m taking a break from soup season (although I do have some good ones in the works!), because it’s been about 95 degrees lately and a big, cold noodle salad just sounded good to me. This bowl is full of whole grain noodles and crunchy veggies that are all tossed in a deliciously creamy, nutty tahini sauce. In an effort to feel some “fall spirit,” I roasted chickpeas and carrots and tossed those in too. Cooked carrots haven’t always been our thing – the trick is to roast them until they’re slightly tender but still have some bite (just don’t let them get mushy!). If…

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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.