Butternut Squash Risotto

This butternut squash risotto is perfect for a fall date night! Made with just 10 ingredients, it's creamy, comforting, and filled with cozy autumn flavor.

I love making this butternut squash risotto as much as I love eating it. Honestly! I know that risotto is famously tedious to prepare – add a little broth, stir, add a little broth, stir some more. But on a crisp, cool fall night, I welcome the chance to stand over the warm stove and watch it come together. I think it’s mesmerizing to see the raw squash and uncooked rice transform into a rich, creamy risotto. The fact that it smells amazing doesn’t hurt either. And when you sit down to eat, all that stirring really pays off. This…

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Avocado Fries

Crispy on the outside and creamy in the middle, these avocado fries are SO fun and delicious! Devour them hot with a tasty sauce for dipping.

appetizers / snacks & dips

I first started making these avocado fries last spring. But back then, I didn’t think of them as fries. Instead, I wanted to use them as a taco filling. It sounds like a great idea, right? Crispy/creamy avocado slices spiced up with cumin and coriander and loaded into tortillas with all the fixings… Well, it turns out, these avocado fries are actually too good to bury in a taco. They’re the sort of thing that’s best devoured on its own, preferably straight off the sheet pan, preferably with a tasty sauce (or two!) for dipping. That way, you can really experience…

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Chipotle Ranch Dressing

Love chipotle sauce? Love ranch? Then you have to try this chipotle ranch dressing recipe! It's creamy, tangy, smoky, savory, and super easy to make.

dressings & sauces / cooking basics

What happens when chipotle sauce meets ranch dressing? This chipotle ranch dressing recipe! It’s a simple mashup of my go-to chipotle sauce and my vegan ranch, and, let me tell you, I can’t get enough of it. It’s creamy, tangy, smoky, and savory, with a little bit of heat from the chipotles. Use it as a sandwich spread, a salad dressing, or dip…or steal tastes straight off a spoon. This chipotle ranch dressing is bold, punchy, and downright delicious. I think you’re going to love it. Chipotle Ranch Dressing Recipe Ingredients You just need 8 ingredients to make this recipe:…

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Roasted Golden Beets

I love to make this golden beets recipe for a fresh fall lunch. Feta, pistachios, and a spiced lemon dressing fill it with exciting textures and flavors.

salads / side dishes

When I see golden beets at the farmers market, I can never resist bringing them home. I love roasting them until they’re tender and juicy, with a translucent, sunshine-yellow color that makes them so exciting and appealing. Thanks to their sweet, earthy flavor, the roasted golden beets are delicious on their own, but I like them even more when they’re tossed into a simple golden beet salad. I balance out their sweetness with salty feta cheese, add toasted pistachios for crunch, and drizzle them with a spiced lemon dressing for pop. Toss in a couple handfuls of arugula, and you’ll…

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Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

Say hello to the best vegan peanut butter cookies out there! These easy cookies have chewy middles, crumbly edges, and a fantastic nutty flavor.

As soon as I tried these vegan peanut butter cookies, I exclaimed, “They taste like Nutter Butters!” I meant it in the best way. They have a delicious crumbly texture with slightly chewy middles, and they’re bursting with sweet peanut butter flavor. For me, they’re the perfect peanut butter cookies. If you need a second opinion, talk to Jack. I’ve made over six batches of these vegan peanut butter cookies in the last two weeks, and they’ve all disappeared. Suffice it to say, we’re hooked. Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies Ingredients Here’s what you’ll need to make these vegan peanut butter…

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Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Isn't half the fun of carving a jack o'lantern roasting the seeds? Spiced with chili powder, these roasted pumpkin seeds are a delicious seasonal snack.

snacks & dips / appetizers

If you’re carving pumpkins in the next few weeks, don’t even think about tossing the seeds! These roasted pumpkin seeds are toasty, nutty, salty, and crunchy – a healthy autumn treat that’s just too good to miss. If you have kids, I think this recipe would be a great one to make with them. Half the work is separating the seeds from the squishy, slimy pumpkin flesh. In all honesty, I still have fun getting my hands messy doing it, so I can only imagine that it would be a blast for kiddos too. 🙂 How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds…

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Roasted Kabocha Squash

This easy roasted kabocha squash recipe is a delicious fall side dish! Sesame seeds, scallions, and a nutty sesame ginger dressing top the sweet squash.

fall / side dishes

Last fall, my brother-in-law, Josh, made the most amazing roasted kabocha squash for Thanksgiving. He cut it into wedges and cooked it with the skin still on. When it came out of the oven, the dense, bright orange flesh was smooth and creamy, with a sweet, nutty, and caramelized flavor. “What did you do to this?” I asked. “I just roasted it,” he said. Also known as Japanese pumpkin, kabocha squash is a wonderfully versatile winter squash variety. In Japanese cooking, it’s often simmered in a flavorful dashi stock to make Kabocha no Nimono or fried and served as part of…

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Applesauce Cake

On a fall day, this applesauce cake really hits this spot. It's moist, tender, and warmly spiced. Add cream cheese frosting to take it over the top!

fall

Want to know how much I love this applesauce cake recipe? I made it four, that’s right, four times in two weeks. That’s a lot of applesauce cake! Well, it’s a lot of applesauce cake in theory, but in practice, it seems like a whole lot less. You snag a slice for breakfast, circle back later for an afternoon snack, and maybe reach for one or two more for dessert. By the end of the day, that first cake is almost gone, and by the end of the next, it’s completely vanished. What can I say? At this time of year,…

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Homemade Applesauce

Learn how to make homemade applesauce with this easy recipe! Spiced with cinnamon, it's a delicious healthy snack or topping for pancakes and more.

fall

This homemade applesauce recipe is a staple in our house year-round, but especially during apple season. It’s an easy way to use up a surplus of too-soft or overripe apples, and as it cooks, it fills your house with the aroma of fresh apples and cinnamon. That smell is SO cozy on a crisp fall day. On its own, it’d be enough to make anyone a homemade applesauce convert. But this homemade applesauce recipe gets better. It doesn’t just smell good—it tastes good too! It’s tangy, lightly sweet, and full of spiced apple flavor. You can make it chunky if…

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Black Bean Chili

This easy black bean chili is thick, creamy, tangy, and delicious. Served with cornbread or tortilla chips, it's the perfect hearty meal on a cold night.

fall / dinner

The first time I made this black bean chili recipe, I found myself standing at the stove, eating spoonful after spoonful straight from the pot. In all honesty, I think it’s the best chili I’ve ever tasted. It’s thick, creamy, tangy, and complex, with depth from green chiles, fire-roasted tomatoes, and a good amount of chili powder. If you’re able to, I highly encourage you to make my homemade chili powder for this recipe, as it really takes this black bean chili to a whole new level. Its flavor is more nuanced, with savory notes from the fennel and garlic,…

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Homemade Chili Powder

The first time I tried this chili powder recipe, I knew I'd never get the store-bought kind again. It's flavorful, complex, and surprisingly easy to make.

cooking basics

It’s official: I’m never buying chili powder at the store again. This homemade chili powder is so much more flavorful, nuanced, and complex, and it’s not at all tricky to make, either. Toast some spices and dried chiles on the stove, whizz them up in a spice grinder, and voila! You’ll have made delicious homemade chili powder in under 10 minutes. I know I’ve mentioned Kite String Cantina a few times before, but I have to give them another shoutout here. They’re a bar in our neighborhood that serves amazing sauces and taquitos, and their signature chili seasoning (aka “Kite…

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Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.