Honey Mustard Dressing

So long, store bought salad dressing! This honey mustard dressing recipe is easy to make, and it's packed with irresistible sweet and tangy flavor.

This homemade honey mustard dressing is like magic. Whenever I have it on hand, I eat salads like crazy, just to taste its sweet, tangy, spicy flavor. If I’m out of greens, I use it as a dipping sauce, dunking sliced bell peppers until I don’t have any dressing left. If you’re someone who’s trying to eat more veggies, make this honey mustard dressing recipe. You’ll find yourself tossing together salads and snacking on carrot sticks left and right! Unlike many store bought honey mustard salad dressings, this one is totally dairy-free. Its smooth, lightly creamy texture comes from emulsified…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

How to Cook Fresh Green Beans

Learn how to cook fresh green beans perfectly every time! Serve them as a side dish, or add them to your favorite green bean recipes.

Nearly all of my fresh green bean recipes begin with blanching the beans. If you ask me, everyone should learn this method for how to cook green beans. It’s quick and easy, and it yields beans that are vibrant, crisp-tender, and not at all mushy. They’re perfect for serving as a side dish or adding to salads and sandwiches. Heck, they even make a great green bean casserole! Below, you’ll find a step-by-step guide to how to cook fresh green beans, as well as my favorite green bean recipes. They include ideas for Thanksgiving, summer picnics, and dinners all year…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Stuffed Acorn Squash

This stuffed acorn squash recipe is perfect for the holidays! Sage and rosemary add earthy flavor to its hearty tempeh and mushroom filling.

When people ask me what to serve as a vegetarian main dish at Thanksgiving, I always reply, “Stuffed acorn squash!” I love putting seasonal produce at the center of my plate whenever I can, and Thanksgiving dinner is no exception. Acorn squash presents us with a unique opportunity. After you scoop out the seeds, the squash halves form natural bowls. You could leave them empty, roast the squash, and serve it as a side dish. But you could also load the squash with a flavorful filling after it comes out of the oven. In an instant, it’ll transform from a…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

How to Cut a Pomegranate

Learn how to cut a pomegranate like a pro! Plus, find delicious pomegranate recipes to showcase this vibrant, juicy, feel-good fruit.

Who else loves pomegranates?! As soon as these vibrant, ruby red fruits appear at the grocery store each fall, Jack and I start eating them like crazy. We can’t get enough of their sweet/tart flavor and their juicy, bursty texture. I sprinkle the seeds over desserts, salads, and even dips, while Jack eats them by the spoonful as a snack! But…how do you cut a pomegranate fruit, anyway? If you’re asking that question right now, you’re not alone. Learning how to cut a pomegranate can seem intimidating, and done the wrong way, it can be a huge mess. Not to…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Cranberry Sauce

Scented with orange and sweetened with maple, this cranberry sauce recipe is a delicious version of the Thanksgiving classic. Great for making ahead!

Meet my best cranberry sauce recipe! This homemade cranberry sauce is easy to make with 5 simple ingredients. It’s thick, tart, and jammy, and maple syrup and orange zest give it wonderful depth of flavor. It’s the perfect addition to a Thanksgiving table, but it’s so delicious that I’d happily eat it at any time of year. If you’ve never tried homemade cranberry sauce before, I hope you’ll make this recipe. I grew up eating the kind from the can, so you can trust me when I tell you that this fresh cranberry sauce is SO much better. Since I…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

What are Leeks? (And How to Cook Them)

Leeks add sweet, oniony flavor to soups, stews, pastas, and more! Read on to learn how to cut and cook them, and find some of my favorite leek recipes.

Ever heard of potato leek soup? I thought so! But how often do you cook leeks in other recipes? Have you tried them in pasta, stuffing, or risotto? Have you eaten them on their own? If I had my way, we’d all be eating leeks way more often. They’re incredibly versatile, adding unique, sweet, and mild onion flavor to a huge range of dishes. To spread the leek love, I’m sharing my go-to methods for how to cut, clean, and cook leeks below, as well as my favorite leek recipes. If you have a leek in your fridge right now,…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Mashed Cauliflower

This creamy mashed cauliflower recipe is an easy, delicious low carb side dish! Roasted garlic and a little butter fill it with rich, nutty flavor.

When I asked Jack to taste this mashed cauliflower recipe, I told him it was mashed potatoes. Call me cruel, but I wanted his honest opinion. He loves mashed potatoes more than anyone I know! He wasn’t completely fooled (“I was standing next to you when you bought the cauliflower…”), but he did happily enjoy bite after bite. Since then, he’s devoured several bowls of this mashed cauliflower and accidentally called it “mashed potatoes” more than once. I’ll take it! In the past, I’ve made cauliflower mashed potatoes with a mix of potatoes and cauliflower. But this year, I decided…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Roasted Garlic

Making mashed potatoes, a sauce, or soup? Roasted garlic will infuse it with rich, nutty flavor. Find my easy method for how to roast garlic below!

Have you ever roasted garlic in the oven? As it cooks, your kitchen fills with an amazing savory scent. It’s the kind of mouthwatering aroma that’s guaranteed to make you hungry, even if you’ve just finished lunch. If you ask me, this smell alone is enough reason to learn how to roast garlic at home. But of course, the main reason to make roasted garlic is the taste. Unlike raw garlic, roasted garlic doesn’t have any sort of bite. Its flavor is sweet, mellow, nutty, and rich. It also softens as it roasts, becoming tender, creamy, and spreadable. Blend it…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta

This butternut squash pasta is healthy, comforting, and delicious! Roasted squash, sage, and thyme fill the creamy sauce with cozy autumn flavor.

The first time I made this butternut squash pasta sauce, Jack couldn’t stop talking about it for days. “That sauce!”, he kept saying. “That sauce!” Of course, I teased him for it, but if I’m being totally honest, I was completely smitten with it too. Looking at this butternut squash pasta, you might expect it to taste like mac and cheese. But don’t be fooled. The creamy sauce is rich and nutty, with bold autumn flavor from herbs like sage and thyme. Because it’s so flavorful and complex, this butternut squash pasta would make a show-stopping vegetarian main dish at a special…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Sautéed Broccoli

Learn how to sauté broccoli like a pro! This easy sautéed broccoli recipe is a light, healthy side dish or delicious addition to pastas, bowls, and more.

I’ll say it: I don’t cook sautéed broccoli often enough. I don’t know why, but whenever I have broccoli on hand, my first impulse is to roast it. But a few weeks back, I was making this butternut squash pasta for dinner, and I needed a quick and easy side dish to pair with it. I chopped up a bunch of broccoli and cooked it on the stove with lemon juice, olive oil, and garlic. The broccoli florets came out vibrant green and tender, while the stalks kept a nice al dente bite. It was so simple, flavorful, and refreshing…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Pumpkin Bars

These easy pumpkin bars are super moist, perfectly spiced, and slathered in tangy cream cheese frosting. What more could you want in a fall treat?

If you’re looking for a fun, festive, and sweet-but-not-too-sweet treat to make for Halloween, this easy pumpkin bars recipe is just the thing for you! It’s based on the pumpkin bread recipe that I make every fall. Like the bread, these bars are moist, tender, and filled with pumpkin spice flavor. UNlike the bread, they’re topped in a rich, tangy cream cheese frosting, which really highlights the warm spices inside them. On cool fall afternoons, they’re the perfect treat to pair with a coffee or tea. But heads up: these pumpkin bars are seriously addictive. Eat one, and you’ll have…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>
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.