How to Cook Black Beans

Learn how to cook black beans from scratch! Serve them as a hearty, flavorful side dish, or add them to your favorite black bean recipes.

When I opened the pantry last weekend, I found a bag of dried black beans that I’d been meaning to cook for weeks. With all the recipe testing that goes on in our kitchen, I hadn’t gotten around to it. But that day, a trip to the grocery store was totally out of the question. Six inches of snow had already accumulated outside, and six more were on their way. It seemed like the perfect time to cozy up in the kitchen and cook black beans from scratch. Black beans are an ingredient that I use all the time. More…

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Chili Cheese Fries

This chili cheese fries recipe is perfect for game day! A smoky, spicy plant-based chili and oozy vegan cheese sauce cover a layer of crispy French fries.

Jack and I are SO excited to dig into a plate of these chili cheese fries this weekend. We’re not big football fans, but it wouldn’t be Super Bowl Sunday without Super Bowl snacks, right? If you’re watching the game on Sunday (or even if you’re not!), I hope you’ll try this recipe. I top a bed of crispy French fries with smoky plant-based chili and generous drizzles of vegan cheese. Yep, that’s right! These chili cheese fries are totally vegan. But more importantly, they’re tasty, satisfying, and really darn fun. What more could you want in a game day…

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Cauliflower Soup

This cauliflower soup recipe is rich and creamy...without any cream! Warm, comforting, and SO flavorful, it's the perfect meal for a cold day.

This roasted cauliflower soup recipe is rich and creamy…but it doesn’t call for any cream. Instead, the blended cauliflower creates its luscious texture—no dairy required! I’ve had this cauliflower soup recipe in my cold weather rotation for years now. Even though all the ingredients are plant-based, it’s just as comforting as any soup made with heavy cream, milk, or cheese. On a chilly winter night, it absolutely hits the spot! It’s also super simple to make, so there’s lots to love here. Cauliflower Soup Ingredients You only need 10 basic ingredients to make this creamy cauliflower soup: A head of…

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Easy Kale Pesto

This vibrant kale pesto recipe comes together in 5 minutes flat! Nutty and bright, it's delicious on pasta, pizza, sandwiches, bowls, and more.

When I have a bunch of kale in the fridge, I almost always save a few leaves to make this kale pesto recipe. I especially love making it in the winter, when basil is out of season. Of course, it doesn’t taste exactly like basil pesto (basil is more aromatic, while kale is more peppery), but it’s still delicious. Extra-virgin olive oil and pepitas make it rich and nutty, and lemon juice adds a lovely bright finish. The whole recipe requires 8 ingredients and comes together in 5 minutes, so it’s a great one to have in your back pocket.…

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Roasted Beet & Carrot Salad with Avocado

A creamy tahini dressing adds bright, nutty flavor to this gorgeous avocado and root vegetable salad. Enjoy it as a side dish or on its own for lunch!

This salad is my favorite sort of thing to make. I love how all the vibrant colors play off one another—the bright pink and yellow beets, the vivid orange carrots, and the pale green avocado. But even more than how these ingredients look together, I love how they taste. The avocado is rich and creamy, the root veggies are sweet and earthy, and watercress adds a peppery, refreshing kick. All together, they make a stunning side dish that would be perfect for a special occasion brunch or dinner (or even a regular one, for that matter!). If you’re anything like…

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30 Vegan Breakfast Recipes

Refresh your morning routine with these vegan breakfast ideas! They include easy recipes for plant-based scrambles, pancakes, oats, and more.

So often, I hear from readers who are looking for vegan breakfast ideas. It makes sense – for many of us, eggs and yogurt are pretty standard breakfast fare. What other options are out there? Well, good news! Many traditional breakfast recipes like oatmeal and smoothies are naturally vegan, and others, such as pancakes and muffins, can be made vegan with a few easy ingredient swaps. Below, you’ll find classic vegan breakfast recipes like these as well as out-of-the-box ideas that you might not have tried before. They’re all fresh, flavorful, and energizing – a perfect way to start the…

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Tofu Scramble

This tofu scramble recipe is the ultimate plant-based breakfast! Serve it with sliced avocado, salsa, and lots of veggies for an easy, fun, and flavorful meal.

I love starting my day with a protein-packed breakfast like this tofu scramble! It’s energizing, flavorful, and satisfying, the sort of thing that’s guaranteed to keep me full till lunch. I think you’ll love this recipe if you’re vegan – it’s quick and easy, it’s high in protein, and it’s a great savory option given how many vegan breakfast recipes are sweet. But even if you’re not vegan, I hope you’ll give it a try. Thanks to spices, nutritional yeast, and a dash of Dijon mustard, this tofu scramble recipe is packed with flavor. Instead of thinking of it as…

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Sesame Ginger Dressing

This sesame ginger dressing is an easy way to jazz up any salad or bowl! It's nutty, savory, and a little sweet, with a delicious smooth and creamy texture.

If you’re looking for an easy way to liven up your weekly meal prep or lunch routine, this sesame ginger dressing is exactly what you need! It’s nutty, savory, and a little sweet, with a refreshing kick from the ginger. Versatile and delicious, it’s the sort of sauce I love to keep on hand in the fridge. It lasts for days, and it will transform the simplest green salad into an irresistible meal. Sesame Ginger Dressing Recipe Ingredients Another thing I love about this sesame ginger dressing? You can make it with 7 basic ingredients: Tahini – Made from ground…

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Forbidden Black Rice

Forbidden black rice is nutty, delicious, and chock-full of nutrients like iron and fiber. Read on to learn how to cook this striking, good-for-you grain!

As I rummaged through my pantry last spring, I found a canister of black rice that I’d forgotten about. Jack and I hadn’t been to the store in weeks. After eating our way through boxes of pasta and bags of white rice, the black rice was an exciting change. Thanks to its nutty flavor and striking purple hue, black rice, also called forbidden rice, had been one of my favorite grains when we lived in Austin. I’d get it from the bulk bins at the grocery store, eagerly anticipating adding it to salads and bowls when I got home. I…

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Vegan Sushi

You won't miss the fish in this vegan sushi recipe! Instead, marinated beets, cucumber, and avocado create a fresh, fun, and flavorful filling.

I’ve shared vegan sushi recipes before, but earlier this winter, I thought of another idea that I just had to try. I wanted to make vegan sushi that looked like, well, not vegan sushi. I thought that if I marinated pink Chioggia beets they’d look pretty darn similar to tuna. How cute would that be?! There was just one problem: Jack hates beets. Sure, he’ll eat certain beet recipes from time to time, but that only happens when I put a dish in front of him and don’t tell him what’s in it. And in our house, vegan sushi is one thing we…

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Miso Soup

Learn how to make miso soup at home! Brimming with savory, umami flavor, this easy recipe is a delicious side dish, starter, or meal on its own.

Raise your hand if you love miso soup! Same. The cloudy broth is warming, nourishing, and deeply flavorful. On a cold, gray winter day, there’s nothing I crave more. It clears my head and warms me up from the inside out. For years, I only ate miso soup at Japanese restaurants. But after Jack and I traveled to Japan for the first time, we got curious about Japanese cooking at home. We cooked soba noodles, we made matcha, and we decided to try a miso soup recipe. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I certainly didn’t imagine the…

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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.