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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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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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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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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Instant Pot Black Beans

These no-soak Instant Pot black beans are so flavorful and easy to make! Serve them as a side dish, or add them to your favorite black bean recipes.

cooking basics

These Instant Pot black beans did something that I didn’t think was possible – they changed my mind about the Instant Pot. After I made them…and then rice…and then soup (recipes coming soon!), I went from being an Instant Pot skeptic to a total convert. It is so handy to be able to start cooking your beans/rice/whatever you’re making and then walk away, not having to worry about adjusting the heat on the stove or having a pot boil over. Plus, it does speed things along, at least in the case of these Instant Pot black beans. They cook up in…

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Baked Apples

These baked apples are a simple, delicious fall dessert. The soft, juicy apples contrast beautifully with a crisp brown sugar and cinnamon topping.

fall / desserts

This baked apple recipe might be my ideal fall dessert. It’s simpler to make than apple pie, apple cake, or even apple crisp, but it checks all the same apple-y, cinnamon-y boxes. It also shows off the natural shape and color of the apples, which I really love. When I nestle a couple of these baked apples into a bowl with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, they look so fresh and festive…and they taste amazing, too. I’ve made this baked apple recipe a few times this season already, and I’m still excited to make it a few more. If…

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Apple Pie Spice

Why buy apple pie spice in a jar when you have all the ingredients to make it at home? This cozy autumn spice blend is delicious in crisps, pies, and more.

fall / cooking basics

The other week, I mixed up a big batch of this apple pie spice to make my baked apple recipe. I purposely made more than I needed, figuring it’d be handy to have around throughout the fall, but when I got done, I wondered if I’d made a mistake. I had…quite a bit of apple pie spice. Would I ever use it up? As it turns out, I had no reason to worry, because this apple pie spice is delicious in so many things. You can use it in pie, yes, but also in crisps, coffee, oatmeal, and more. I…

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Sweet Potato Soup

This sweet potato soup recipe is one of my favorite healthy comfort foods. Made with veggies, coconut milk, and spices, it's rich, creamy, and delicious.

fall / soups

Jack and I spent the first official week of fall eating bowl after bowl of this sweet potato soup. I don’t know what it is about creamy orange soup, but for some reason, it just seems like the perfect meal on a chilly day. Its vibrant color brightens up gray, dreary weather, and its velvety broth warms you from the inside out. Most years, I make my butternut squash soup or pumpkin soup on repeat at the start of fall, but right now, I’m still stuck on this sweet potato soup. It has a rich, sweet, and smoky flavor, with…

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Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.