How to Cook Beans

Once you know how to cook dried beans, you'll always have them on hand. They're cheap, nutritious, easy to make, and - most importantly - delicious!

Canned beans are convenient, but in terms of affordability, taste, and texture, dried beans have them beat. If you’ve never cooked dried beans before, don’t let it intimidate you! My method for how to cook beans is an easy, hands-off process with a huge payoff. They come out soft and creamy, with a rich, aromatic broth surrounding them. Hot from the stove with a ladle of cooking liquid, they’re good enough to enjoy as a meal on their own! Of course, you can also use dried beans anytime you’d use canned – in bowls, soups, tacos, and more. Cook a…

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Vegan Mac and Cheese

The BEST vegan mac and cheese recipe! With a creamy, cheesy sauce made from sweet potatoes and nutritional yeast, it's just as good as the real thing.

vegan / dinner

When I’m craving comfort food, this vegan mac and cheese recipe is the first thing I make. It calls for a handful of ingredients that I almost always have on hand, it’s quick and easy, and it’s absolutely delicious. The creamy sauce is rich, luscious, and filled with nutty, tangy cheddar cheese flavor. Even Jack, who LOVES classic mac and cheese, will happily devour a bowl (or two) of this plant-based pasta any day. In the past, I’ve made dairy-free mac and cheese with coconut milk, cauliflower, or a big scoop of cashews, but this recipe is my favorite by…

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30+ Healthy Pantry Recipes

These pantry recipes use simple ingredients, but they're still fun to make and fun to eat! Find easy, delicious ideas for soups, tacos, pastas, and more.

There’s nothing I love more than making a delicious meal out of what I have on hand. It’s thrilling to reach into the cupboard and pull out a can of tomatoes and a bag of dried lentils and imagine what pantry recipes I can make. Flash forward thirty minutes, and they’ve transformed into a creamy curried soup that’s flavorful, comforting, and nourishing. It’s certainly been a stressful week for us here in Chicago, and I’m sure it has been for many of you too. When I’m faced with stressful situations, cooking is the first thing I turn to. It’s soothing…

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Bibimbap

This bibimbap recipe is bowl food at its best! Topped with gochujang sauce and seasoned veggies, it's fresh, healthy, and packed with bold flavor.

vegetarian / dinner

This bibimbap recipe will make anyone fall in love with bowl food. When I talk about bowl food, I mean any recipe that consists of a base, such as noodles or rice, a protein, vegetables, and a flavorful sauce. I’ve had my fair share of grain bowls and noodle bowls over the years, but without question, bibimbap is bowl food at its best. If you’ve never heard of bibimbap, it’s a Korean rice bowl topped with assorted vegetables, spicy gochujang, and an egg and/or meat. It’s one of the most well-known Korean dishes, and once you try it, you’ll see…

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Spaghetti and Meatballs

My spaghetti and meatballs recipe may be meat-free, but it's still delicious, thanks to hearty, smoky veggie balls and homemade marinara sauce.

dinner / vegan

What’s more homey than spaghetti and meatballs? Twists of pasta doused in herb-flecked marinara sauce, with tender, spicy meatballs balanced on top… On a cold night, there’s not much that sounds better. Meatless spaghetti and meatballs might seem like an oxymoron, but trust me, there’s no shortage of ways to make them meat-free. In fact, I’ve been hooked on two veggie meatball recipes lately. I couldn’t pick a favorite if I tried, so instead of choosing one to share here, I’m sharing both! Each one has a hearty texture and a rich savory flavor that’s irresistible with al dente pasta and…

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Steamed Bao Buns

These steamed bao buns are one of our favorite recipes to make on a date night in. I prep the filling while Jack mixes up the dough. Then, we eat!

Making these steamed bao buns is our idea of the perfect Valentine’s date. See, Jack and I enjoy going out to eat, but never on Valentine’s Day. The restaurants are more crowded, the food is more expensive, and we always end up having more fun at home. So we skip the crowds and celebrate simply, spending time together making something we both love. In years past, we’ve learned to make pasta (I make a delicious sauce while he cranks the pasta maker), homemade pizza (Jack does the crust while I do the the toppings), or sushi (I prep the fillings,…

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25 Easy Pasta Recipes

These easy pasta recipes will satisfy any pasta craving! Whether you're hungry for classic lasagna or a new, inventive idea, we've got you covered.

dinner / favorites

Pasta recipes are some of these most versatile dishes out there. Cooking a romantic dinner for two? There’s a pasta recipe for that. Need a quick and easy dinner on a weeknight? There’s a pasta recipe for that. Serving a crowd? There’s one for that too. Below, you’ll find 25 easy pasta recipes we’ve made and loved on all sorts of occasions – family gatherings, date nights in, and times when I’ve been at a loss for what to cook for dinner. Oftentimes, those nights have yielded the best pasta dinners we’ve had. Turns out, it only takes simple ingredients…

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Gluten Free Pancakes

These gluten-free pancakes are our favorite weekend breakfast. Made with oat & almond flour, they're light, fluffy, and filled with warm vanilla flavor.

gluten free / breakfast

In the last few weeks, making this recipe for gluten-free pancakes has become our Saturday morning routine. Jack beats the egg whites into soft peaks while I whisk together the batter. Then, he gently folds in the egg whites, and I stand over the hot stove, flipping pancakes until we’ve used up every last drop of batter in the bowl. I typically do the cooking in our house, but these gluten-free pancakes are one of the few recipes we actually make together. This couldn’t be more fitting, as they come from Aran Goyoaga’s new book Cannelle et Vanille. A true…

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Fettuccine Alfredo

This fettuccine Alfredo recipe is perfect for any and all occasions, from busy weeknights to romantic dinners. It's simple, elegant, and totally delicious.

pasta / dinner

Traditional fettuccine Alfredo contains 5 basic ingredients: pasta, butter, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. If you’ve been reading the blog for a while, you’ve probably guessed that this fettuccine Alfredo recipe isn’t totally traditional. You’re right! See, I love creamy pasta, but when I order it at restaurants, it’s almost always too rich for me to enjoy for more than a few bites. Earlier this winter, I was craving comfort food, and I got the idea to make a fettuccine Alfredo recipe that would let me have my cake and eat it too. It would be every bit as creamy…

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Perfect Baked Potato

A perfect baked potato has crispy skin and fluffy insides. My method for how to bake a potato works every time, so load up your spuds, and dig in!

side dishes / vegetarian

A perfect baked potato is hard to beat. The outside is brown and crisp, coated in a crust of sea salt. Pierce the skin, and your fork gives way to a soft, fluffy interior. It might be hard to resist eating the whole thing straight out of the oven, but if you take the time to top it with a pat of butter or a dollop of (cashew) sour cream, you won’t be able to deny that it was worth the wait. Reading this, you might be surprised to learn that until recently, I wasn’t a baked potato fan. I…

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Homemade Taquitos

Meet my new favorite appetizer: Baked Green Chile Taquitos! They're crispy on the outside, gooey in the middle, tangy, lightly spicy, and so. much. fun!

snacks & dips / appetizers

Who would have guessed that moving to Chicago would have made me a taquitos fan? Just after Jack and I moved here, a new bar opened up down the block from our house. At first, we went there for drinks, but we’ve kept going back for taquitos! As it turns out, this bar has an inventive chef who comes up with a rotating menu of homemade taquitos. They make their tortillas from scratch and stuff them with seasonal, local ingredients. After just a few visits, Jack and I were total taquitos converts, and I knew I had to try making…

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Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.