Shredded Brussels Sprout & Apple Salad

This simple slaw is made with just 8 ingredients, but it gets wonderful sweetness & crunch from apples, kohlrabi, dried cranberries, and pine nuts.

You may or may not have noticed, but I love salads. I intended to start November off with big hearty Thanksgiving inspiration… but, well, I’m not sure if the thought of mashed potatoes made my jeans feel tighter or if it was all the Christmas cookies I ate last week (don’t ask)… this week I ended up craving soups and, especially, salads. I’m really excited about this salad because it’s so simple yet so delicious with all of its shred-y, crunchy textures. If you have a mandoline, this will go really quickly. If you don’t, you can use a sharp knife, just try to slice everything as thinly as you…

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Forbidden Rice Pumpkin Salad

A delicious fall salad made with roasted pumpkin or butternut squash, pomegranate, pepitas, and blood orange vinaigrette. A great Thanksgiving side.

Are you sugared out yet? Since I already posted my one and only candy idea, I wasn’t quite sure what to make for today. I was going to skip this holiday post altogether until Jack came up with the genius thematic idea to make something with black forbidden rice. I had a pumpkin sitting on my countertop as well as some blood oranges… so naturally, I came up with the ultimate Halloween salad for this L&L Spook-tacular post. (That’s what Jack is calling it). I made a blood orange vinaigrette spiced with cumin, coriander, and a bit of cinnamon. I just love how the warm…

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Spaghetti Squash w/ Chickpeas & Kale

Sun-dried tomatoes give this vegan spaghetti squash recipe a savory pop. Hearty from chickpeas & kale, it's a great fall or winter weeknight dinner.

The first time I had spaghetti squash, it was served with a big scoop of store-bought marinara sauce mixed in. It was slimy and goop-y and decidedly not spaghetti-like. About a month ago, ditching the pasta idea completely, I planned a post for bbq spaghetti squash tacos. I have a super cute photo to prove that the meal existed, but the recipe ended in total disaster. So, long story short, I’ve learned that I prefer my spaghetti squash as simple as possible and most importantly: sauce-less. The roasted strands come out of the oven with a nice al-dente bite, but, smothered in sauce, they become just too mushy…

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Pumpkin Hummus Quesadillas

Spiced pumpkin hummus is a delicious vegan filling in these fall quesadillas! Load them with guacamole, greens & if not vegan, cheese! Weeknight-friendly.

Here’s my question for all of you pumpkin lovers out there – what do you do with your leftover pumpkin puree? So many recipes (including my own) call for 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree. Whether I open a can or roast a whole pumpkin, I’m always left with leftover mash. It calls at me from the fridge saying “how about pumpkin cookies?” or “let’s make muffins.” But after consuming too many pancakes for the making of last week’s post, I wasn’t in the mood for anything sweet. So I got this idea for pumpkin hummus… and I thought it would be great smushed in between tortillas with…

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Gluten-free Pumpkin Pancakes

To say that these are the best gluten-free pancakes I’ve ever had would be selling this stack short. I hesitate to ever make claims that something is “the best,” because taste is so subjective after all. But these (in my opinion) have to be right up there with the best pancakes I’ve ever eaten, gluten-free or not. I made these the other day for Jack and my mom (who is in town visiting right now). After we tasted, my mom said “what’s that special flour you used? I’ll have to get some of that.” “That flour” I used is Pamela’s…

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Harissa Spiced Fall Veggie Pitas

The simplest healthy weeknight dinner for fall! Filled with spiced roasted sweet potatoes & zucchini, avocado, and a delicious harissa yogurt sauce.

I make a lot of impromptu tacos. We not only have taco Tuesdays around here, but sometimes taco Wednesdays and/or taco Thursdays. When I’m looking for something quick I usually reach for tortillas, no matter what day of the week it might be. I keep them in the freezer, so they’re always ready. Except this particular night – no tortillas, but I had some sprouted pitas. This wasn’t originally going to be a post, but these turned out so pretty and delicious. And who doesn’t need a quick dinner idea? I roasted chopped sweet potatoes and zucchini and tossed them with dried harissa…

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Butternut Squash Pasta with Walnuts & Sage

I make this butternut squash pasta recipe when I'm craving fall comfort food. It's so easy, and the sage & squash fill it with cozy autumn flavor.

Butternut squash soup may be my favorite fall comfort food, but this butternut squash pasta is now a close second. It’s a pretty easy throw-together pasta made from a classic fall flavor combo: butternut squash, sage, and walnuts. The sweet, caramelized squash plays perfectly off the earthy sage and nutty walnuts, and a little butter and pecorino add the perfect amount of richness. This is one we’ll have on repeat all season long. To make it, simply roast the squash until it’s tender and caramelized. Then, sauté the shallot, sage, walnuts, chickpeas, cooked butternut squash, and garlic until the chickpeas and squash…

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Cinnamon Apple Tart Cherry Crumble

This easy apple crumble takes half the effort of pie, but it's just as good, full of warming cinnamon & cardamom as well as brown sugar, oats & nuts.

Pie is something I enjoy most when other people make it. I usually don’t have the patience to make crust, but that’s probably because I’m more of a filling person anyway. (When I was a kid, I’d always eat the pumpkin pie filling and leave the shell of the crust behind.) So, naturally, crisps and crumbles are my fall desserts of choice. This apple crumble recipe is much easier than pie, but it still has all of apple pie’s fruity-crunchy-fall-spiced goodness. How to Make Apple Crumble I made this nutty, oat-y crumble topping with a mixture of brown sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom. Cardamom has…

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Apple Zinger Tea-Tails

Fall spiced apple cider tea infused cocktail - alcohol & mocktail options!

Last week I had the opportunity to go on a super fun trip to Boulder Colorado to visit the headquarters of Celestial Seasonings. I’ve been drinking their tea for years so it was fun to learn more about the process of making tea and meet the wonderful people behind the brand. The trip started with the warmest welcome (the employees greeted us outside, cheering and holding signs with each of our blog names on them!). I drank about a million cups of tea (Sweet Harvest Pumpkin is totally my new favorite). After that, my highlights of the visit were: listening to Kay…

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Butternut Squash Burrito Bowls

Butternut squash burrito bowls are healthy, easy vegetarian dinner! Filled with black beans, pico de gallo, kale & avocado, they're hearty & delicious.

Sometimes I feel like I have a never-ending stream of ideas. One idea leads to the next and a few tangents later they multiply into lists full of recipe possibilities. Other times, I’m completely blank. This is the part where I usually talk about how I was romantically re-inspired after a stroll through the farmers market. But not this time. This weekend, we strolled and we market-ed. Still blank. Then, this idea popped into my head at Chipotle, of all places. It was a rare day that we were even at Chipotle, (we usually favor our local Freebirds). Either way, I’m a sucker for a burrito bowl and I…

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Ginger-Apple Pumpkin Soup

This Ginger-Apple Pumpkin Soup recipe makes a delicious creamy soup with coconut milk, ginger, and cardamom. It's perfect for fall.

It’s only October 1st and yet I feel like I’m already the last to post a pumpkin recipe. This time of year, pinterest is crazy for pumpkin. But don’t worry – if you’re too cool for pumpkin, you can just as easily make this soup with butternut squash. This recipe comes together pretty easily and it doesn’t even require a pot. I roasted the pumpkin, an apple, an onion and a few garlic cloves all in the oven. I put it all in a blender and pureéd it into a creamy soup with coconut milk, ginger, and the special ingredient – cardamom. If…

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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.