Vegetarian Black Bean Enchiladas

We love to cozy up with these vegetarian enchiladas on fall nights. Their filling is a sweet & spicy mix of butternut squash, black beans & scallions.

To me, it seems like there’s always a shortage of good vegetarian enchiladas on restaurant menus. So often, you find chicken enchiladas only, or the vegetarian enchiladas look a like cheese bomb on a plate. Now, rather than going out, I make this vegetarian enchilada recipe from the “Winter Squash” section of our first cookbook when an enchilada craving strikes. It’s lighter than most restaurant enchiladas, but it’s still spicy & satisfying. Let’s cook! Lately, these vegetarian black bean enchiladas have become one of our favorite dinners for cold nights. The spicy, gooey tortillas and hearty veggie filling are the ultimate form of comfort…

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Vegan Carrot “Queso” with Nacho Snacks

Who would have thought potatoes & carrots could blend into a creamy vegan queso? I sure didn't, until I made this tangy, smoky, delicious dip!

This vegan queso recipe takes me back to college, when I used to binge on super unhealthy things like chips and queso at night while trying to eat reasonably healthier and more vegetarian during the day. My transition to eating healthier foods took a few years to settle in. As a busy college student, the foods from Amy’s Kitchen really helped me make this transition. I loved their Vegetable Lasagna, the Breakfast Burrito, and of course these Nacho Snacks. So when the folks at Amy’s reached out to me, I knew I wanted to make a recipe that incorporated these snacks in a slightly healthier holiday appetizer. The secret…

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Healthy Hot Chocolate

This healthy hot chocolate recipe is the perfect cold weather treat! It's totally vegan and dairy-free, but it's still rich, chocolatey, and delicious.

Lately, Jack and I have been guzzling mugs of this healthy hot chocolate for breakfast. If you’re thinking, “Hot chocolate for breakfast?!”, you have to hear me out. This healthy hot chocolate recipe is a far cry from the Swiss Miss hot cocoa I drank as a kid. It’s naturally sweetened, and nutrient-rich cacao powder takes the place of processed cocoa. Plus, I make it with almond milk, so it’s totally vegan and dairy-free. Fair game for breakfast? 100% yes. Now, if you think “healthy” is code for “watery” or “bland,” think again. This healthier hot chocolate is rich, creamy,…

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Apple Sage Grilled Cheese

A fancy fall grilled cheese that's sweet and savory. Delicious for a quick weeknight dinner.

Of course you don’t need a recipe for grilled cheese, but I just HAVE to share this simple combo because it’s so so delicious. This is the sort of thing that I love to make when I don’t feel like spending time in the kitchen but I also don’t feel like leaving the house. Sweet, soft apples, savory sage, red onion, and a good slather of grainy mustard – all between melty cheese (or vegan cheese) and bread. I think this might be my favorite sandwich assembly to date, I just love the sweet and salty mix. Make these with a…

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Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

Topped with a sweet and savory rosemary cashew cream and a lemony broccoli salad, these twice baked sweet potatoes are totally irresistible.

These twice baked sweet potatoes are a complete departure from the sweet potatoes I ate growing up. Then, I only had them once a year at Thanksgiving, where they were layered into a casserole loaded with mini marshmallows. For years, I thought I didn’t like sweet potatoes. It turns out, that casserole was just too sweet for me! I actually love sweet potatoes, but not when they’re loaded with brown sugar and marshmallows. These twice baked sweet potatoes are a perfect balance of sweet and savory. They take the potatoes’ natural sweetness and offset it with cozy, bright, and tangy flavors.…

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Sweet Tea Sparkling Apple Cider

Sweet Tea Sparkling Apple Cider is the best fall/Thanksgiving cocktail! With just 6 ingredients, it's easy to make and full of festive fall flavors!

Happy almost-Thanksgiving week! Do you have your menu set? Are you getting together with family or having a Friendsgiving? Either way – here’s a sweet and oh-so-pretty cocktail that would be lovely for your turkey day. This one couldn’t be easier: mix apple cider with iced tea, let it chill for about 2 hours with diced apples, cinnamon sticks and star anise. When your guests arrive, pull it out of the fridge and serve with sparkling wine. That’s it!

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Red Curry Kuri Squash Soup

This creamy curried squash soup comes together in two easy steps: roast & blend! Made with coconut milk and plenty of veggies, it's totally vegan.

I had this red kuri squash sitting on my countertop for the longest time. I didn’t really know what to do with it until I picked up some lemongrass from the market and then it hit me – Red Curry Kuri soup! They say “what grows together goes together.” Well in this case, what rhymes together… also works. If you can’t find a red kuri squash, you could sub in kabocha squash or butternut squash. If you can’t find lemongrass, use a bit of lime zest here instead. The rest is pretty straight forward and simple – plus this is…

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Vegetarian Thanksgiving Sides

Thanksgiving is next week! I can hardly believe it, every year it seems to come around quicker and quicker. Here on the blog, I usually post a full menu of non-turkey day options as if I’m going to be cooking up the big holiday meal myself. In reality, Jack and I will be going to someone else’s house and I’ll likely bring the salad. So this year I thought I’d cut to the chase and post some of my favorite Thanksgiving side dishes. Because let’s be real, the sides are really the star of the show anyway. pictured above: Vegan Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes Simple Lemon Green Beans / Kale & Shiitake…

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Pumpkin Pudding

This pumpkin pudding recipe is far easier than pie, but it's just as delicious! I love to serve it with toasted pecans for extra richness and crunch.

This pumpkin pudding is my grown-up version of the pumpkin pie I adored as a kid. Back then, my favorite thing about Thanksgiving was hands down the pumpkin pie. Or, more accurately, the pumpkin pie filling. My sister and I (being the picky eaters that we were) would scoop out the creamy pumpkin middle and leave the shells of our crusts behind. The adults would shake their heads. Sometimes I’d eat the crispy edge piece, but the soggy bottom crust? No thank you. Now that I’m an adult, I wouldn’t push my crust aside, but pumpkin pie’s creamy filling is…

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Quinoa Salad Stuffed Acorn Squash

Quinoa Salad Stuffed Acorn Squash is a healthy vegetarian Thanksgiving main dish.

Ok, so if you really know your vegetables, you’ll notice that those guys in front are actually Jester Squash and not Acorn Squash. Technicalities aside, they work just as well for roasting and stuffing. Something I really love about my local Farmhouse Delivery is that vegetable varieties show up that even I – the girl that literally wrote a book about vegetables – have to occasionally Google. This recipe is comfort food on the lighter side. Sometimes fall foods make me feel just so darn full, so what I did to avoid a near-food coma situation was stuff the squashes with a light & bright quinoa salad. Serve…

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Brussels Sprouts with Farro & Pomegranate

Roasted Brussels sprouts with balsamic and maple star in this delicious autumn recipe. Serve it as a side dish, or enjoy it as a light meal on its own!

This balsamic Brussels sprouts recipe is an updated spin on one of our first-ever blog posts. In that recipe, I roasted the sprouts with a combination of balsamic vinegar and maple syrup. As a result, they became sweet and caramelized, with a great tang from the balsamic vinegar. This balsamic Brussels sprouts recipe starts in the same way, except that I roast the sprouts with onions. Then, when the veggies come out of the oven, I toss them with nutty farro to make a more substantial side dish. The combination of the oven roasted Brussels sprouts with balsamic, the roasted onions,…

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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.