Sweet & Spicy Popcorn

Easy 6-ingredient homemade Sweet & Spicy Popcorn is a great holiday gift! Vegan, gluten-free & healthier than classic kettle corn, but just as good.

Hello everyone, Jack here, pinch-hitting for Jeanine. She’s been busy making this very popcorn, so she asked me to write about it. Popcorn this time of year makes me think of something that has become a bit of an American tradition – gigantic multi-gallon tins of flavored popcorn. You know the kind – they’re the size of an oil drum, separated into three sections on the inside with a literal ton of popcorn inside. It seems like a good idea – popcorn is cheap, so why not preserve it in a sticky, sugary shell to enjoy over the entire month of December? Well,…

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Arugula Salad with Lemon & Fennel

This easy arugula salad is light and lemony with peppery arugula, marinated fennel, crisp radishes, creamy avocado, and toasted walnuts.

This bright arugula salad is one of my favorite simple side dishes. It’s so easy to toss together: marinate thinly shaved fennel and radishes for a few minutes before tossing them with arugula, toasted walnuts, and creamy avocado. And if you have it on hand, a dollop of pesto really takes it to the next level. With a simple lemon dressing, this salad has the perfect balance of creamy, crunchy, bright, and bitter components. It’s an excellent choice for a weeknight, but it’s good enough to serve as a side salad for a special occasion. Arugula Salad Recipe Variations Like…

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Super Stuffed Chipotle Sweet Potatoes

A good stuffed sweet potato starts with the "stuff," and this fresh corn, black bean & red cabbage filling makes these guys totally irresistible.

I’m slowly becoming a baked potato lover, but not just any baked potato lover. I still can’t get behind white baked potatoes slathered with sour cream and butter, but I could eat these mega stuffed sweet potatoes for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Case in point, as I started writing this post, I went and polished off the leftovers I was saving for my lunch… for breakfast. I’m telling you, I have no self-control sometimes. A good stuffed sweet potato, of course, starts with the “stuff.” I made my filling by mixing black beans with corn, Cotija cheese, avocado, jalapeño, and generous squeezes of…

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Chipotle Apple Sweet Potato Salad

Chipotle Apple Sweet Potato Salad - an easy fall favorite. This sweet & spicy salad is SO filling with apples, corn, roasted tomatoes, and chipotle.

This is my new favorite salad… and I don’t throw words like “favorite” or “best ever” around lightly. You may have noticed that I love roasted sweet potatoes in just about any salad (as evident here, here, and here) but this combination – with roasted tomatoes, roasted apples, corn, and a tangy/smoky chipotle dressing – was so good that I made it for dinner two nights in a row. The first night, I made this as a lazy-girl dinner. Jack was out of town so for an easy “by myself” dinner I decided to roast the things (pictured above) that had just arrived in my Farmhouse Delivery…

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Fig, Feta & Mint Crostini

This fig, feta & mint crostini is a delicious healthy snack or party appetizer! With just 7 ingredients, it's easy to make. Vegan option included.

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like figs – they’re so sweet and unassuming – but I avoided them for years due to my childhood dislike of Fig Newtons. I was just never a fan of that packaged fig flavor. Later, I came to realize (of course!) that fresh figs are amazing. They’re in season now, and their season is short, so you should go find some. When I have fresh figs, they only seem to last a day (maybe two) so I usually make something really simple with them. Figs, feta, and mint are a delicious combination, so I love them in these little sweet &…

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Summer Panzanella with Squash

Though pattypan squash is my top choice, you can use any summer squash you have on hand to make this bright, bold late summer panzanella.

Hold your pumpkin bread – I have one last super summery recipe before this season really ends. You can use any summer squash you like here (zucchini or yellow squash are both great), but I found pattypan squash at the farmers market and had to try it! I considered making a totally different pattypan squash recipe by stuffing and baking it, but I didn’t want to turn the oven on. Then I noticed that I had some really stale bread, so this hearty, delicious pattypan squash panzanella was an obvious choice. I’m a HUGE fan of panzanellas, or Italian bread salads (see…

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Healthy Vegetarian Grilling Recipes

Healthy vegan and vegetarian summer grilling ideas! Easy marinated veggie skewers, spicy grilled corn and chunky guacamole. Perfect for a memorial day or 4th of July cookout!

Happy holiday weekend! If you’re hosting a cookout this Labor Day weekend, here are a few simple (yet super delicious!) veggie recipe ideas. And if you’re attending a cookout this weekend – well, it’s always good to be a bringer especially if you’re the one with the special food requirements. (Who me?) Ok, let’s get started – first we’re going to load up some skewers. (Actually, first, we’re going to make some margaritas). Once you have a drink in hand, get started by marinating the mushrooms. My secret not-so-secret-anymore marinade is so easy –  olive oil, balsamic, soy sauce and black pepper. The mushrooms become deeply browned and…

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Orzo & Feta Stuffed Peppers

These vegetarian stuffed peppers are one of our favorite summer dinners! Filled with an herbed orzo & kale salad, they're light, healthy & easy to make.

Stuffed peppers are one of my go-to summer dinners. In fact, they’re so easy that when I posted this picture on Instagram last week, I got tons of emails asking for the fully measured recipe. Ask and you shall receive, so here it is: my current favorite recipe for vegetarian stuffed peppers. But don’t let the measurements fool you – feel free to eyeball your ingredients if you don’t feel like breaking out the measuring cups. This vegetarian stuffed peppers recipe is simple and customizable! If you don’t have orzo, use couscous. Gluten-free? Millet or quinoa would also work well in place of the…

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Quinoa Veggie Wrap

A veggie wrap is the epitome of flavor + convenience. These pesto & quinoa salad-stuffed veggie wraps are bright, fresh & perfect for taking on the go.

In my opinion, the world cannot have too many quinoa salads. Don’t get me wrong, I love the other grains too – farro, millet, and wheatberries are all lovely – but my real go-to grain is quinoa. I love to make a big batch and keep it on hand, as it’s the perfect catch-all for the vegetables, nuts, and cheeses that I usually have around. Of course, since this salad was destined for a picnic without any silverware, I decided to have my cake (salad?) and eat it too by stuffing it in a veggie wrap. My Veggie Wrap Filling The hearty, fresh…

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Heirloom Tomato & Mango Pico

I love pico and I love mango salsa, so I’m not sure why it took so long to come up with the delicious idea to combine the two. This is probably the prettiest salsa I’ve ever made, but I also love the flavor and texture variety that each tomato brings to the table bowl. Cherry tomatoes are sweet, green tomatoes are more tart and firm. I always find myself adding a pinch of sugar to my tomato salsa for balance, but that’s not necessary this time because of the sweet juicy mango. Make a big batch, it’ll keep in your fridge for 3-4 days…

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Portobello Mushroom Tacos

Make these portobello mushroom tacos for an easy, flavorful dinner! Creamy vegan jalapeño sauce spices up the tangy, meaty mushroom filling.

These may be portobello mushroom tacos, but secretly, they’re all about the sauce. It’s a vegan riff on ranch dressing made with cashews, roasted jalapeños, and cucumber, and it’s so good that I have a hard time not eating it all with a spoon! However, resisting it long enough to top it onto these mushroom tacos is totally worth the wait. Cool, creamy, spicy, and bright, it perfectly accents the tangy, meaty grilled mushrooms and fresh garnishes in this recipe. The combination is really terrific – if you try these mushroom tacos once, they’ll have a permanent place in your…

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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.