Easy Peanut Sauce

Try this easy peanut sauce recipe once, and you'll want to have it on hand at all times. It's perfect for jazzing up noodles, salads, bowls, and more!

Does anyone else absolutely love peanut sauce? Creamy, spicy, savory, and a little sweet, it’s a sauce that I’m equally happy drizzling over dinner or enjoying straight off a spoon. I can’t get enough! This peanut sauce recipe the first thing I turn to whenever I want to jazz up a simple stir fry, bowl, or salad at home. It’s super easy to make, and it calls for basic pantry ingredients that you likely already have on hand (no fish sauce here!). Peanut butter gives it creamy texture, rice vinegar or lime juice makes it nice and tangy, tamari or…

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Avocado Toast

Love avocado toast? Learn how to take it to the next level with this simple recipe (+5 amazing variations!) and my best tips and tricks!

When avocado toast came onto the scene years ago, lots of people wrote it off as a trend. But as someone who still eats it for breakfast or lunch a few times a week, I have to say that I think avocado toast is here to stay! It’s super easy to make, it’s healthy and satisfying, and it’s a blank canvas for flavorful seasonal toppings. What’s not to love? Below, you’ll find my basic avocado toast recipe along with 5 fun & fancy variations. Whether you toss them together for breakfast, enjoy them for lunch, or make them for a…

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How to Make Cauliflower Rice

Learn how to make cauliflower rice with this easy recipe! It's a yummy, low-carb substitute for regular rice in bowls, stir fries, burritos, and more.

Cauliflower rice! It’s seems like it’s everywhere and in everything, so I thought I would take a few minutes to “dive deep” on this phenomenon, especially because I keep using it, and now I can just link to this post in future recipes 🙂 So what is it? It’s simply cauliflower pulsed in a food processor until it forms into granules that are about the size of rice. Is it as good as rice? Not on its own, but it’s a great starting point health-wise and texture-wise. When it’s seasoned well and used in a recipe with other great flavors…

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Vegetable Soup

Make this easy vegetable soup recipe with whatever veggies you have on hand! Nourishing and light, it's perfect for warming up on cold nights.

This vegetable soup recipe is cozy, healing, and warming. It’s just the thing for cold nights, days when you’re craving a healthy reset, or any time you’re feeling a bit under the weather. I first started making it years ago, when I was bouncing back from a cold and had a ton of random veggies in the fridge. Using the ingredients I had in my pantry—vegetable broth, diced tomatoes, dried herbs, and vinegar—I transformed this jumble of vegetables into an amazing soup! Since then, I’ve made it again and again, with a different mix of veggies every time. No matter…

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Classic Mimosa Recipe

Learn how to make mimosas at home with this simple recipe! These easy 2-ingredient cocktails are guaranteed to be the star of your next brunch.

If I’m hosting a special occasion brunch, you can bet that mimosas will be on the menu. Light, fresh, and festive, they’re perfect for celebrating everything from Mother’s Day to Christmas. With citrus in peak season and New Year’s right around the corner, I thought now would be a great time to share my classic mimosa recipe. Whether you make it for a New Year’s brunch, any holiday gathering, or a lazy weekend morning, I hope you enjoy it. Cheers, friends! How to Make Mimosas Making a mimosa couldn’t be simpler, as it only requires 2 basic ingredients: chilled sparkling…

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Best Shakshuka

This shakshuka recipe is satisfying and delicious for any meal of the day! An easy one-pan dish, it features eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce.

Shakshuka is one of my favorite breakfasts…and lunches…and dinners. Though this Middle Eastern and North African dish is traditionally eaten for breakfast, it’s so easy, filling, and flavorful that it’s a great option for any meal of the day. Below, I’m sharing my go-to shakshuka recipe, which features gently poached eggs cooked in a fragrant bell pepper and tomato sauce. It’s flecked with spinach and spiced with paprika, cumin, cayenne, and harissa. If you like simple meals that go BIG on flavor, you’ll love this. How to Make Shakshuka This shakshuka recipe is easy to make! It only requires a handful…

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Marinara Sauce

Make this homemade marinara sauce recipe once, and you'll never get the store-bought kind again! It's simple to make, and it has a rich tomato flavor.

Buying marinara sauce is easy, but I’ll let you in on a secret: so is making your own! Meet my go-to homemade marinara sauce recipe. It’s simple to make – all you need are 10 pantry ingredients and 30 minutes – and it tastes immeasurably better than any kind I’ve found in a jar. Its base is canned crushed tomatoes with their juices, which I simmer with sautéed shallot and garlic for depth of flavor. Red pepper flakes give it a touch of heat, and dried oregano adds Italian flair. Balsamic vinegar makes it nice and tangy, while salt and…

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Creamy Potato Soup

We can't get enough of this easy potato soup recipe. Filled with good-for-you ingredients, it's ultra creamy and comforting, but it's nourishing, too!

We’re obsessed with this potato soup recipe! It’s luscious, creamy, and filled with bold, smoky, tangy flavor. If you have any leftovers, it tastes even better on the second day, but in our house, a pot of this soup never lasts long. In my book, this soup is perfect for the holiday season. The weather outside is frightful, so comfort food is what I’m craving. But in between all the cookies and holiday appetizers, I want to sneak in as many healthy meals as I can. That’s where this potato soup recipe comes in. Creamy and flavorful, it’ll satisfy any…

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Spinach Artichoke Dip

This baked spinach artichoke dip is a guaranteed party hit! It's deliciously creamy and cheesy, but shhh! A secret veggie ingredient is hiding inside it.

If you want to impress guests at your next holiday party, make this spinach artichoke dip! It’s creamy, cheesy, and rich with briny artichoke flavor. In fact, it’s so good that every time we make it, Jack and I devour it standing at the kitchen counter. We can’t get enough! But I’ll let you in on a secret: this spinach artichoke dip is made of mostly veggies. Sure, it’s loaded with the essentials – spinach and artichokes – but it also contains a surprising veggie ingredient: cauliflower! Instead of using cream cheese, sour cream, or mayonnaise to make this dip’s…

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How to Make Oatmeal

Learn how to make oatmeal on the stovetop and in the microwave! Piled with your favorite toppings, this easy oatmeal recipe is healthy and delicious.

Let’s make oatmeal! This healthy breakfast is warm, creamy, and SO easy to make. I think it’s delicious with toppings like nut butter and fresh fruit. I didn’t always feel this way. When I was in college, I made instant oatmeal every single morning. By the end of those four years, I didn’t want to see a bowl of oatmeal again, let alone eat one. I thought oats were bland and mushy—totally not for me. But over the years, oatmeal recipes like overnight oats and steel cut oats have gotten me back onto the oatmeal train. I’m committed to getting fellow oat skeptics…

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Pomegranate Rice Salad

This rice salad recipe will brighten up any fall or winter meal! Studded with pomegranates, pistachios, and herbs, it's a stunning, fresh holiday side dish.

How pretty is this rice salad? If you’re looking for an easy holiday side dish that doesn’t skimp on flavor, this recipe is just the thing for you. It’s simple, you can prep it ahead of time, and it’s richly flavorful. A spiced citrus dressing coats the hearty rice, nuts add crunch, and herbs give it fresh, aromatic flavor. Last but not least, a sprinkle of pomegranate arils takes it over the top! Today, we’re partnering with POM Wonderful because Jack and I love pomegranates! He likes to snack on them and I like to use them in salads, dips,…

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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.