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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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.

fall / vegetarian / pumpkin

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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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.

fall / soups / pumpkin

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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Fig & Arugula Salad w/ Pistachio Pesto

fall / salads / gluten free

A few weeks ago, I made this in pizza form… since then, I haven’t been able to get the ingredient combination out of my mind. I knew it was destined to become a really great salad, so here we have it – a late summer/early fall salad with figs, arugula, balsamic, pistachios and a few dollops of pistachio pesto. Instead of ricotta, I tore creamy pieces of burrata and added some diced avocado. (Just skip the cheese if you’re vegan – this is indulgent enough without it). For me, this salad hits every note a good well-rounded salad should – sweet, salty, creamy…

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Roasted Chickpea Ratatouille

late summer / vegan / gluten free

Everyone loves a one-pot meal. Personally, I’m a huge fan of the one-pan meal. Arrange everything onto a baking sheet, have a glass of wine, and let the oven do the work. Start with a good assortment of late summer veggies. (p.s. how cute are those little round squashes?). Chop your eggplant, squash and tomatoes so they’re roughly the same size (about 1-inch pieces). Pile everything onto a baking sheet – this time, it’s ok if things are little crowded. Normally, you’d want more space between your vegetables but you want your ratatouille to be a little juicy, so this…

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Butternut Squash & Tart Cherry Quinoa

My #1 favorite healthy & hearty fall salad with butternut squash, tart cherries and a savory apple cider sage dressing. Gluten free.

fall / salads

My mom loves to clip articles. Newspaper clippings, magazine clippings, stories, recipes – sometimes they come in the mail, sometimes she saves them up for a visit. A couple of years ago she brought me a recipe for a couscous salad clipped from Edible Michiana that was similar to this one. We made it, loved it… then later I lost it. But I could never get this sweet & savory flavor combo out of my mind so I’ve been making versions of it ever since. The original recipe used couscous but I used quinoa here because it’s the grain I usually have on hand. I…

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Soba Noodles with Shishitos & Avocado

vegan / vegetarian

People like to ask me “what’s your favorite recipe?” and I never have an answer. My “favorite” is often what’s most recent and/or what’s coming up next… But this one combines two definite favorites – blistered shishito peppers (which I usually make as an appetizer), and one of my go-to simple soba noodle recipes. Because my “favorites” are almost always the simple things. I brought home a bunch of shishito peppers from the farmers market, but the base of this recipe is so versatile – feel free to sub in a star vegetable of your choice. The noodles get tossed in a light sesame-soy…

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Portobello Mushroom Dogs

Skip the packaged veggie dogs at your next cookout - grill these tangy marinated portobello mushrooms instead! They're easy, healthy & flavorful.

summer / vegetarian

We’re all familiar with the ubiquitous portobello burger, so I’ll be honest: I originally planned to serve these mushrooms in hot dog buns for the novelty of it. For my money, though, portobellos really work better in dog form than in burger-form. They get more fully covered in the tangy, savory marinade, and (because they’re thinner strips) they cook a lot more quickly and more evenly. Portobello Veggie Dog Recipe Ingredients Growing up around Chicago, hot dogs were never taken lightly. A good Chicago dog has a myriad of components, including mustard, onions, a whole pickle, peppers, and more. This…

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Crispy Zucchini Casserole

Summer side dishes don't get better than this zucchini casserole recipe! A crispy, nutty panko topping covers a saucy layer of pesto and zucchini.

summer / vegetarian

If you have a mountain of zucchini or yellow squash in your fridge, this zucchini casserole recipe is just the thing for you! In fact, you should try this recipe even if you don’t have any summer squash on hand. The crispy, nutty Parmesan and panko topping contrasts perfectly with the saucy zucchini, pesto, and marinara underneath. It’s super simple to put together, and it can pass as a side dish or a meal on its own. Make this zucchini casserole recipe once, and you’ll have it on repeat all summer long. Zucchini Casserole Recipe Ingredients Here’s what you’ll need…

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Heirloom Tomato Sun-Cheese Toasts

summer / vegan / appetizers

You may have noticed that I love making non-dairy sauces & spreads of out cashews, walnuts, and almonds (to name just a few). Every time I post a nutty sauce, I get a comment or two from readers who are allergic to dairy and nuts. (And I totally feel for you). Hopefully, you are not also allergic to seeds because my current obsession is this spread made from sunflower seeds. Sunflower seeds blend up to become a similar texture to ricotta, although the flavor of this spread is a bit more rich & tangy. I’ve posted similar recipes in the past – this time I’ve altered it to use easier-to-find ingredients.…

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Sweet Potato Avocado Salad (& video!)

salads / gluten free / sweet potatoes

Check it out – a video! We recently partnered with the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission to create videos about one of my favorite foods – the sweet potato. Here’s a recipe that will start to get you in the mood for fall, but is still light and fresh. Below are a few of my favorite screenshots. Scroll down (or click the image above) for the video. Special thanks to Rightfrog Productions for the video work!

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Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.