How to Cook Wild Rice

Learn how to cook wild rice on the stovetop! With its chewy texture and nutty flavor, this whole grain is delicious in salads, side dishes, and more.

Wild rice is one of my favorite whole grains to cook in the fall. Its chewy texture and nutty flavor make it a perfect partner for seasonal produce like sweet roasted squash and earthy root veggies. Because I’ve found myself preparing it a lot lately, I thought I’d take today’s post to give you some background on it. I’m also sharing a foolproof stovetop cooking method and some of my favorite wild rice recipes. What is wild rice? You might think, given its name, that this whole grain is a relative of the white or brown rice you’d find alongside…

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Easy Pie Crust

Learn how to make pie crust with this easy pie dough recipe! It yields a flaky, buttery crust that's perfect for using in your favorite homemade pies.

If the prospect of making homemade pie dough intimidates you, you have to try this easy pie crust recipe. As a lover of basically every kind of pie, I’ve experimented with a variety of techniques for making pie dough over the years. I’ve had my fair share of successes, near successes, and all-out failures. But since I’ve started making this pie crust recipe, it’s worked like a charm every time. Made in a food processor using a technique that J. Kenji López-Alt pioneered for Cook’s Illustrated in 2007, it’s far more pliable than a traditional pie dough, which makes it…

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Homemade Buffalo Sauce

Learn how to make buffalo sauce! Rich, spicy, and tangy, this easy homemade version rivals any store-bought wing sauce I've tried.

Let’s talk buffalo sauce! This famous wing sauce is rich, tangy, and spicy. I recently tested out a homemade version for this buffalo cauliflower recipe, and I love the bold flavor so much that I’ve been using it in other ways too. As a dip for sweet potato fries or air fryer French fries, slathered on a black bean burger… If you love punchy flavors and lots of heat, then I think you’ll go nuts for this buffalo sauce recipe. But I’m getting ahead of myself. What is buffalo sauce, anyway? I’ll start by saying that it has nothing to…

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Instant Pot Rice

So long, rice cooker! This Instant Pot rice comes out perfectly every time. Fluffy and flavorful, it's delicious as a side dish, in grain bowls, and more.

I first tried this Instant Pot rice recipe last fall, and to be honest, I don’t think I’ve cooked rice any other way since. Nothing against the stovetop or the rice cooker, of course, but the convenience and reliable results of this Instant Pot rice recipe just can’t be beat. It’s super quick and easy, and the rice comes out tender, fluffy, and flavorful every time. If you have an Instant Pot, you have to try it! How to Make Instant Pot Rice This recipe couldn’t be simpler! To make it, you’ll need two ingredients: White rice Water This recipe…

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Sweet Potato Hash

I call this sweet potato hash a breakfast recipe, but honestly, we love it for any meal of the day. It's healthy, satisfying, delicious, and SO easy to make!

A good sweet potato hash will always be one of my favorite things to eat. I love the balance of sweet, smoky, and spicy flavors. I love how the tender veggies and sweet potatoes get deliciously crispy on the bottom of the hot skillet. But perhaps most of all, I love that a sweet potato hash is a healthy, one-pan meal that I can easily pull off in 30 minutes. This sweet potato hash recipe is my go-to. It’s nicely spiced with chili powder and packed with veggies like peppers and kale. It’s a great simple meal to have in…

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Instant Pot Pinto Beans

These Instant Pot pinto beans are tender, flavorful, and ready in under an hour, no soaking required! We love them as a side dish or in chili and more.

This Instant Pot pinto beans recipe has become my favorite way to cook pinto beans. It’s faster than simmering them on the stove (no soaking required!), but it still yields beans with a far better texture and flavor than the canned ones have. These Instant Pot pinto beans are tender, creamy, and deliciously seasoned with chili powder, cumin, oregano, and sea salt. They’re so tasty that you can serve them as a side dish on their own, but we love them in other recipes too. Try adding them to chili or soup, or use them to make tacos, refried beans,…

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Easy Enchiladas

This easy enchiladas recipe is always a hit! Featuring a flavorful homemade sauce and lots of melty cheese, it's simple, comforting, and delicious.

This enchiladas recipe is the kind of simple, comforting dish that we all need in our weeknight rotations. It’s easy, it’s flavorful, and it will win over the pickiest palates (our kiddo always asks for more!). The filling is a combo of gooey cheese, black beans, and steamed spinach. I roll it up in corn tortillas, which I then smother with homemade enchilada sauce and more cheese. Finally, I bake the enchiladas until the cheese is melty and the edges of the tortillas are crisp. For such a simple recipe, the taste, texture, and overall deliciousness are out of this…

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Enchilada Sauce

Flavorful and easy to make, this homemade enchilada sauce is so much better than the canned kind. Use it in your favorite enchilada recipes!

When I’m craving enchiladas on a weeknight, I first make this red enchilada sauce recipe. It’s the perfect starting point for fast, flavorful homemade enchiladas. It takes minutes to make, and it calls for simple pantry ingredients. Still, its balance of tangy, earthy, and savory flavors really packs a punch. Swap it in for the store-bought stuff, and I promise, you’ll taste the difference. Homemade Enchilada Sauce Recipe Ingredients Growing up in the Midwest, I thought of enchilada sauce as one thing: the tomato-based stuff that comes in a can. But when I moved to Austin, I learned that in…

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Oatmeal Pancakes

This healthy oatmeal pancakes recipe comes together in a blender, meaning that it's quick enough to make on weekdays and weekends alike.

I’ve been sharing lots of back-to-school breakfasts lately (see here, here, or here), and I have one more for you today: these oatmeal pancakes! I think most pancake recipes are best suited to a lazy Sunday morning, but these oatmeal pancakes are quick and easy enough to make on any day of the week. They’re so speedy because the recipe employs the help of a blender to mix up the batter – no whisking required! The blender trick also means that you won’t find any flour in this recipe, just lots of whole rolled oats. As a result, these healthy…

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Breakfast Sandwich

This make-ahead breakfast sandwich recipe is the ULTIMATE way to start your day! Filled with veggies, eggs, and cheese, it's hearty and delicious.

If you start your day with a breakfast sandwich that looks like that (see above), you KNOW it’s going to be a good one. And the best part about it is that you don’t actually have to make said sandwich on the day you’re planning to eat it. Nope, this breakfast sandwich recipe freezes perfectly, so you can assemble a week’s worth of sandwiches on the weekend and feast on them all week. If you ask me, it’s one of the nicest things you can do for your future self. Sitting down to a toasted English muffin slathered with herbed goat cheese…

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Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

This peanut butter banana smoothie is thick, creamy, and packed with sweet and nutty flavor. Make it for an easy, delicious breakfast or snack!

This peanut butter banana smoothie is the kind of breakfast that makes you excited to get out of bed in the morning. It calls for 4 simple ingredients, it takes minutes to make, and it tastes so good that it could almost pass as dessert. The peanut butter, banana, and whole rolled oats make it thick and creamy, and they infuse it with the BEST sweet and nutty flavor. They also happen to add fiber, protein, potassium, and vitamin C, meaning that this delicious breakfast is a healthy one too. I think you’ll love it! Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie Recipe…

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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.