Roasted Beet Salad with Pears and Walnuts

This roasted beet salad gets a pop from tangy feta and balsamic dressing. We love it as a fall starter or packed up for a weekday lunch!

Let’s talk about beets, shall we? A hearty root vegetable, they’re available pretty much all year round, but they’re best June through October. I picked up some gorgeous ones at our farmers market last week and decided they would go perfectly with some ripening pears that were sitting on my countertop in this roasted beet salad recipe. To balance all of the sweetness, I added some tangy feta and toasty walnuts. Beet Salad Recipe Tips This sweet & savory fall salad is a delicious starter or meal, but if you’ve never worked with beets before, there are a few things you…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Sweet Potato & Feta Crostini

Crispy toasts topped with feta, sweet potato, sage, and cranberries make a perfect fall snack or Thanksgiving appetizer. Simple, delicious & vegetarian.

appetizers / fall / holiday

It’s fall and I’ve been madly in love with this combo lately: roasted sweet potatoes, feta, dried cranberries, sage & honey. I like to think I’ve become more creative with my cooking since we started this blog (coming up on one year ago!), but in the past few weeks, I’ve used those 5 ingredients in a slightly different form nearly every single night. I’ve tossed them with kale or spinach as a side dish… mixed them with wheat berries or quinoa for a hearty grain salad… I haven’t made a dessert out of them yet, but I wouldn’t say that’s…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Roasted Cauliflower Hazelnut Salad

I love eating this spiced cauliflower salad at the holidays. It's filled with juicy pomegranates, crunchy hazelnuts, fresh parsley, and crisp celery.

vegan / gluten free

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I’ve been anxiously awaiting the US release of Ottolenghi’s newest book, Jerusalem… So I couldn’t have been more excited the day it showed up on my doorstep last week. I don’t know how you like to approach a new cookbook, but I like to start with a fast flip… trying to devour as much as I can all at one time. Later on during my second pass, I’ll settle down and take in the stories, reading through the recipes much more carefully than I did the first time around… This time I fast-flipped, intently…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Sesame-Ginger Chickpea Cakes

These vegetarian sesame-ginger chickpea cakes make impressive healthy homemade appetizers. Cilantro lime yogurt sauce adds creamy texture & tons of flavor.

fall / vegetarian

As promised, here is the vegetarian followup to the tuna cakes I posted last week. I used most of the same ingredients (because I happened to have them all leftover)… the end result was pretty different, but delicious just the same. Of course, I really have a soft spot in my heart for panko-crusted anything… With this, I wanted to share a couple of handy tips: 1. Fresh ginger – keep it in the freezer, and grate it as you need it. No thawing required… by the time you grate, it’ll be thawed enough. I love to cook with ginger,…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Tuna Cakes with Yuzu Yogurt

Make this lightly adapted version of Yotam Ottolenghi's Tuna Cakes with Yuzu Yogurt for an elegant and healthy at-home appetizer.

appetizers / seafood / favorite

I’m a little bit (more) obsessed with Ottolenghi since coming back from London. I’m kicking myself for not picking up a copy of the new cookbook, Jerusalem, while we were there (I didn’t realize it wasn’t out in the US yet and, well, books just aren’t very packable). So last weekend I sat around and bookmarked a whole bunch of recipes from his column on The Guardian. He just has so many unique ideas. This one is going into the category of “I’ll-probably-make-this-over-and-over-until-we’re-entirely-sick-of-eating-it.” You can’t exactly tell from the photo, but it’s like tuna tartare formed into a patty and…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Make a batch of these chewy and moist gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, and they'll be gone in no time. One of our favorite treats!

gluten free / dairy free

I’ll be honest, most things I bake don’t make it to the blog. For starters, I don’t bake very often. Our household (not including the dogs), is just 2 of us. And if 12 cookies are made one day, 12 cookies will be gone the next day. When I do bake, I’d call it experimental more than anything else. I can’t bring myself to follow a recipe all the way through without changing at least a few things, sometimes as an attempt to healthify things. Other times, I’m just too lazy to go out and get the exact ingredients. You…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Coconut Loaf

Toasted coconut and a coconut milk glaze top this moist, coconut-filled healthy breakfast bread from the book Sprouted Kitchen. Great for dessert, too!

breakfast / snacks & dips / sprouted kitchen

I’ve been reading Sara & Hugh’s blog Sprouted Kitchen for about as long as I’ve been reading 101 Cookbooks. Which is food blog code for: a long time. I’ve had their book pre-ordered for months, but was excited (flattered, really) when Sara sent me one. Now, everyone reading my blog is, I’m sure, already familiar with Sprouted Kitchen. I probably don’t need to go on about how gorgeous Hugh’s photography is. Or about how many “I wish I thought of that” moments I’ve had over Sara’s inspiring and creative recipe ideas (Shiitake Taco’s anyone?). So I’ll just get to why I like…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Tomato Coconut Shrimp Curry

Tomato coconut shrimp curry makes a healthy, spicy, and warming meal for winter weeknights. Gluten and dairy free with a vegan option.

I feel funny posting this one because I know a decent amount of you readers are from London. I’ll let you know that the last time I was in London I ate my weight in curries. And when I came home from that trip I didn’t step foot into an Indian restaurant for at least a year. I knew that the local places I once frequented just wouldn’t compare. (This kind of all-or-nothing behavior drives Jack absolutely up the wall). However, I did take to making more Indian-inspired dishes at home. A few nights ago I had some leftover coconut…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Peanut Soba Noodles with Kale

This soba noodle bowl loaded with green veggies, herbs, and zesty, sweet, and spicy peanut sauce makes a healthy 30-minute weeknight dinner. Gluten-free.

I admit, this picture is minimal, even for us. I mean, is there even a bowl here? Modern art was not exactly what we were going for… we were just hungry. Sometimes we spend a lot of time on our photos, other times, it’s “Got it? Look good? Is it clear? Yes. Great, let’s eat…” In front of my computer the next morning is when I sit alone shaking my head and go, “If only we woulda… Next time we should really…” and then I take a break and enviously pin other people’s photos. But really, I’d rather spend time figuring…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Crab Cakes with Avocado-Wasabi Sauce

Healthy baked crab cakes made with Asian flavors: lime, ginger, and coconut. This 30-minute meal is served with a creamy vegan wasabi sauce. Dairy free.

appetizers / entertaining

I don’t post about it a lot, but seafood is actually a staple part of our diet. The only reason I haven’t featured more of it is that I can’t cook a good-looking piece of fish to save my life. I can make it taste good, but I’ve either poked the holy heck out of it, or it comes off the pan broken… and I just can’t get seem to get a picturesque sear when it counts. But crabcakes covered in panko and baked (my preferred foolproof method so they won’t fall apart), I can do. Now, this flavor combo could…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Cauliflower Crust Pizza, Part 2

Lighten up your pizza with this healthier version of pizza crust made with cauliflower, almond flour, and eggs. Top as desired! Gluten and dairy free.

This is part two of the cauliflower crust pizza post from the other day. I had wanted to try this again as a vegan version using flax in the crust instead of eggs (and figure out how to make it not fall apart). I haven’t gotten around to that yet (I’ll report back when I do), but this version is entirely dairy-free. I topped it with leftover kale pesto that I had stored away in my freezer along with some sautéed broccolini, roasted tomatoes, and pine nuts. I could have posted these two pizzas as “his and hers” versions. To Jack’s benefit,…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.