Millet Cakes with Carrots & Spinach

These veggie-packed curried millet cakes make a fun, unexpected, and delicious vegetarian dinner! From The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve spent a lot of time trying to get quinoa to stick together to form cohesive patties. With eggs, without eggs… I’ve made countless variations, some more successful than others, but now I have just one word: millet. What is millet? If you’ve never cooked millet before, you’re going to love it. One of my favorite grains, millet has a delicious nutty flavor and versatile texture. Depending on what water:grain ratio you use while cooking it, it can become a fluffy couscous-like grain or a creamy millet porridge. Like brown rice, it’s a naturally…

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Stuffed Acorn Squash

I first made this stuffed acorn squash recipe for Thanksgiving, but its spiced quinoa filling is so good that it's become one of my go-to fall recipes.

The year I first became vegetarian I truly missed the turkey part of turkey day. It seems like ages ago now, but back then I barely knew how to cook for myself, let alone embrace seasonal foods like squashes, Brussels sprouts, and sweet potatoes (you know, the kind without marshmallows). Now, with hearty vegetarian main dishes like this stuffed acorn squash, I couldn’t miss the turkey less. When I started working on this recipe, I knew I wanted to make an unconventional stuffed squash. Obviously, you won’t find ground beef or a sausage and apple combination here, but I also veered off the traditional…

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Autumn Farmhouse Salad

Sweet potatoes, apples & greens fill out this hearty autumn salad. With sweet, salty, crunchy & nutty elements, it's a perfect side dish or meal on its own.

I have a love/hate relationship with farro. It takes forever to make, and quinoa is quicker, but the chewy, nutty grains bring a real heartiness to this not-wimpy fall salad. The catch is that you have to pre-plan for farro – it’s easiest to make a big batch and keep it around all week. I’m not usually that organized, but I happened to have made farro the day before my Farmhouse vegetables arrived, so here we are… a farro salad with more veggies than could fit onto the subject line of this post. Fall Salad Recipe Ingredients This delicious salad recipe is sweet, salty, crunchy, nutty… Here’s what…

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Spaghetti Squash w/ Chickpeas & Kale

Sun-dried tomatoes give this vegan spaghetti squash recipe a savory pop. Hearty from chickpeas & kale, it's a great fall or winter weeknight dinner.

The first time I had spaghetti squash, it was served with a big scoop of store-bought marinara sauce mixed in. It was slimy and goop-y and decidedly not spaghetti-like. About a month ago, ditching the pasta idea completely, I planned a post for bbq spaghetti squash tacos. I have a super cute photo to prove that the meal existed, but the recipe ended in total disaster. So, long story short, I’ve learned that I prefer my spaghetti squash as simple as possible and most importantly: sauce-less. The roasted strands come out of the oven with a nice al-dente bite, but, smothered in sauce, they become just too mushy…

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Harissa Spiced Fall Veggie Pitas

The simplest healthy weeknight dinner for fall! Filled with spiced roasted sweet potatoes & zucchini, avocado, and a delicious harissa yogurt sauce.

I make a lot of impromptu tacos. We not only have taco Tuesdays around here, but sometimes taco Wednesdays and/or taco Thursdays. When I’m looking for something quick I usually reach for tortillas, no matter what day of the week it might be. I keep them in the freezer, so they’re always ready. Except this particular night – no tortillas, but I had some sprouted pitas. This wasn’t originally going to be a post, but these turned out so pretty and delicious. And who doesn’t need a quick dinner idea? I roasted chopped sweet potatoes and zucchini and tossed them with dried harissa…

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Butternut Squash Pasta with Walnuts & Sage

I make this butternut squash pasta recipe when I'm craving fall comfort food. It's so easy, and the sage & squash fill it with cozy autumn flavor.

Butternut squash soup may be my favorite fall comfort food, but this butternut squash pasta is now a close second. It’s a pretty easy throw-together pasta made from a classic fall flavor combo: butternut squash, sage, and walnuts. The sweet, caramelized squash plays perfectly off the earthy sage and nutty walnuts, and a little butter and pecorino add the perfect amount of richness. This is one we’ll have on repeat all season long. To make it, simply roast the squash until it’s tender and caramelized. Then, sauté the shallot, sage, walnuts, chickpeas, cooked butternut squash, and garlic until the chickpeas and squash…

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Cinnamon Apple Tart Cherry Crumble

This easy apple crumble takes half the effort of pie, but it's just as good, full of warming cinnamon & cardamom as well as brown sugar, oats & nuts.

Pie is something I enjoy most when other people make it. I usually don’t have the patience to make crust, but that’s probably because I’m more of a filling person anyway. (When I was a kid, I’d always eat the pumpkin pie filling and leave the shell of the crust behind.) So, naturally, crisps and crumbles are my fall desserts of choice. This apple crumble recipe is much easier than pie, but it still has all of apple pie’s fruity-crunchy-fall-spiced goodness. How to Make Apple Crumble I made this nutty, oat-y crumble topping with a mixture of brown sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom. Cardamom has…

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Butternut Squash Burrito Bowls

Butternut squash burrito bowls are healthy, easy vegetarian dinner! Filled with black beans, pico de gallo, kale & avocado, they're hearty & delicious.

Sometimes I feel like I have a never-ending stream of ideas. One idea leads to the next and a few tangents later they multiply into lists full of recipe possibilities. Other times, I’m completely blank. This is the part where I usually talk about how I was romantically re-inspired after a stroll through the farmers market. But not this time. This weekend, we strolled and we market-ed. Still blank. Then, this idea popped into my head at Chipotle, of all places. It was a rare day that we were even at Chipotle, (we usually favor our local Freebirds). Either way, I’m a sucker for a burrito bowl and I…

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Grilled Eggplant & Pesto Sandwiches

You probably don’t need a recipe to make a sandwich but I couldn’t help but share this big juicy stack of late-summer grilled veggies. I rarely make sandwiches these days, (mostly because I live in the town of tacos)… but these simply grilled eggplant slices were just begging to be put between bread and slathered with arugula-walnut pesto. I piled on some roasted peppers and fresh mozzarella. Sub avocado for the cheese if you’re vegan. Then get out the napkins because things are gonna get messy! You can assemble your sandwich like I did, or put the ingredients on a platter so everyone…

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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.

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.

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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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.