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Gingerbread Brownie Sundae with Peppermint Stick Ice Cream & Molasses Drizzle

ALL, Entertaining, Sweets, Winter10

These Gingerbread Brownie Sundaes with Peppermint Stick Ice Cream & Molasses Drizzle are a fun and interactive dessert that allows your whole family to come together around the table to assemble their own.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Hudsonville Ice Cream. The opinions and text are all mine. Thank you for supporting the brands that make VV possible.

Gingerbread Brownie Sundae with Peppermint Ice Cream & Molasses Drizzle

Welcome to one of the best seasons of the year (if I do so say myself) – holiday baking season! Although cookies are the go-to, I want to talk to you about making this sundae at your holiday gathering instead this year. The gingerbread brownie pieces in these sundaes allows you to get your cookie fix while taking it to the next level with Hudsvonville ice cream and a molasses drizzle – what’s not to like?? Plus, having a little sundae bar set up at the table will take the pressure off of you and create a fun little interactive station that allows the family to gather around and create their own dessert.

For the ice cream, I used Hudsonville’s seasonal Peppermint Stick ice cream which has an incredibly creamy vanilla base with crush peppermint sticks folded in. It compliments the gingerbread perfectly but is only available during the holiday season which is just one more reason to make these sundaes sooner than later!

As for the molasses drizzle, the holidays are the perfect time to pull out that bottle of molasses that you’ve been hiding in the back of your baking pantry. Instead of making hot fudge, warm molasses slightly (this will thin it out and also create a delicious contrast to the cold ice cream) to drizzle on your sundae.

Gingerbread Brownie Sundae with Peppermint Ice Cream & Molasses Drizzle

Love this holiday recipes and want even more? Luckily for us, Hudsonville Ice cream compiled an entire ebook of holiday dessert recipes! You can download it HERE and receive access to coupons so you can make these recipes for the holidays as well!

Now go prep these Gingerbread brownie sundaes for you and your family to devour while watching your favorite holiday movie (Elf anyone?).

Gingerbread Brownie Sundae with Peppermint Ice Cream & Molasses Drizzle
Gingerbread Brownie Sundae with Peppermint Ice Cream & Molasses Drizzle
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Gingerbread Brownie Sundae with Peppermint Stick Ice Cream & Molasses Drizzle

These Gingerbread Brownie Sundaes with Peppermint Ice Cream & Molasses Drizzle are a fun and interactive dessert that allows your whole family to come together around the table to assemble their own.

Ingredients
For the Gingerbread Brownies:
  • 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter
  • ½ cup molasses
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
  • ¼ cup cocoa powder
  • 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 ½ tsp ground ginger
  • ½ tsp ground cloves
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips I used mini-chips but regular will work too
Everything else:
  • 48 fluid oz. Hudsonville Peppermint Ice Cream
  • ¼ cup warmed molasses
  • garnish options: crushed peppermint candies chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9×13 baking pan with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Remove from heat and whisk in ½ cup molasses, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Let cool for 5 minutes and then whisk in the eggs.
  3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and sea salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet mixture. Use a spatula to fold the dry ingredients into the wet, just until combined. Mix in half the chocolate chips.
  4. Transfer batter to prepared baking pan and smooth out into an even layer. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips. Bake until the center is set, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly.
  5. When ready to serve, divide the ice cream evenly between 12 bowls. Crumble the gingerbread brownies over the ice cream and drizzle with warm molasses. Sprinkle with peppermint candy or chocolate chips, is using. Serve right away before the ice cream melts!
Gingerbread Brownie Sundae with Peppermint Ice Cream & Molasses Drizzle

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Spicy Sweet Buffalo Glaze

ALL, Entertaining, Side, Thanksgiving, Winter21

This Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Spicy Sweet Buffalo Glaze is an easy veg-packed Thanksgiving side that is sure to please even the pickiest of eaters!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Spicy Sweet Buffalo Glaze

The Thanksgiving count down is in full force – can you believe it’s ONE WEEK FROM TODAY!? Oh wow wow wow! Despite posting my shopping list on instagram stories earlier today, I just don’t feel prepared. I’ve got the food all sorted but boy oh boy do we still need to clean the house…and figure out the table decorations…and get a final headcount on how many people are coming. This thought tunnel of to-dos makes me wonder why I’m on the internet writing this blog post right now and not prepping…but oh wait, I need to tell you about this recipe. That is why I’m here!

Whether you are hosting or just a guest, it’s always great to have a few easy recipes, like this Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Spicy Sweet Buffalo Glaze, in your back pocket for the big day! While the Brussels sprouts roast, you make a quick glaze to toss them in which means all of this all takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Spicy Sweet Buffalo Glaze

In addition to this recipe being so easy, I love how it allows you to have a little green on the table because, let’s be real, a whole lot of carbs, starch, and meat appear at Thanksgiving so having a little green on the table to balance things out isn’t going to hurt anyone.

The sweet and spicy buffalo sauce compliments the earthy brussels sprouts perfectly so even the pickiest of eaters can get behind this recipe. Feel free to garnish it with scallions and lemon zest if you are feeling fancy or serve as is if you are short on time – they will be delicious either way!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Spicy Sweet Buffalo Glaze
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Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Spicy Sweet Buffalo Glaze
Ingredients
  • 1 pound brussels sprouts halved and trimmed
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • freshly ground pepper
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/3 cup buffalo sauce
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 2 scallions thinly sliced
  • lemon zest for garnish (optional)
Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, toss Brussels sprouts with 2 Tbsp olive oil, salt, and a turn of freshly ground black pepper. Transfer to prepared baking sheet and spread out into a single layer. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, tossing halfway through, or until browned on most sides.

  2. Meanwhile, combine honey, buffalo sauce, and butter in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the butter has melted and the glaze has thickened slightly, about 3 minutes.

  3. When Brussels sprouts are done, transfer to a large mixing bowl and toss in the glaze until completely coated with the glaze. Taste and add more salt or pepper, if needed.

  4. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with scallion slices and lemon zest (if using). Serve right away.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Spicy Sweet Buffalo Glaze

Looking for more Thanksgiving recipes? Check out my 25 Vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes round-up!

Cheddar Corn Pudding with Crispy Spicy Sweet Topping

ALL, Entertaining, Side, Thanksgiving, Winter25

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of KitchnAid. The opinions and text are all mine. Thank you for supporting the brands that make VV possible.

This Cheddar Corn Pudding with Crispy Spicy Sweet Topping is a creative and delicious Thanksgiving side. The inside is similar enough to traditional corn pudding to please the traditionalist while the crunchy topping brings a whole new level to your Thanksgiving table.

Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away – can you believe it?! Do you have your menu planned? And your shopping list sorted? Truth be told, I’m still working on it but at least I’ve perfected this Cheddar Corn Pudding recipe to steal the spotlight. If nothing else, there will be corn pudding!

As a vegetarian, I find the sides to be way more important than the turkey because well, there isn’t turkey on my table. BUT if there was, it still would only be taking up 1/3 of your plate while the sides take up the other third. So why not put as much, if not more, effort into the sides? I always like to straddle the line between traditional and modern when it comes to my Thanksgiving side recipes because I crave the traditional recipes (cornbread casserole, sweet potato casserole, etc) but get so bored with cooking the same recipes every year. And this is exactly why I wanted to develop a corn pudding recipe that was similar enough to the traditional casserole that it’d please the purists while also bringing something new to the table.

I pulled out my new KitchenAid K400 blender to help me whip this up quickly (which is essential when it comes to Thanksgiving cooking – we have too much to cook to spend too much time on any one recipe). It allowed me to evenly whiz up the breadcrumb topping and then cream all the ingredients together within minutes so I could pop it into the oven ASAP and move on to the next thing.

The KitchenAid K400 blender worked so perfectly for this – when it arrived, there was no assembling required and it was powerful enough to easily chop up my bread within seconds. It also comes in an array of colors and the white looks very stylish on my counter. Plus, it can hold a ton of liquid – I was pleasantly surprised at how much space there still was after I put all the liquid ingredients in for this recipe.

Now let’s get into the nitty gritty of this corn pudding. The inside is what you’d expect from a corn pudding but the real show stopper is the sweet and savory crunchy topping. It’s a mix of corn flakes and country bread that is then tossed in a brown butter, honey, and a chili garlic mixture to create a sweet and savory crunchy top.

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Cheddar Corn Pudding with Crispy Spicy Sweet Topping
Ingredients
  • 3/4 cup whole milk
  • 4 Tbsp unsalted butter melted and cooled
  • 2 Tbsp cornstarch
  • 6 large eggs
  • 2 cups frozen corn
  • 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • 2 15-oz can cream-style corn
For the topping:
  • 1/2 loaf country bread torn into large pieces
  • 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 1/2 tsp chili garlic sauce
  • 1 Tbsp honey
  • 2 cups corn flakes
Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×13 inch baking pan with butter.

  2. Tear large pieces of country bread into blender. Cover and pulse 3-4 times or until large breadcrumbs have formed. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

  3. Rinse blender and then add milk, 4 Tbsp melted butter, cornstarch, and eggs into blender. Blend until completely incorporated, about 5 seconds. Add frozen corn, cheese, and cream-style corn and pulse twice to incorporate.

  4. Pour mixture into prepared baking pan and bake for 45 minutes.

  5. Meanwhile, heat 4 Tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium until the butter has turned down brown and smells nutty, about 4 minutes (watch closely as it will turn past once it starts!). Remove from heat and whisk in chili garlic sauce and honey. Pour corn flakes and breadcrumbs and toss to coat.

  6. When the casserole has 10 minutes left, remove from oven, sprinkle crunchy topping over the casserole and put back in the oven for the remaining time.

  7. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving. Enjoy!

25 Vegetarian Thanksgiving Dishes

ALL, Entertaining, Round-Up, Thanksgiving89

Time to talk about my favorite vegetarian Thanksgiving dishes! Similar to the round-up I did last year, this list features everything from easy vegetarian appetizers to delicious vegetarian Thanksgiving main dishes!

Before we dig into this round-up of vegetarian Thanksgiving dishes, I also wanted to remind you all that I have these resource pages for Thanksgiving as well:

Quick Starters and Appetizers

This Butternut Squash Hummus with Brown Butter & Fried Sage is an fall easy appetizer and snack. The nutty brown butter gives an extra flavor punch to the already rich hummus.

This Roasted Beet Hummus with Hazelnut Oil & Rosemary recipe is a bright and easy snack worthy of serving to guests.

…View More

Sweet Potato & Gorgonzola Crostini + Honey Gimlet

ALL, Appetizer, Drinks, Fall, Snack, Winter35

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Hangar 1 Distillery. The opinions and text are all mine. Thank you for supporting the brands that make VV possible.

The weather has finally turned chilly here in the Midwest which not only means that I can officially throw on some eyeliner and a sweatshirt without melting, but it also means it’s time for fall entertaining! We had to bring all the plants in from outside (since the nights are getting very chilly) which now makes our dining room my favorite spot – plants line the walls, a beautiful breeze streams in through the open windows, and the golden light of fall fills the room.

To celebrate my favorite season, I’m having friends over to sip on Honey Gimlets (made with Hangar 1 Honeycomb Vodka) and easy Sweet Potato & Gorgonzola Crostini! Hangar 1’s Honeycomb Vodka is infused with actual honeycomb (not just honey!) so the finished flavor is vibrant and unique. I loved serving these honey gimlets with the crostini (recipe below) because they are only 2 ingredients so they let the flavor of the Honeycomb Vodka really shine through. Plus, the packaging of this vodka is so gorgeous that I love showing it off by keeping it on the table for guests to ask about.

As for the crostini, you can roast the sweet potatoes a few hours ahead of time and pop them back in the oven to warm up slightly before serving. Same goes for preparing the bread pieces ahead of time. When ready to serve, pile your bread high with sweet potatoes, cheese, fresh sage, and then drizzle the honey. Alternatively, you could leave the honey on the side and let guests drizzle it themselves if you’d like to let them pick their level of sweetness.

Now invite some friends over for cocktails and snacks and get cooking!

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Honey Gimlet

Recipe supplied by Hangar 1 Vodka.

Servings: 1 serving
Ingredients
  • 1.5 oz Hangar 1 Honeycomb Vodka
  • 0.5 oz fresh lime juice
  • orange peel for garnish
Instructions

  1. Shake with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with orange peel.

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Fall Sweet Potato & Gorgonzola Crostini
Ingredients
  • 1 sweet potato peeled and diced into 1/2 inch thick chunks
  • 1/4 cup olive oil divided
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • dash of pepper
  • 1 baguette
  • 3 Tbsp crumbled gorgonzola (could also use blue cheese)
  • 2 Tbsp finely chopped sage
  • 1-2 Tbsp honey
Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add sweet potatoes onto prepared baking sheet and toss with 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt, and a dash of pepper. Spread out into a single layer and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the potato pieces are cooked through. Remove from heat and set aside.

  2. Meanwhile, cut the baguette into 1 inch thick round pieces. Brush the remaining oil on both sides of the crostini. Heat a medium skillet over medium heat and, working in batches, toast the crostini by cooking on each side for 2-3 minutes each. Set aside.

  3. When ready to serve, divide the sweet potato, honey, and gorgonzola between the crostini pieces. Starting with 1 Tbsp, drizzle honey over the crostini and sprinkle a dash of pepper. Taste and add more honey, if needed.

  4. Serve right away with a Hangar 1 Honey Gimelet.

Apple Pumpkin Cornbread

ALL, Appetizer, Bread, Fall, Soup56

This Apple Pumpkin Cornbread is best enjoyed sliced up and dunked in a fall soup (like my Butternut Squash Farro Minestrone or Vegetarian Chickpea Noodle Soup).

Apple Pumpkin Cornbread

Last week I posted a Vegetarian Butternut Squash Farro Minestrone that is basically my new fall soup obsession. But I wasn’t done there – I wanted to bring it to new heights but also serving it with fresh bread (because everything is better with additional carbs, am I right?). So, once I posted the soup, I immediately started developing this Apple Pumpkin cornbread recipe for all of your fall soup needs.

I played around with mixing pumpkin puree and fall spices into my go-to cornbread recipe and then took it over the top by also covering it in sliced apples before baking. The pumpkin puree and apples add a wonderful moist addition while the cinnamon gives a hint of spice without making it sweeter.

Apple Pumpkin Cornbread
Apple Pumpkin Cornbread
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Apple Pumpkin Cornbread

This Apple Pumpkin Cornbread is best enjoyed sliced up and dunked in a fall soup (like my Butternut Squash Farro Minestrone or Vegetarian Chickpea Noodle Soup). Recipe adapted from Delish.

Ingredients
  • 1 cup cornmeal
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
  • 1/3 cup honey + more for drizzling
  • 1/4 cup melted butter cooled
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 granny smith apple cored and cut into thin slices
Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 and grease a 9″ circle pan.

  2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add in pumpkin puree, yogurt, honey, butter, and eggs. Whisk together the wet ingredients in the center until combined. Use a spatula to fold the outer dry ingredients into the wet ones just until completely combined.

  3. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Lay granny smith apple slices over the top and gently press in (I fanned them out to create a pretty pattern but you can do whatever you’d prefer).

  4. Bake for 20 minutes or until the center comes out clean. Cool before slicing into pieces (like you would a cake) and serve with your favorite soup. Drizzle with honey (if desired).

Apple Pumpkin Cornbread

Vegetarian Butternut Squash Farro Minestrone

ALL, Entree, Fall, Soup, Winter95

This Vegetarian Butternut Squash Farro Minestrone soup is a perfect cool weather vegetarian main to serve a large crowd or use as leftovers for lunch or dinners throughout the week.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Bob’s Red Mill. The opinions and text are all mine. Thank you for supporting the brands that make VV possible.

Vegetarian Butternut Squash Farro Minestrone

It’s the most wonderful time of the year – it’s soup season! I don’t know about you but not much brings me as much simple pleasure as making a big batch of delicious soup on a Sunday afternoon (along with some quick bread!) and enjoying it throughout the week.

And this Vegetarian Butternut Squash Farro minestrone soup is perfect for exactly that. It’s chocked full of hearty vegetables, filling Bob’s Red Mill farro, and creamy white beans. The soup itself is vegan but can be topped with salty cheese if you’d like.

Vegetarian Butternut Squash Farro Minestrone

I almost didn’t call this recipe minestrone since the soup doesn’t have pasta but the chewy farro actually makes a great replacement for pasta and even makes it feel a little more substantial to me. And the trademark tomato base that you get in minestrone is still there along with creamy white beans.

To make this Butternut Squash Farro Minestrone soup extra special, I whipped up a simple sage oil while it was simmering. The oil is nothing more than blending sage and quality olive oil together to create an herb-y oil that is then strained and drizzled. The end result is a nice punch of green and extra richness. Although the oil definitely added to the soup, I will say that I didn’t have any when I enjoyed the leftovers and they were almost just as good.

Leftover soup should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Make sure to thin out leftover soup with a little broth or water as the farro will continue to absorb the moisture as it sits.

Vegetarian Butternut Squash Farro Minestrone
Vegetarian Butternut Squash Farro Minestrone
Vegetarian Butternut Squash Farro Minestrone
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Vegetarian Butternut Squash Farro soup

This Vegetarian Butternut Squash Farro Minestrone soup is a perfect cool weather vegetarian main to serve a large crowd or use as leftovers for lunch or dinners throughout the week.

Ingredients
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 red onion diced
  • 2 carrots chopped
  • 3 celery stalks chopped
  • 1 medium butternut squash peeled, seeds removed, and chopped into 1 inch pieces
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 4 cups low sodium vegetable broth
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill Farro
  • 1 28 oz can fired roasted tomatoes
  • 1 can white beans drained and rinsed
  • salty cheese for garnish (optional)
For the sage oil:
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 10-15 sage leaves
Instructions

  1. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, and celery and saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Add in butternut squash and garlic and saute for another 30 seconds. Add broth, water, and farro and turn heat up to high. Once boiling, lower heat to medium, and let simmer for 20 minutes. Add tomatoes and white beans and let simmer for another 10 minutes.

  2. Meanwhile, combine sage leaves and olive oil in a high speed blender and blend for 20 seconds or until the sage has been completely blended. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and reserve the green oil for serving.

  3. When ready to serve, transfer soup to bowls and drizzle with oil, salty cheese, and pepper.

Vegetarian Butternut Squash Farro Minestrone

Looking for other soup ideas? I’ve got you covered:

Butternut Squash Hummus with Brown Butter & Fried Sage

ALL, Appetizer, Side, Snack95

This Butternut Squash Hummus with Brown Butter & Fried Sage is an fall easy appetizer and snack. The nutty brown butter gives an extra flavor punch to the already rich hummus.

Butternut Squash Hummus

We are officially halfway through September and the fall equinox is less than a week away so I’m going to say it’s officially okay for me to start posting fall recipes. I mean, let’s think about it – by the time you read this, put all the ingredients on your shopping list, finally get around to schlepping to the store, and then get into the kitchen to make it, it will probably be fall. And you know what? That is good enough for me!

Plus, let’s be honest, I was too excited about this recipe to wait. I got the idea after searching through my cookbook club’s monthly pick, Eat Cook LA, which features a hummus recipe with brown butter on it. It’s pure genius and I knew I had to make my own seasonal version with herbs and vegetables (because I’m always trying to add more vegetables into everything).

The result is this silky and flavor-packed Butternut Squash Hummus with Brown Butter & Fried Sage. To keep the recipe manageable but delicious, I cut corners and also don’t. To cut a corner, I use canned chickpeas and pureed butternut squash which not only allows us to speed up the cooking process but also gives complete control over how sweet the hummus will be. And then on the flip side, I take the extra time to peel the chickpeas (I KNOW – this sounds like it would be super annoying but a light pinch causes the skin to come right off, I promise). If the idea of peeling 2 cans of chickpeas is annoying enough to make you not want to make this recipe then don’t peel the chickpeas. Don’t worry – the hummus will still taste delicious but just won’t be as smooth.

Butternut Squash Hummus
5 from 3 votes
Butternut Squash Hummus
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Butternut Squash Hummus with Brown Butter & Fried Sage

This Butternut Squash Hummus with Brown Butter & Fried Sage is an fall easy appetizer and snack. The nutty brown butter gives an extra flavor punch to the already rich hummus.

Course: Appetizer, Snack
Servings: 10
Ingredients
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • juice from 1 lemon
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 garlic cloves peeled
  • 1/2 cup tahini
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 15 oz cans of chickpeas drained, rinsed, and peeled (optional on peeling but recommended)
  • 1 15 oz can of pureed butternut squash
  • pepper to taste
  • 3 Tbsp butter
  • 1 Tbsp roughly torn sage leaves
Instructions

  1. Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, cinnamon, garlic cloves, tahini, and salt in a food processor until smooth. With the processor running, add in the chickpeas, 1/2 cup at a time, until smooth. Next, add in the butternut squash and pulse until completely smooth. Set aside.

  2. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Once melted, watch closely and swirl the pan often until it bubbles and specks of brown butter start to form. Remove from heat and add in sage leaves.

  3. To assemble: Transfer hummus to a small serving bowl and use the back of the spoon to create an indent in the center. Pour browned butter and sage leaves over the hummus. Sprinkle with a dash of salt and pepper. Serve right away with crackers.

Butternut Squash Hummus

Love hummus? Make sure to bookmark some of these additional hummus recipes:

Celebrating Turning 30 + A Look Back At My 20’s

ALL, Summer, Sweets48

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf Hudsonville Ice Cream. The opinions and text are all mine. Thank you for supporting the brands that make VV possible.

Last week I turned 30! And to celebrate, I whipped up a delicious yogurt cake (using coconut yogurt to make it vegan) and served it with Hudsonville Ice Cream’s Dairy Free Peanut Butter Truffle and Smores. Yes – I made my own cake but I always do – I love baking and what a better excuse to bake than for your own birthday? And to make it extra special, I served it with Hudsonville Ice Cream’s Dairy Free Ice Cream because what is cake without a little ice cream to go with it? I love that Hudsonville Ice Cream is here to make this milestone in my life even sweeter!

This wouldn’t be a true Shelly milestone post if I didn’t include a ‘look back’ section. I’ve always been a huge reflector and list maker – when I was cleaning out my childhood home last year, I came across a note to my ‘future self’ that I wrote the night of the millennium telling my future self all about what my life was like up to that point. It was totally a Shelly move.

I also have a lengthy post on turning 25 where I reflected on what I’d learned so far in my 20’s and what I wanted to keep working on for my next 5 years (which brings us to now!). For this list, I’d like to reflect on the last 10 years and think about some of the biggest changes / accomplishments / people / moments from the past decade:

I’ve learned a lot over the last decade but if there is one major takeaway, I’d have to say it’s being persistent and hard working. My mom once told me ‘you are my child and that means you will never be the smartest person in the room but you might be the hardest working and that could take you just as far’. I remember I was sort of offended at first (was she calling me dumb?) but she was totally right – I work HARD and I’m loyal so as long as I keep working at something (food photography, writing, marketing, etc) then opportunities will follow.

And now it’s time to get off the internet and enjoy the leftover cake I have!

Looking to make your next big moment extra sweet? Make sure to add Hudsonville Ice Cream’s Dairy Free to your celebration. This vegan treat is made with a delicious and creamy combination of oat milk and coconut cream. Here are all the flavor options:

If you haven’t already found these pints in your local grocery, use Hudsonville Ice Cream’s Scoop Locator to find where to grab them for your next ice cream craving. What are you waiting for? Go grab a pint or two!

Pickled Peaches

ALL, Snack, Summer42

These Honey-Pickled Peaches are from Smoke, Roots, Mountain, Harvest by Lauren Angelucci McDuffi. These pickled peaches are perfect on salads, in cocktails, and enjoyed by themselves! 

Simple Sunday is a feature where we deep dive into simple recipes, spotlight ingredients, and/or feature recipes for specific occasions.

Are you sick of peaches yet? Well shoot – I sure hope not! They have most certainly been my summer fruit – despite my posting slowing down in the summer, I’ve still managed to post recipes for this addictive Peach Burrara & Tomato Pizza and a simple Peach Tea Lemonade. We are now going to finish off peach season with these pickled peaches!

Peaches season might finally be winding down but that doesn’t mean that you can’t hold onto them a little longer. I love this pickling method of preserving peaches at their peak from Lauren’s new cookbook Smoke, Roots, Mountain, Harvest. Not only does it help you keep peaches around a little longer but it also transforms them into tangy slices perfect for throwing into cocktails, salads, and even topping on pizzas!

I met Luaren a few years back when we were on a panel together in Indianapolis. I had just launched my first cookbook and she had just signed her deal with Chronicle. Although I had heard her speak of the concept and book many times, I could not have imagined such a gorgeous end result. The cover is inviting, the recipes comforting (I have a feeling I’ll be pulling this one out even more come fall!), and the story telling makes me feel like I grew up with her at her Appalachian home. Just an an FYI, not all recipes are vegetarian but there is a good variety for sure.

Does that all interest you? Then I highly recommend checking out this book and whipping up a batch of these pickled peaches asap!

5 from 1 vote
Pickled Peaches
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Honey-Pickled Peaches

These Honey-Pickled Peaches are from Smoke, Roots, Mountain, Harvest by Lauren Angelucci McDuffi. These pickled peaches are perfect on salads, in cocktails, and enjoyed by themselves! 

Ingredients
  • 4 large peaches halved and pitted
  • 1 cup apple juice
  • 1 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 2/3 cup honey
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp minced peeled ginger
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 vanilla bean (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
Instructions

  1. Cut the peaches in varying sizes.

  2. For the pickling liquid, combine apple juice, vinegar, honey, ginger, and cinnamon in a medium aluminum pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add peach slices and cook until tender, 3 to 5 minutes more. Remove from heat and use a slotted spoon to transfer peaches to a 1-quart mason jar.

  3. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add (or add vanilla extract) into the pickling liquid and stir to combine. Pour liquid over the peaches. Cool to room temperature, secure the lid, and store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Pickled Peaches

Cherry Fudge Ice Cream Pie

ALL, Summer, Sweets34

This Cherry Fudge Ice Cream Pie is the perfect summer dessert to serve at your next gathering! A chocolate graham cracker crust is topped with delicious Hudsonville Dairy-Free ice cream, fudge, homemade whipped cream, and more chocolate. What’s not to love?!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf Hudsonville Ice Cream. The opinions and text are all mine. Thank you for supporting the brands that make VV possible.

Cherry Fudge Ice Cream Pie

As we enter the climax of summer, are you sick of ice cream yet? Of course not! But let’s just say that you’ve had your fill of ice cream cones and sundaes and are ready to adventure on to a different way to enjoy ice cream – enter this Cherry Fudge Ice Cream Pie. This no-bake pie has an irresistible graham cracker crust and is layered with cherries, Hudsonville Dairy Free Ice Cream, fudge, and homemade whipped cream. What as that you just mumbled? Yes, that is correct – you will be everyone’s favorite at the cook-out with this pie.

The star of this Cherry Fudge Ice Cream Pie is Hudsonville Ice Cream’s Dairy Free Cherry Fudge flavor. This vegan treat is made with a delicious and creamy combination of oat milk and coconut cream. Not only is the Cherry Fudge delicious, but they have an entire set of creamy and addictive flavors::

If you haven’t already found these pints in your local grocery, use Hudsonville Ice Cream’s Scoop Locator to find where to grab them for your next ice cream craving. What are you waiting for? Go grab a pint or two!

Cherry Fudge Ice Cream Pie
Cherry Fudge Ice Cream Pie
Cherry Fudge Ice Cream Pie

This pie is not hard to make but it does require a little ahead prep since you have to freeze the layers before enjoying. If you are short on time, you can make the graham crust, cherry layer, and ice cream layer the day before and then the day of you’ll want to top the fudge, freeze, and top with whipped cream right before serving. I love making a simple homemade whip to serve on top but you could also buy a store-bought one if you are looking for a short cut.

If you’d rather make this completely dairy-free, you could swap in coconut cream for the fresh whipped cream!

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Cherry Fudge Ice Cream Pie

This Cherry Fudge Ice Cream Pie is the perfect summer dessert to serve at your next gathering! A chocolate graham cracker crust is topped with delicious Hudsonville Dairy-Free ice cream, fudge, homemade whipped cream, and more chocolate. What’s not to love?!

Ingredients
Chocolate Graham Cracker Crust:
  • 8 Tbsp butter melted
  • 7 oz chocolate graham crackers
Filling:
  • 1 1/2 cups pitted cherries
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 pints Hudsonville Cherry Fudge Dairy Free Pints
Chocolate Sauce
  • 8 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips + more for topping chopped small
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 Tbsp corn syrup
Whipped Cream:
  • 2 cups heavy creamy
Instructions
Chocolate Graham Cracker Crust:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Filling:

  1. In a food processor, pulse graham cracker cookies until finely ground. With the food processor running, stream in the melted butter until completely combined with the cookies. Press evenly into a 9-inch pie dish and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

  2. Meanwhile, add cherries, 2 Tbsp sugar, and water into a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until syrupy (about 15 minutes). Remove from heat and let cool.

  3. Add the cream to a small saucepan over medium heat and let warm just until it starts to simmer around the edges. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate and syrup. Whisk until completely incorporated and a glossy ganache has formed. Set aside to cool for at least ten minutes.

  4. Once everything has cooled, spread half of the cherry mixture into the pie pan and then use a spatula to evenly spread 2 points of Hudsonville Cherry Fudge Dairy-Free Ice Cream over that. Top with half the fudge and spread fudge evenly over the top (I stopped the spread of the fudge a few inches from the crust so you can see the ice cream but you can cover the whole pie if you’d like).

  5. Transfer to the freeze and let freeze for at least 3 hours.

  6. When ready to serve, whip the remaining heavy cream on high in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment until it’s reached a whipped cream consistency (I’d start checking at two to three minutes).

  7. Pile the whipped cream high on the Cherry Fudge Ice Cream Pie, drizzle with remaining cherries, and sprinkle with chocolate shavings. Serve right away.

Cherry Fudge Ice Cream Pie

Peach Burrata & Tomato Pizza

ALL, Entree, Summer56

This Peach Burrata & Tomato Pizza is the ideal summer pizza pie. The sweet peaches compliment acidic tomatoes and creamy burrata perfectly for an addictive flavor combo.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Bob’s Red Mill. The opinions and text are all mine. Thank you for supporting the brands that make VV possible.

Peach Burrata Tomato Pizza

It feels like every year I become obsessed with a new fruit (last year was most certainly blueberries and I have the posts to prove it) and this year is hands down peaches. A few weeks back, I snagged a 25 pound box of them from the Peach truck and have been devouring them every since.

I decided to make this Peach Burrata & Tomato pizza because my love for peaches and tomatoes together runs deep – the sweetness from the peaches seem to bring out the fresh acidity of tomatoes and it’s by far one of the best summer flavor combinations in existence. Add some creamy burrata and pungent fresh basil and we are well on our way to the best summer pizza ever.

Peach Burrata Tomato Pizza
Peach Burrata Tomato Pizza
Peach Burrata Tomato Pizza
Peach Burrata Tomato Pizza

To make the pizza crust, I used Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose flour because I wanted the crust to be on the chewier side and a little bit spongy. If you wanted a crispier crust, it may make sense to use bread flour instead. The pizza is cooked at a very high temperature (ideally on a pizza stone if you have it) so the edges get browned and the toppings crispy while the center stays soft (but not soggy! No one likes soggy pizza!).

A little extra touch for this pie is to finish it off with a drizzle of arugula oil. It sounds fancy but requires zero cooking and can be made while you wait for the dough to rise. But don’t worry, if you don’t feel like dirtying up a few extra dishes (I get it) then this pizza will be fine without it and I won’t be too offended (hopefully).

Peach Burrata Tomato Pizza
Peach Burrata Tomato Pizza
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Peach Burrata & Tomato Pizza

This Peach Burrata & Tomato Pizza is the ideal summer pizza pie. The sweet peaches compliment acidic tomatoes and creamy burrata perfectly for an addictive flavor combo.

Ingredients
For the crust:
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 2 1/4 tsp instant dry yeast
  • 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees) divided
  • 3 1/2 – 4 cups Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpse Flour
  • 2 tsp kosher salt
  • 3 Tbsp olive oil divided
For the toppings:
  • 8 ounces burrata
  • 1 peach thinly sliced
  • 2 cups cherry tomatoes
  • handful of basil
  • red pepper flakes optional
For the arugula oil:
  • 1 cup fresh arugula
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
Instructions

  1. For the dough: In a stand mixer bowl fitted with a dough attachment, add sugar, yeast, and 1/2 cup warm water. Let sit for five minute or until the yeast has bubbled.

  2. Add Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose flour (starting with 3 1/2 cups and adding more if the dough looks dry when kneading) and salt and mix on medium. With the stand mixer running, pour in remaining water and 2 Tbsp olive oil. Turn the mixer up to medium-high and let knead for 5 minutes or until a smooth dough ball has formed. Remove from bowl.

  3. Coat the bowl with the remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil, add dough back to bowl, and cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about one hour.

  4. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and divide in two. Cover with clean kitchen towel and let rest while oven preheats.

  5. Preheat oven to 500 degrees and place pizza stone in middle of oven.

  6. For the arugula oil: Meanwhile, create a ice bath by placing ice cubes in a medium bowl with water. Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add arugula and blanch for 1 minutes and then transfer to ice bath.  Transfer to a blender and blend with 1/2 cup olive oil. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and set aside.

  7. Transfer dough back to your lightly floured surface and roll out into a circular pizza slightly smaller than your pizza stone. Transfer to the hot pizza stone (being careful not to burn yourself!) and bake for 10 minutes.

  8. Then top the pizza with half of the burrata, tomatoes, peach slices and a drizzle of olive oil and let it continue to bake for another 3-4 minutes or until the tomatoes have burst and the peaches are starting to get dark around the edges. Remove pizza from oven and top with basil, red pepper flakes (if using), and arugula oil.

  9. Repeat with the remaining dough and toppings. Serve right away.

Peach Burrata Tomato Pizza

Peach Tea Lemonade Recipe

ALL, Drinks, Entertaining, Summer, Vegan54

Meet your new summer drink: homemade Peach Tea Lemonade! Simple to make, packed with in-season peaches, and bound to keep you cool during these humid summer days!

Peach Tea Lemonade

Summer is flying right by! I was excited to snag a 25 pound box of peaches from the Georgia Peach Truck last week; it gave me the perfect excuse to spend the weekend baking up a storm to work my way through the box. I can get a little antsy in the summer because it looks gorgeous outside but it’s actually 95 degrees, insanely humid, and buggy as all get out. So, instead, I try to channel that antsy energy into the kitchen and get creative with all the produce popping up.

Peach Tea Lemonade
Peach Tea Lemonade
Peach Tea Lemonade

The first recipe I developed with my peaches was this Peach Tea Lemonade! This Peach Tea Lemonade is so refreshing – a touch sweet, herbal, and flavorful!

For the tea, I used roobis tea because I love the way it blends with lemon. If you aren’t a roobis fan, you could also use chamomile or black tea depending on what you have on hand. Also, traditional simple syrup usually has a 1:1 ratio of water and sugar. However, since the peaches are already sweet and I don’t like my drinks too sweet, I cut down on the sugar for the syrup. Feel free to add more sugar at the end when you are ready to serve if you think it needs a little more for your liking.

Start by making a simple syrup and then mixing the lemon juice straight into it. From there, brew the tea and let it cool while the simple syrup cools. Once at room temperature, we combine the two and let chill in the fridge until ready to serve. Easy! Serve it with additional slices of lemon, peaches, or mint for an extra pop of color!

Peach Tea Lemonade recipe:

Peach Tea Lemonade
Peach Tea Lemonade
Peach Tea Lemonade
5 from 2 votes
Peach Tea Lemonade
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Peach Tea Lemonade Recipe

Meet your new summer drink: homemade Peach Tea Lemonade! Simple to make, packed with in-season peaches, and bound to keep you cool during these humid summer days!

Ingredients
  • 3 peaches pitted and cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 6 cups water divided
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 6 lemons)
  • 4 roobis tea bags
  • Fresh mint, lemon slices, and peach slices for serving
Instructions

  1. Place peach pieces, 2 cups water, and granulated sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes or until the peaches has become very soft.

  2. Use the back of a fork or spoon to break up and smash the pieces of peaches to release some of their juices. Continue to simmer for an additional 10 minutes.

  3. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes. Add in the lemon juice and set aside.

  4. While the peach syrup is simmering, bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat, add tea bags, cover, and let steep for as long as the package directions suggest.

  5. Combine the peach-lemon mixture with the tea, cover, and transfer to the fridge to chill for at least an hour.

  6. When ready to serve, taste and add more water if you’d like it more diluted. Transfer to serving glasses, top with ice, and garnish with mint, lemon, and peach slices.

Peach Tea Lemonade

More peach recipe ideas:

Summer Salads For A Crowd

ALL, Salad, Side, Summer48

This round-up of summer salads for a crowd features salads of all kind: fruit, grain, and leaf!

It’s HOT out and I need a dish for a potluck / grill out / party. what should I make that won’t put me in a hot kitchen for hours. The answer? A salad! But not just a boring old iceburg salad with ranch dressing – I’m talking a showstopper grain salad or addicting fruit salad or loaded kale salad! Continue on for a round-up of six recipes for the perfect summer salad for a crowd.

Summer Salads For A Crowd Recipe Round-Up:

Summer Salads For A Crowd

This Fruit Salad with Tahini Granola and Creamy Yogurt recipe is a modern hybrid between a parfait and fruit salad for a crowd. It’s cooling, crunchy, tangy, and juicy making it the perfect light dessert on a warm summer day.

Summer Salads For A Crowd

This Roasted Cauliflower & Dates Couscous Salad with Creamy Tahini is a great vegetarian side dish or easy lunch for any season. It’s backed full of flavor and features filling couscous.

Summer Salads For A Crowd

This Heirloom Tomato Salad with Sweet Lemon Dressing recipe is a great way to use up those heirloom tomatoes currently ripening on the vine in your garden.

Summer Salads For A Crowd

This Tomato & Cherry Kale Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette recipe is light but filling and ideal for a quick late summer starter or side.

Summer Salads For A Crowd

This Mint Feta Lime Melon Salad recipe is beyond easy and quick to prep. This juicy fruit salad is the perfect sweet and savory starter for any gathering. It also scales easily so you can double or triple the recipe depending on the guest count!

Summer Salads For A Crowd

White Bean Caprese Panzanella is the perfect simple summer meal. This six ingredient recipe takes less than 10 minutes to make & is perfect for one but could easily be scaled up to accommodate more guests.

Now that I’ve shared some of my favorite summer salads for a crowd, tell me in the comment below what you like to make for big gatherings!

Cookie Lover’s Sundae: Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie with Caramel Cookie Dough Ice Cream

ALL, Summer, Sweets, Vegan61

Happy National Ice Cream Month! We are kicking things off with this Cookie Lover’s Sundae! It’s a huge chocolate chip skillet cookie that is then topped with Hudsonville Ice Cream’s Caramel Cookie Dough Ice Cream, sprinkles, and cherries!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf Hudsonville Ice Cream. The opinions and text are all mine. Thank you for supporting the brands that make VV possible.

Cookie Lover’s Sundae

After making this insanely delicious cookie lover’s sundae, it got me thinking about why I don’t eat more sundaes. Is it that adults grew out of them? I remember eating them all the time as a kid and yet rarely have them now. But why? Am I too cool for sprinkles and a cherry on top? I better not be! I don’t like ice cream and cookies? We all know that is a lie! They are delicious and refreshing and can easily feed a crowd so why has it taken me this long to get a sundae recipe on VV?! It’s 2019 and I’m declaring sundaes the new summer dessert for adults (and kids)!

For this post, I partnered up with Hudsonville Ice Cream to showcase their new Dairy Free ice cream and I gotta say – it’s so good! It’s creamy (which is hard to find in non-dairy ice cream) and made with a base combination of oat milk and coconut cream. The whole Dairy Free line is filled with fun flavor combos like Caramel Cookie Dough, Birthday Cake, and Peanut Butter Truffle! Make sure to check out their website for more fun flavors and info about the launch! Also, make sure to check out their scoop locator to find a store near you that sells Hudsonville Ice Cream’s new Dairy Free Frozen Dessert!

Cookie Lover’s Sundae
Cookie Lover’s Sundae
Cookie Lover’s Sundae

Now let’s dive into the details on how to make this delicious cookie lover’s sundae! First off, if you are going the adult route, may I suggest going with a little fancier cherry like the Luxardo Maraschino Cherries or Woodford Reserve Bourbon Cherries? You won’t get that artificially bright red on top but, if we are being honest, that’s probably a good thing anyway, since there is nothing natural about it.

If making this for a crowd, the skillet cookie can be made ahead of time so you don’t have to be prepping while you have guests over. I do suggest if you go that route that you warm the cookie up right before serving so that the chocolate chips will be gooey and the warm cookie will still have a wonderful contrast to the chilled Hudsonville Ice Cream’s Dairy Free Caramel Cookie Dough ice cream.

The cookie itself is vegan and I opted for olive oil instead of non-dairy butter since I love how moist it makes the cookie. There’s also so much going on with this cookie that you don’t have to worry about the olive oil flavor coming through.

Also, depending on what you have on hand and how indulgent you want to get, you can either add more chocolate chips to the top or drizzle chocolate syrup. I’ve had really delicious store-bought hot fudge or you can make your own depending on how much time you want to spend on this sundae!

I think that covers it. Now let’s get baking so we can get to eating this delicious treat!

Cookie Lover’s Sundae
5 from 1 vote
Cookie Lover’s Sundae
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Cookie Lover’s Sundae: Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie with Caramel Cookie Dough Ice Cream
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie:
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup non-dairy unsweetened milk (I used coconut)
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
For Everything Else:
  • 1 pint Hudsonville Ice Cream’s Dairy-Free Caramel Cookie Dough Ice Cream
  • 1/4 cup sprinkles
  • 1/4 cup chocolate chips OR chocolate syrup
  • marachino cherries for topping
Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9 inch heat-proof skillet.

  2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and brown sugar until combined.

  3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add in the olive oil and milk into the center. Whisk together the milk and olive oil until combined (it’s okay if a little of the dry ingredients gets in there) and then switch to a wooden spoon to mix everything together until just combined.

  4. Add 3/4 of the chocolate chips and mix until incorporated. Transfer to greased pan and press down dough evenly down onto pan. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips on the top.

  5. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool slightly.

  6. When ready to serve, scoop Hudsonville Dairy-Free Caramel Cookie Dough Ice Cream over the top, add sprinkles, chocolate chips or chocolate syrup, and top with cherries. Pass around spoons and dig in!

Cookie Lover’s Sundae

Thai Quinoa Salad with Ginger Peanut Butter Dressing

ALL, Salad, Summer84

This Thai Quinoa Salad is a perfect side for a cook-out or picnic – it’s refreshing, packed full of flavor, and can easily be made ahead of time!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of The National Peanut Butter Board. The opinions and text are all mine. Thank you for supporting the brands that make VV possible.

Salad season is officially here and I’m on a constant journey to discover and develop new takes on salads that won’t leave you hungry and wanting more. You know the type – those salads filled with lots and lots of chewy greens that are oh so delicious and refreshing while eating them but leave you wanting more food two hours later. It’s one of the main reasons I love to make this Thai Quinoa Salad for lunch – not only are you getting a protein boost from the quinoa but you are also getting it from the peanut butter in it’s addictive dressing!

It’s no secret I love peanut butter. Not only is it delicious and full of protein but it’s also super versatile! I can top my morning toast with it, swirl it into oatmeal, throw it into a smoothie or, like I did here, make a salad dressing out of it! This dressing is savory and tangy and hits all the right notes to balance out the vegetables and herbs in this salad. The peanut butter is definitely the star ingredient that comes through in the dressing with the ginger giving an extra bite while the rest of the ingredients are more nuanced to create a complex dressing worth drizzling on almost any type of vegetable.

If you’d like, you can make the quinoa ahead of time so you just have to whisk the dressing together and chop the veggies when throwing this Thai Quinoa Salad together. You could also make the whole thing in advance and store in the fridge until ready to enjoy.

Because peanut butter has so much natural oil in it already, I keep the sesame oil in the salad dressing optional. Sesame oil is delicious but it’s also expensive so use it if you already have it on hand but don’t worry about it otherwise. Also, I like just drizzling the dressing over the top when serving so I get big bites of the dressing but you are welcome to mix it all together if you’d prefer. For more peanut butter recipes, visit this page!

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Thai Quinoa Salad with Ginger Peanut Butter Dressing

This Thai Quinoa Salad is a perfect side for a cook-out or picnic – it’s refreshing, packed full of flavor, and can easily be made ahead of time!

Ingredients
For Ginger Peanut Butter Dressing:
  • 1/3 cup peanut butter
  • 3 Tbsp tamari or soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp lime juice
  • 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
  • 1 Tbsp honey or maple syrup
  • 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 tsp sesame oil (optional)
  • pinch of red pepper flakes
For the salad:
  • 1 cup uncooked quinoa
  • 1 small head of red cabbage chopped
  • 1 red sweet pepper thinly sliced
  • 1 shredded carrot
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
  • 2 Tbsp chopped chives
  • chopped peanuts for serving
Instructions
For the dressing:

  1. Whisk together all dressing ingredients in a small bowl until combined. Your final dressing should be easy to drizzle but not watery. If the dressing is too thick, add 1 tsp of water at a time until desired consistency is reached.

For the salad:

  1. Rinse the quinoa thoroughly. Add two cups of water and quinoa to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover and turn heat down to low. Let simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for an additional 5 minutes. Uncover and fluff. Set aside to cool.

  2. Once the quinoa is cooled, toss it with cabbage, sweet pepper, carrot, cilantro, and chives.

  3. Transfer to a serving dish and drizzle with the dressing. Top with chopped peanuts and serve right away.

Cottage Cheese Toast Ideas

ALL, Appetizer, Side, Snack, Spring, Summer42

On today’s Simple Sunday feature we are covering cottage cheese toast ideas! It’s time to bring this cheese out of the low-fat 90’s diet world and into the modern fresh food movement!

Simple Sunday is a feature where we deep dive into simple recipes, spotlight ingredients, and/or feature recipes for specific occasions.

Cottage Cheese Toast

I know right out the gate that this is going to be a polarizing post. Most people either really love or hate cottage cheese – I obviously am in the ‘love’ category. I grew up eating cottage cheese and peaches as a side for dinner many nights of the week. And really, if we are being honest, I was probably eating that low-fat 90’s trendy cottage cheese so now that we have all these wonderfully thoughtful cottage cheese brands that aren’t just targeting the dieting community, the flavor has only gotten better (thanks to brands like Good Culture <– not sponsored, just a fan)!

I often wonder if the issue with cottage cheese haters is that cottage cheese needs a rebrand. Diet cheese? Of course that sounds terrible. Serve with syrupy canned peaches? Nah thank ya. And you know what? I’m here to tell you there is hope! You can modernize this cheese to be enjoyed with fresh fruit and healthy vegetables. Don’t believe me? Well today I’m going to show you how!

Check out these six cottage cheese toast ideas:

Cottage Cheese Toast

Peaches & Honey

Many of us 90’s kids remember enjoying a bowl of cottage cheese and syrupy canned peaches. What once was great for our childhood taste buds, doesn’t taste so great for our adult ones (so stinking sweet). Swap out those canned peaches for slices of a fresh one and drizzle it with honey for an update on the classic. You can also toss on some soft herbs to brighten it up even more (I used dill here but I bet basil or chives would be great as well).

Cottage Cheese Toast

Crispy Kale & Fried Eggs

If you are looking for a toast that is a bit more substantial and could be enjoyed on it’s own for breakfast or lunch, look no further than this crispy kale and fried egg version! Add a little oil to a small saucepan and fry up the kale with a little salt and pepper just until it starts to get crispy around the edges. Remove it from the pan and then fry the egg in the same pan. I like to top mine with lots of pepper.

Cottage Cheese Toast

Cucumber and Chives

If looking for something light, consider adding slices cucumbers on top of the cottage cheese and garnishes with chives. Depending on how salty your cottage cheese is, I sometimes add a sprinkle of sea salt as well.

Cottage Cheese Toast

Strawberry & Basil

When summer is at it’s peak, make this strawberry and basil version with fresh berries from the market. Depending on how sweet your strawberries are, you may want to drizzle a little honey on top. And if strawberries aren’t in season, feel free to try this with other berries like blueberries or raspberries.

Cottage Cheese Toast

Avocado, Radish, + Toasted Sesame Seeds

For all my avocado toast fans out there! Top this one with thick chunks of avocado, thinly sliced radishes, and black sesame seeds. Perfect for an afternoon snack that’ll help keep you full until dinner.

Which would you make? And what other ways are you enjoying cottage cheese? Tell me in the comments below!

Cottage Cheese Toast

5 Quick Vegetarian Dinner Recipes

ALL, Entree, Round-Up, Summer92

These 5 Quick Vegetarian Dinner Recipes are delicious and will help keep you from reaching for that frozen pizza when you are looking for a quick meal.

Sometimes you just don’t feel like spending all evening in the kitchen – maybe it’s nice out and you are eager to get outside or maybe you’ve had a long day at work and just can’t muster up the energy. Either way, we’ve got you covered with 5 super easy and simple vegetarian dinners that can be whipped up quickly and require any fancy techniques or tools. Sorry but not sorry – you now have zero reasons to reach for that frozen pizza the next time you are feeling lazy.

Now here are 5 quick vegetarian dinner recipes for you:

5 Quick Vegetarian Dinner Recipes

This Walnut Meat Tacos with Peach Tomato Salsa recipe can be made in under 20 minutes and requires minimal cook time which makes them perfect for quick weeknight meals. They are also gluten-free, vegetarian, and can easily be made vegan by omitting the yogurt or sour cream.

5 Quick Vegetarian Dinner Recipes

Is your garden or farmer’s market overflowing with herbs and tomatoes? It’s time to make this quick and easy Fresh Greek Nachos with Herbed Tahini Sauce recipe! I eat it for lunch and dinner all the time but it would also be great to serve to a crowd.

5 Quick Vegetarian Dinner Recipes

This Roasted Veggies with Citrus Gremolata and Polenta is my go-to for a pantry staple dinner. You can mix and match whichever veggies, beans, and sauce options you have on hand to get dinner on the table in 30 minutes or less!

5 Quick Vegetarian Dinner Recipes

This Chickpea Shawarma Flatbread is a quick and easy vegetarian meal that can be whipped up in under 15 minutes. 

5 Quick Vegetarian Dinner Recipes

This Buddha Bowl With Poblano Tahini Sauce is from Mostly Plants: 101 Flexitarian Recipes with the Pollan Family. It’s perfect for an easy dinner or meal prep it ahead of time to enjoy as a weekday lunch.

Savory Zucchini Bread With Whipped Goat Cheese & Dill

ALL, Bread, Side, Summer52

This Savory Zucchini Bread With Whipped Goat Cheese & Dill is the perfect quick bread for summer when zucchinis are in abundance. This savory bread is delicious on it’s own but made even better with a simple whipped goat cheese spread on it.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Bob’s Red Mill. The opinions and text are all mine. Thank you for supporting the brands that make VV possible.

Savory Zucchini Bread

I like to think of myself as pretty veg-obsessed but I have a confession: I’m not crazy about zucchini. It’s rather bland in itself and the only way I can make it at all flavorful is usually to grill it with a ton of spices and even then it can sometimes still end up a little slimy.

Zucchini does have one wonderful trick up it’s sleeve though: it makes the BEST (IMO) quick bread! It helps keep the bread moist (which can be tricky with quick bread!) without compromising the flavor. Although most people tend to make some sort of sweet zucchini quick bread, I LOVE making a cheesy savory zucchini bread like this one. The end result is herby, cheesy, and addictive.

Savory Zucchini Bread

As usual, I used Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose flour for this recipe. I’ve always found their products to be consistent and they are always my go-to when it comes to baking ingredients. The one thing you do need to be careful of with this recipe is making sure you ring out as much as the water from the zucchini as possible to make sure you don’t end up with an over-moist loaf at the end.

Also, if you don’t feel like whipping up the goat cheese spread (but…reminder that it’s mostly just goat cheese and cream cheese…can you really resist?) then this is also delicious with a smear of butter, plain cream cheese, or drizzle of pesto.

Savory Zucchini Bread
Savory Zucchini Bread
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Savory Zucchini Bread With Whipped Goat Cheese & Dill

This Savory Zucchini Bread With Whipped Goat Cheese & Dill is the perfect quick bread for summer when zucchinis are in abundance. This savory bread is delicious on it’s own but made even better with a simple whipped goat cheese spread on it.

Ingredients
For the zucchini bread:
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
  • 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose flour
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup buttermilk (or whole milk mixed with 1 tsp lemon juice)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup shredded white cheddar cheese or parmesan
  • 2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill + more for serving
For the whipped goat cheese:
  • 4 oz goat cheese
  • 4 oz cream cheese softened
  • 1-2 Tbsp whole milk
Instructions
For the bread:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9×5 bread pan with parchment paper and grease with butter.

  2. Wrap the shredded zucchini in a clean kitchen towel and ring out all excess water. Set aside and ring out one more time before using.

  3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, paprika, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add egg and buttermilk. Whisk just the buttermilk and egg in the center until combined and then fold the dry ingredients into the wet just until combined (too much mixing will cause the final bread to be tough so you’ll want to be careful here). Mix in cheese, zucchini, and dill and transfer to prepared baking pan.

  4. Bake for 45 minutes to one hour or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center and the top is browned.

  5. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes before slicing. Serve slices with whipped goat cheese and fresh dill.

For the whipped goat cheese:

  1. Using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk together the cream cheese and goat cheese until light and creamy. With the stand mixer running, slowly add in 1 Tbsp of milk. The end result should be fluffy and spreadable. If it’s still too thick, add in another tablespoon of milk and whisk until combined.

  2. Use right away or store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Savory Zucchini Bread

Mac Salad From Aloha Kitchen

ALL, Salad, Side, Summer38

This delicious Mac Salad is from the gorgeous Aloha Kitchen, a cookbook by Alana Kysar about Recipes from Hawai’. It’s perfect for summer grill outs or picnics.

Mac Salad From Aloha Kitchen

I can’t remember the last time I got such bad FOMO from reading a cookbook! Alana’s photos of Hawaii in Aloha Kitchen seriously make me want to drop everything I’m doing and jump on a flight across the country to these gorgeous islands. Hawaii is one of the few states I’ve haven’t been to (YET) but reading her book made me immediately feel a connection to it.

I haven’t made too many recipes but it yet but this mac salad is already on repeat in my kitchen. What makes this macaroni salad different from other mac salads I’ve had before is that it’s incredibly tangy from the pickle juice (which is so addicting) – the mayo + pickle combo definitely reminds me of the best part of a deviled egg. In addition to the tang, it also has shredded carrots in it which adds just a touch of sweetness is the most delicious way.

Just a head’s up for my veg-friends – there is a lot of meat in this book. I have a feeling I’ll be sticking to a few really awesome recipes (this mac salad, several of the dessert, etc) and then leaving this book out on my coffee table for it to be more of a beautiful addition to my home than something I’ll be keeping in my kitchen for daily use. However, if you do eat meat, then this book could become a classic for you! The recipes are definitely unique and do a fantastic job at telling the stories of Hawaii and it’s food.

Now what are you waiting for? It’s summer and this mac salad is the perfect excuse to host a grill out or have a picnic in the park. I bet these veggie sloppy joes would go perfect with this mac salad.

Mac Salad From Aloha Kitchen
Mac Salad From Aloha Kitchen
Mac Salad From Aloha Kitchen
Mac Salad From Aloha Kitchen
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Mac Salad

This Mac Salad is from the gorgeous Aloha Kitchen, a cookbook by Alana Kysar about Recipes from Hawai’. 

Ingredients
  • 8 oz dry elbow macaroni
  • 2 Tbsp grated yellow onion
  • 1 to 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
  • 2 Tbsp sweet pickle juice
  • 3 Tbsp sweet pickle relish
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup coarsley shredded carrot
Instructions

  1. Cook the macaroni, salting the water with 2 Tbsp kosher salt, according to instructions on package until tender. Drain, transfer to a large bowl, and set aside for 10 minutes to let cool.

  2. Once cooled, fold in onions, 1/2 cup mayonnaise, pickle relish, pickle juice, and a dash of pepper and toss until well coated. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

  3. When ready to serve, stir in 1/2 cup mayonnaise and the shredded carrot. Taste and add more mayonnaise if it looks dry or more salt if it needs it. Serve chilled.

Sweet Peanut Butter Mascarpone Fruit Dip

ALL, Side, Snack, Summer28

This Sweet Peanut Butter Mascarpone Fruit Dip is just waiting to be whipped up at your next gathering! It can be made in under a minute (!!) and is delicious with berries and apples. This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of The National Peanut Butter Board. The opinions and text are all mine. Thank you for supporting the brands that make VV possible.

Sweet Peanut Butter Mascarpone Fruit Dip

Now that we have spring cleaning behind us (yay!), it’s time to start inviting people over to actually enjoy the nice weather and longer days. As you could have probably guessed, my favorite part about entertaining is making food for it! I love a quality no-fuss dip to serve guests because it’s a great way to use up items you usually already have on hand and requires little ahead of time prep.

Sweet Peanut Butter Mascarpone Fruit Dip
Sweet Peanut Butter Mascarpone Fruit Dip

As a vegetarian, I lean heavily on nut butters like peanut butter to keep me full (hello, fiber!) and help me to get my daily dose of protein. With 8 grams of protein and 2 grams of fiber, it’s a no brainer to throw peanut butter into smoothies and lather it on toast. But I wanted to create a recipe that went beyond just breakfast – something that could be enjoyed all day long and even used to share with guests. And thus, this Sweet Peanut Butter Mascarpone Fruit Dip was created!

It’s a touch fancy with the mascarpone while the peanut butter gives it a nutty flavor and the honey lightly sweetens. Serve it with your favorite fruit – I like a mix of berries and sliced apples and bananas. If using sliced apples, make sure to toss with a little lemon juice to keep them from browning too soon. Oh and did I mention this dip takes under 30 seconds to make? A crowd pleaser and easy to whip up? I’m sold!

Are you as obsessed with peanut butter as I am? Let me know by sharing your favorite peanut butter recipes in the comments below with the hashtag #HowYoDoPB and click HERE for more delicious peanut butter recipes.

Sweet Peanut Butter Mascarpone Fruit Dip
Sweet Peanut Butter Mascarpone Fruit Dip
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Sweet Peanut Butter Mascarpone Fruit Dip
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 3/4 cup mascarpone
  • 2 Tbsp honey + more for serving
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • dash of salt
  • 2 Tbsp dry roasted peanuts chopped
  • fresh fruit for dipping (strawberries, raspberries, sliced apples, bananas, etc)
Instructions

  1. Whisk together peanut butter, mascarpone, honey, vanilla extract, and a dash of salt until combined and smoothed. 

  2. Transfer to a serving bowl and use the back of a spoon to create circular grooves on the top of the dip. Drizzle honey into the grooves.

  3. If serving right away, top with dry roasted peanuts and serve with fruit. If storing for later, cover with plastic wrap and stick in the fridge until ready to enjoy.

Sweet Peanut Butter Mascarpone Fruit Dip

Cucumber Salad Recipe With Strawberry Yogurt & Pistachio Za’atar

ALL, Appetizer, Side, Summer30

This Cucumber Salad Recipe With Strawberry Yogurt & Pistachio Za’atar is an easy and delicious summer salad! Made it to enjoy at your next picnic or grill out!

Cucumber Salad Recipe

With Memorial Day weekend on the horizon, it’s time to officially start talking about summer! Do you have any plans for the long weekend? Maybe a little pool time and a grill out or picnic? This easy and cooling salad is a light side that would be perfect for either!

Plus, not only is it the start of summer but it’s also strawberry season! And when they are in abundance at your local farmer’s market, you don’t want to hide these flavorful beauties in a pie or baked good. You want to let their fresh flavor by highlighting their natural flavor!

Cucumber Salad Recipe
Cucumber Salad Recipe
Cucumber Salad Recipe

There are a few things that I really love this cucumber salad recipe for. For one, you don’t have to turn on your oven or warm up your kitchen with any cooking at all. On top of that, the cucumbers and yogurt are both really cooling and the strawberries make this salad a touch sweet without it being too much. The pistachio za’atar adds a salty crunch that is just irresistible.

Plus, if nothing else, this cucumber salad is gorgeous! I love making it during peak strawberry season but you could also swap in halved cherries or plum depending on what time of year it is.

As for the cucumbers, I like to use a peeler to peel thing strips and then also cut some into small chunks to give it a bit of variety. Lastly, I used a mix of black and white sesame seeds in the za’atar but only white would be fine if that is what you have on hand.

Cucumber Salad Recipe
5 from 1 vote
Cucumber Salad Recipe
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Cucumber Salad Recipe With Strawberry Yogurt & Pistachio Za’atar

his Cucumber Salad Recipe With Strawberry Yogurt & Pistachio Za’atar is an easy and delicious summer salad! Made it to enjoy at your next picnic or grill out!

Ingredients
Pistachio Za’atar:
  • 1/4 cup chopped shelled pistachios
  • 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
  • 2 tsp sumac
  • 1 tsp sea salt
Strawberry Greek Yogurt:
  • 1 cup greek yogurt
  • 2 Tbsp strawberry preserves
Everything else:
  • 1 cup chopped strawberries
  • 3 cucumbers thinly sliced or cut into small chunks
  • 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • herbs (such as mint, basil, dill) for garnish
Instructions
For the Pistachio Za’atar

  1. Mix everything together in a small bowl and set aside.

Strawberry Greek Yogurt

  1. Mix together greek yogurt and strawberry preserve. Taste and add more preserve if you’d like it sweeter. Set aside.

To assemble:

  1. In a medium bowl, toss together strawberries and rice vinegar. In a separate bowl, toss together cucumbers, olive oil, and lemon zest. Spread greek yogurt onto a large serving tray and top with cucumbers and strawberries. Sprinkle on za’atar and garnish with herbs. Serve right away.

Cucumber Salad Recipe

Looking for more strawberry recipes? Got you covered:

Santa Fe In One Day (Choose Your Own Adventure)

Adventure, ALL, Spring, Summer43

Santa Fe In One Day

Are you excited to talk about exploring Santa Fe in one day today?! It’s been a minute since I did an adventure post which is pretty ridiculous because I’ve been traveling a bunch lately (already been to Chicago, LA, Marco Island, Denver, and Santa Fe this year)! I’m a pretty obsessive traveler in that I get serious FOMO if I don’t have an extensive list ahead of time of the best of the best places to eat/drink/see. This means that I can go a little overboard with my planning and have tons of documents with info about all the places I want to visit and a google map that outlines the best route to maximize my time while there.

Last week I visited Santa Fe for the first time ever and really loved it! Santa Fe has never been on my bucket list and we really only went because of a family reunion taking place there. And boy, am I so glad we did! Although we were only exploring Santa Fe in one day, I totally fell in love with it. My must-see / eat list was pretty extensive and I’m proud that we were able to get to at least half of it.

Since I’m not totally sure what you all are into, I ended up including both the places we were able to visit and also the places that I had on my bucket list based on suggestions from friends, family, and online folks. Although I titled this as Santa Fe In One Day, the list of places to visit would actually take a few days because I wanted to give you as much info as possible in a ‘choose your own adventure’ way. I made sure to mention specifically in the descriptions below if I didn’t make it to a place as to not mislead you but I did want to include them in case you wanted to visit one place over another.

Morning:

  • Chef Mamou – Wander over to this charming french cafe for breakfast first thing. It’s close to the city center so there’s a good chance you can walk if you are staying in one of the many downtown hotels. They have a large case full of pastries (try the almond croissant!), sweet and savory crepes, and several Eggs Benedict to choose from. Since I can’t ever pick just one thing, we all split a veggie Eggs Benedict, a savory crepe (which had egg, gruyere, and spinach in it), and an almond croissant. They also had a large selection of coffee drinks and the latte I sipped was fantastic. This quiet little spot is the perfect spot to wake up to.
  • Whoo’s Donuts – Yup, that’s right. My Santa Fe in one day trip includes donuts RIGHT after breakfast…because food! If you’d rather choose one or the other, it’s worth noting that you will most likely have to drive to this donut shop so you’ll want to account for that. They have a lot of really fun and unique flavors and I highly recommend trying the Green Chili Apple Fritter, Blue Corn Blueberry Lavender (tasted like deep fried cornbread!), Orange Cardamom Cream, and/or the Dark Chocolate Crunch. I mean…really you probably couldn’t go wrong with any of the flavors but those are the ones I tried and loved.
  • Modern General – Don’t be a goof like me and forget to stop here after picking up donuts. It’s nearby and looks like a super cute little shop (which includes a cafe). It looks like they have home goods, books, and outdoor items.
  • Santa Fe Art Institute – I’m including this on here because it was by Whoo’s Donuts and I was OBSESSED with it’s architecture. As a photographer, I wanted to spend all day photographing the shapes and lines that were intentionally created by the sun beating down on this gorgeously geometric building. With all of that being said, the college recently closed down so the building is actually abandoned and I don’t know how long you will continue to be able to access. It might be worth trying to find some up to date info before heading there if you do decide to stop by since…who knows what the building will be being used for if you end up reading this way past when I published this post.
  • Meow Wolf – Alternatively instead of the Art Institute, it could be a good time to visit Meow Wolf while you are out and about driving. We actually ran out of time and missed this place but all the reviews are insane and I’m pretty bummed we couldn’t find the time. The website says to expect to spend around 2 hours here. I’ve also read that it can get pretty busy so I’d recommend going early.
  • Tent Rocks Trail – This is another place I had on my list that we just didn’t get to in one day but I wanted to include in case Meow Wolf isn’t your thing. It’s a bit of a drive to get to (I think around 30 minutes outside of town) but a lot of reviews I found said it was well worth it. If you do get around to going on this hike, let me know – I’d love to know if you liked it!
Santa Fe In One Day

Afternoon:

  • The Shed – This place is a Santa Fe staple and for good reason. The enchiladas are a must (they have a veg one too!) but my favorite was the Green Chili Burrito which was just spicy enough and so so so delicious. They also have an extensive tequila menu for you to get crazy with because…why not? You are on vacay.
  • Downtown – I’d recommend blocking off some time to walk around downtown. There is a little something for everyone – architecture around the city is really fun to look at, there are a ton of little shops to go into along with lots of outdoor vendors around, and there is a good chance that if you are there on the weekend then there could be some sort of festival going on. When we were there, they had a really cool car show going on with decked out cars parked all over the downtown area. I’m not a car person but it was pretty cool. This is all to say that you could probably easily blow threw a few hours wandering around downtown if that is your things.
  • Kakawa Chocolate House – This place was recommended to me by several people but after 2 breakfasts and a lunch, I couldn’t convince anyone in my group to do anymore food related activities. So, if you like chocolate, this seems like a good option for you.
  • Georgia O’Keeffe Museum – if the weather is gross or museums are more your thing, you could head to this museum instead of wandering downtown. I opted for the downtown option but some people in my group went to this museum and really enjoyed it.
Santa Fe In One Day

Evening:

  • Coyote Cafe – Another spot on my list that I didn’t manage to get to BUT if you aren’t tequiled out (guess I’m making up words now) from The Shedd, I heard they have Green Chili margaritas and you should probably try one.
  • Dinner options: Paper Dosa (Indian), Paloma (modern Tex Mex), or Il Piatto (Italian). Santa Fe in one day means having to make hard decisions when it comes to the perfect restaurant and these were the top 3 that I chose from. My group opted for Italian but I really wanted to try the Indian place. Ah well – just going to have to go back!
Santa Fe In One Day

We stayed at La Posada de Santa Fe which was a great location to walk downtown from and the hotel itself was really nice. I’ve also heard good things about El Rey Court but we decided against staying there since it’s on a major road and a bit hard to walk to places from.

Santa Fe In One Day

Have you been to Santa Fe before and what are some of your favorite places that I didn’t cover? Do you think you could enjoy Santa Fe in one day or would you need more time? Based on this list, it’s pretty obvious that you should probably spend at least a weekend there if you can! I’m already itching to go back to check out all the places I wasn’t able to cover in 24 hours.

Santa Fe In One Day

Cauliflower Steak with Carrot Miso Puree & Carrot-top Pesto

ALL, Entree, Spring78

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Mullan Road Cellars Red Blend. The opinions and text are all mine. Thank you for supporting the brands that make VV possible.

Cauliflower Steak with Carrot Miso Puree & Carrot-top Pesto

Let’s talk about date night! Who says you have to go out for date night? My partner is a total introvert (as am I) so the idea of staying in instead of going out feels way more special. For me, I want date night to feel special without having to actually spend hours and hours prepping for it. For him…well as long as there is food and booze involved then he is good to go. My solution? A nice bottle of Mullan Road Cellars Red Blend and a vegetarian “steak”. My weeknight go-to dinner is usually a one-pan meal like a casserole so having a main entree (like this cauliflower steak) and a side already feels extravagant.

The days are getting warmer but the spring evenings are still crisp so I’ve been enjoying a warming bottle of red wine lately. The Mullan Road Cellars’ 2016 Red Wine Blend pairs perfectly with this cauliflower steak because of it’s bold and dense without being overpowering. This blend comes from Washington and is made by Dennis Cakebread. His family built the well known Cakebread Cellars from scratch in the 1970s in Napa Valley and started exploring other regions in the 2000s which is when Mullan Road Cellars was started in Washington.

Cauliflower Steak with Carrot Miso Puree & Carrot-top Pesto
Cauliflower Steak with Carrot Miso Puree & Carrot-top Pesto
Cauliflower Steak with Carrot Miso Puree & Carrot-top Pesto

I’m going to let you in on a secret. I used to be a huge cauliflower steak hater (in the same way that I’m still a “carrot dog” hater). It just felt a little bit like a slap in the face for vegetarians – how is the world is a head of cauliflower going to fill you up and leave you satisfied? It wasn’t until I tried the cauliflower steak at Journeyman Distillery that I realized that cauliflower is such a blank canvas – it can be perfectly seasoned with spices and it can be served with almost anything depending on what you season it with. They seasoned theirs so well that it left me totally satisfied without feeling overly full or craving something more.

For this recipe, I added both a filling and flavorful dressing as the base and also a bright and punchy pesto to finish it off. The end result is savory, bright, and totally addicting. Complete the deal by serving it with Mullan Road Cellar’s Red Blend and a bean salad or creamy mashed potatoes. Now go ahead and schedule that much needed date night in!

Cauliflower Steak with Carrot Miso Puree & Carrot-top Pesto
5 from 2 votes
Cauliflower Steak with Carrot Miso Puree & Carrot-top Pesto
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Cauliflower Steak with Carrot Miso Puree & Carrot-top Pesto
Ingredients
  • 2 heads of cauliflower
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • dash of pepper
For the Carrot Miso Dressing
  • 4 oz orange carrots cut into even pieces
  • 2 Tbsp white miso
  • 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
Carrot Top Pesto
  • 1 1/2 cups carrot tops
  • 1 garlic clove peeled
  • 3 Tbsp pecans
  • 3/4 cup basil leaves
  • 1/4 cup asiago cheese
  • 1/4-1/2 cup olive oil + more for drizzlings
Instructions
For the Cauliflower Steaks:

  1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Remove the green leaves from head of cauliflower and trim the stems. Cut 1 1/2 inch thick steaks (I got 4 from two heads plus a bunch of florets which I saved for another use). Transfer slices to a baking sheet and brush olive oil on each side of each piece. Sprinkle spices on all steaks and then cover the baking sheet with aluminum foil.

  2. Bake for 5 minutes, remove foil, and bake for an additional 10. Flip steaks and bake for another 5-10 minutes or until the tops are browned. Remove from heat and set aside.

For the Carrot Top Pesto

  1. Combine carrot tops, garlic, pecans, basil leaves, and asiago cheese in a high speed blender or food processor. Pulse until everything is chopped into small pieces. Turn the machine on and drizzle in 1/4 cup olive oil to incorporate. If the mixture is too dry, drizzle more olive oil until you reach your desired consistency.

For the Carrot Miso Dressing

  1. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Salt and add in carrot pieces. Let blanch for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, add ice to a large mixing bowl and add water to create an ice bath. Once the carrots are ready, use tongs to transfer from the boiling water to ice bath.

  2. Once carrots are cooled, transfer to a high speed blender along with miso, vinegar, yogurt, olive oil, and a dash of salt and pepper. Blend until completely combined and a thick dressing forms. You want the dressing to be thin enough that you can spread it but quick enough that it won’t run. If it’s too thick, add 1 Tbsp of water at a time until you’ve received a desired consistency.

To serve:

  1. Spread carrot miso dressing on a serving platters and place cauliflower steaks over it. Top with pesto, a drizzle of olive oil, salt, and pepper. Serve right away.

Cauliflower Steak with Carrot Miso Puree & Carrot-top Pesto

Buddha Bowl With Poblano Tahini Sauce

ALL, Entree, Salad, Vegan74

This Buddha Bowl with Poblano Tahini Sauce is from Mostly Plants: 101 Flexitarian Recipes with the Pollan Family. It’s perfect for an easy dinner or meal prep it ahead of time to enjoy as a weekday lunch.

Buddha Bowl With Poblano Tahni Sauce

Happy Friday! I’ve been going a little stir crazy over here with all the rain so I’m excited to hopefully spend this weekend outside grilling, gardening, and taking our big pup for walks. The one upside to being stuck inside is that I haven’t had any excuse not to spend my Sunday’s meal prepping for the week! My usual Sunday check list for prepping has been as follows:

  • Portion out green smoothie ingredients for the week and freeze (I like Fab 4 smoothies because they keep me full until lunch.) My current go-to is Kale + berries + nut butter + ground flax seed + nut milk + protein powder. I portion out everything but the protein powder and nut milk ahead of time and freeze for easy assembly during the week.
  • Prep some sort of grain or quinoa salad for lunches (current favorites are this farro salad and this quinoa salad)
  • Hard boil a few eggs or roast a can of chickpeas to eat with the salad
  • Roast veggies to also go with the salad (my favorite is roasted broccoli, sweet potatoes, and bell peppers)
  • Some sort of dressing to drizzle on the protein and roasted veggies
  • Make some sort of large portion item for Sunday dinner that can also be enjoyed for Monday night dinner (like curry, cauliflower mac and cheese, soup and homemade bread, etc)

That plan gets me through breakfast, lunch, and 2 dinners for the week. For me, It’s always a great way to jump start the beginning of the week since that always tends to be the busiest. I also notice that if I make sure to eat a healthy breakfast and lunch then I am more likely to want to keep it healthy for dinner since I’ve already done so well that day.

All this is to say that when I came across this Buddha Bowl with Poblano Tahini Sauce bowl in the Pollan’s new cookbook, Mostly Plants, it looked like the perfect recipe to mix up my meal prep and enjoy for lunch over a few days. I prepped the quinoa, roasted veggies, and dressing in advance so all I had to do at lunch was saute the chard and it was ready! And I gotta say – that poblano tahini is definitely going into my heavy rotation for weekly dressings because ohhhh boy is it delicious!

Mostly Plants has been a great addition to my cookbook collection – although it’s not 100% vegetarian (they are calling it a flexitarian cookbook as there is a little fish and meat here and there), a lot of the recipes are and they are all super simple and perfect for weeknight meals. I’ve really started to be drawn to these kinds of cookbook since it’s the mundane weeknight type of meals that I can get so burned out on so I’m always looking for fresh ideas. If you are looking to upgrade your weeknight dinners, this book is for you!

Did you enjoy all this meal prep talk? If so, let me know if you’d be interested to see a more extensive post on how I prep on Sundays and I’d be happy to work on a future blog post about it! Now let’s go make this bowl!

Buddha Bowl With Poblano Tahni Sauce
Buddha Bowl With Poblano Tahni Sauce
Buddha Bowl With Poblano Tahni Sauce
4.5 from 2 votes
5 Quick Vegetarian Dinner Recipes
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Buddha Bowl With Poblano Tahini Sauce

This Buddha Bowl with Poblano Tahini Sauce is from Mostly Plants: 101 Flexitarian Recipes with the Pollan Family. It’s perfect for an easy dinner or meal prep it ahead of time to enjoy as a weekday lunch.

Ingredients
Poblano Tahini Sauce
  • 1 1/2 cups roughly chopped poblano pepper
  • 1 garlic clove peeled and quartered
  • 1/3 cup tahini
  • 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
Buddha Bowls
  • 1 cup cooked quinoa
  • 2 large sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp coconut oil (I used olive oil here) melted
  • 2 tsp maple syrup
  • 1 tsp orange zest
  • sea salt to taste
  • 1 15-oz can chickpes drained, rinsed, and patted dry
  • 1 Tbsp + 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1/8 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne
  • 4 garlic cloves peeled
  • 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 bunch Swiss chard stemmed, leaves cut into 1-inch strips
Instructions
For the poblano tahini sauce:

  1. In a high speed blender, combine poblano, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, and 1/4 cup water and blend until smooth. If sauce is too thick, add water as needed to reach desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

For the buddha bowls

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper.

  2. In a medium saucepan, cook quinoa according to packaged direction.

  3. In a medium bowl, combine sweet potatoes, coconut oil (or olive oil), maple syrup, orange zest, and 1/4 tsp salt. Mix well and transfer to prepared baking sheet.

  4. Roast for 20 minutes, flip, and roast for an additional 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender and beginning to brown.

  5. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the chickpeas, 2 teaspoons of the olive oil, the paprika, cumin, cayenne, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Mix well until the chickpeas are thoroughly coated.

    Spread the chickpeas on a rimmed baking sheet and roast with the sweet potatoes until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes, stirring halfway through.

  6. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the chard, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chard begins to wilt, 2 to 3 minutes. Uncover, add dash of salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until the chard is completely wilted and cooked through, an additional 1 to 2 minutes. Discard the garlic cloves.

  7. To serve, put 1/2 cup of the cooked grain in four serving bowls. Top each bowl with equal portions of the roasted sweet potatoes, roasted chickpeas, and sautéed chard. Drizzle with the poblano tahini sauce and serve with extra sauce passed separately.