Cookie and Kate https://cookieandkate.com Whole Foods and Vegetarian Recipe Blog Wed, 12 May 2021 17:31:16 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.7.2 https://cookieandkate.com/images/2020/11/cropped-favicon-32x32.png Cookie and Kate https://cookieandkate.com 32 32 Super Simple Arugula Salad https://cookieandkate.com/simple-arugula-salad-recipe/ https://cookieandkate.com/simple-arugula-salad-recipe/#comments Mon, 19 Apr 2021 18:02:26 +0000 https://cookieandkate.com/?p=38438 Meet my go-to side salad recipe. I hope it becomes yours, too. This simple salad features fresh arugula and the world’s easiest homemade balsamic salad dressing. This…

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simple arugula salad recipe

Meet my go-to side salad recipe. I hope it becomes yours, too. This simple salad features fresh arugula and the world’s easiest homemade balsamic salad dressing.

This salad truly could not be more easy to make. In fact, it’s so easy that I’ve hesitated to share it with you. It’s hardly a recipe, but one that I make constantly. It’s about time that I bring this method to your attention, you say?

arugula salad ingredients

Side salads should be easy to prepare, and this one is so delicious that it doesn’t taste like an afterthought. It goes with just about everything—think Italian entrées like lasagna, sandwiches, scrambled eggs, and even holiday meals.

You can use this salad formula with any type of leafy green, but arugula is my favorite. You’ll eat more healthy greens if you keep this recipe in your back pocket. Here we go!

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Perfect Roasted Cabbage https://cookieandkate.com/perfect-roasted-cabbage-recipe/ https://cookieandkate.com/perfect-roasted-cabbage-recipe/#comments Sat, 03 Apr 2021 15:56:48 +0000 https://cookieandkate.com/?p=38336 Ever roasted cabbage? If not, meet your new favorite side dish! If you enjoy roasted Brussels sprouts, you’ll surely love roasted cabbage, which offers similarly irresistible crispy-caramelized-tender…

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perfect roasted cabbage recipe

Ever roasted cabbage? If not, meet your new favorite side dish! If you enjoy roasted Brussels sprouts, you’ll surely love roasted cabbage, which offers similarly irresistible crispy-caramelized-tender bits.

Roasted cabbage has a lot going for it, and it’s about time I shared my go-to roasting method. Cabbage is easy to prepare for roasting (much easier than Brussels), very inexpensive, and lasts quite a while in the fridge.

how to slice cabbage

Plus, roasted red cabbage adds an eye-catching purple hue to the dinner table. It’s fun, right? This dish would be a vibrant addition to your Easter meal.

Keep cabbage on hand in the vegetable drawer and you can turn it into a simple and nutritious side dish in twenty minutes. I’ll show you how!

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Tortilla Soup https://cookieandkate.com/vegetarian-tortilla-soup/ https://cookieandkate.com/vegetarian-tortilla-soup/#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2021 20:00:10 +0000 https://cookieandkate.com/?p=9483 Do you enjoy tortilla soup? It’s one of my all-time favorites! Tortilla soup is fresh and flavorful, earthy and a little spicy. Topped with a big handful…

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tortilla soup recipe

Do you enjoy tortilla soup? It’s one of my all-time favorites! Tortilla soup is fresh and flavorful, earthy and a little spicy. Topped with a big handful of crispy tortilla strips, it’s a light but satisfying meal for lunch or dinner. As a bonus, it tastes even better the next day.

Tex-Mex tortilla soups most often include shredded chicken, but it’s not unusual to find vegetarian tortilla soups in Mexico. I can’t call this recipe fully authentic, though. It’s a delicious variation on classic tortilla soup (Sopa Azteca) that you can make at home any time you get the craving.

In Mexico, you’ll find tons of regional variations and personal preferences for tortilla soup. For this recipe, I added black beans for some heft, as well as a red bell pepper because I love the flavor and texture it provides. I tried to keep the remaining ingredients in line with what you might find in Mexico, but to be honest, I have more personal experience with the Tex-Mex variations I’ve sampled over the years.

tortilla soup ingredients

This recipe is a fully reworked version of an old tortilla soup recipe on the blog. Perhaps you’ve made that one and enjoyed it, but I tried it again recently and just knew I could build in more flavor along the way. If you want a copy of the original, I’ve saved a PDF of the recipe right here.

This soup is closer to the spin on tortilla soup in my cookbook, Love Real Food, which features an irresistible sweet-and-spicy interplay between sweet potatoes and jalapeño. Give that one a try, too!

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Easy Pizza Sauce https://cookieandkate.com/easy-pizza-sauce-recipe/ https://cookieandkate.com/easy-pizza-sauce-recipe/#comments Mon, 12 Oct 2020 18:54:03 +0000 https://cookieandkate.com/?p=37371 Make this easy red pizza sauce recipe for your homemade pizzas! It comes together with basic pantry ingredients in about five minutes, no cooking required. It’s like…

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easy pizza sauce recipe

Make this easy red pizza sauce recipe for your homemade pizzas! It comes together with basic pantry ingredients in about five minutes, no cooking required. It’s like magic.

This recipe yields classic Italian pizza sauce for your home-baked pizza pies. Despite its quick preparation, this sauce tastes rich and full of flavor, which further develops during the pizza’s blast in a high-heat oven.

pizza sauce ingredients

I like my sauce to have a bit of texture to it, and this sauce strikes the perfect balance. Many pizza sauces are either thick and dull or watery and flavorless. Not this one.

I originally developed this sauce recipe for a pizza recipe in my cookbook, Love Real Food. Since I just re-shared my favorite pizza dough recipe, I’m providing my go-to pizza sauce to go along with it.

Both the dough and the sauce come together very quickly, so you can enjoy homemade pizza with minimal fuss. How about pizza tonight?

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Ultimate Veggie Pizza https://cookieandkate.com/veggie-pizza-recipe/ https://cookieandkate.com/veggie-pizza-recipe/#comments Wed, 07 Oct 2020 12:45:40 +0000 https://cookieandkate.com/?p=37349 As a vegetarian for over a decade, I’ve eaten quite a few veggie pizzas. Truly fantastic veggie pizzas are few and far between. So, I combined all…

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best veggie pizza recipe

As a vegetarian for over a decade, I’ve eaten quite a few veggie pizzas. Truly fantastic veggie pizzas are few and far between. So, I combined all of the elements I’ve enjoyed over the years to create my own “ultimate” veggie pizza recipe. This is the best homemade veggie pizza I’ve ever had, and I hope you’ll say the same!

This vegetarian pizza recipe will delight vegetarians and carnivores alike. It’s fresh and full of flavor, featuring cherry tomatoes, artichoke, bell pepper, olives, red onion and some hidden (and optional) baby spinach. You’ll find a base of rich tomato sauce and golden, bubbling mozzarella underneath, of course.

veggie pizza ingredients

The trick with loaded veggie pizzas, as many pizza shops seem to forget, is that they require a few extra minutes in the oven to develop full flavor and structure. Don’t stop baking until the cheese is deeply golden in spots. Otherwise, you might end up with floppy pizza that doesn’t live up to its true potential.

Start with my easy whole wheat pizza dough, and this recipe is ready in about 45 minutes, start to finish. This vegetable pizza is quicker and healthier than delivery!

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Easy Whole Wheat Pizza Dough https://cookieandkate.com/easy-whole-wheat-pizza-dough/ https://cookieandkate.com/easy-whole-wheat-pizza-dough/#comments Mon, 05 Oct 2020 16:56:06 +0000 https://cookieandkate.com/?p=9272 How about pizza tonight? Homemade pizza nights should be fun and easy, and that’s where this pizza dough recipe comes into play. It’s ready in 15 minutes,…

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whole wheat pizza dough recipe

How about pizza tonight? Homemade pizza nights should be fun and easy, and that’s where this pizza dough recipe comes into play. It’s ready in 15 minutes, start to finish. That’s a lot faster than delivery!

This quick whole wheat pizza dough recipe yields a crust of medium thickness. It’s crisp across the bottom and a little chewy in the middle. It has a lovely, yeasty flavor with just a hint of whole wheat. I love this dough so much that I shared it in my cookbook, Love Real Food.

proofing yeast for pizza dough

This dough doesn’t have the elusive, stretchy, chewy, sourdough texture that I crave in authentic brick oven pizza. This homemade dough is fantastic, though. A few reasons to love this recipe:

  • It’s made from scratch with basic, wholesome ingredients.
  • You can make it in your food processor (or by hand).
  • This dough requires zero proofing time. You can make your pizzas right away.
  • The dough requires minimal effort—just a couple of kneads and a few rolls with a rolling pin.

Let’s make some pizzas!

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Pasta alla Norma https://cookieandkate.com/pasta-alla-norma-recipe/ https://cookieandkate.com/pasta-alla-norma-recipe/#comments Wed, 30 Sep 2020 17:19:10 +0000 https://cookieandkate.com/?p=37279 We’re going back to Sicily! Pasta alla Norma is a delicious Sicilian pasta dish with eggplant, marinara and basil. I’m excited to introduce you to this dish…

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pasta alla norma recipe

We’re going back to Sicily! Pasta alla Norma is a delicious Sicilian pasta dish with eggplant, marinara and basil. I’m excited to introduce you to this dish because it is a completely satisfying vegetarian dinner. If you enjoy eggplant Parmesan, you’re going to love pasta alla Norma. I’m craving a bowl as I type.

Most pasta alla Norma recipes are made with fried eggplant, but this recipe features roasted eggplant. Eggplant really absorbs oil like a sponge, so this lightens up the dish. Another plus? Roasting eggplant is easier and less messy.

I further lightened this classic recipe by using more eggplant and less pasta, so this dish won’t put you to sleep. It’s nice and saucy, just the way I like it.

pasta alla norma ingredients

I don’t speak Italian, so I first assumed that “norma” meant eggplant. Not the case! Norma is capitalized because she’s a lady. Or an opera, depending on how you look at it.

Here’s the backstory: Pasta alla Norma comes from Catania, a city on the eastern coast of Sicily. Catania is the hometown of Vincenzo Bellini, an Italian opera composer who lived in the early 1800s. One of Bellini’s most famous operas, Norma, is named after its lead character.

Folklore has it that playwright Nino Martoglio, after his first bite of this pasta dish, exclaimed, “Chista è ‘na vera Norma!” (“This is a true Norma!”) That’s quite a compliment.

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Easy Tomato Salad https://cookieandkate.com/easy-tomato-salad-recipe/ https://cookieandkate.com/easy-tomato-salad-recipe/#comments Mon, 31 Aug 2020 22:31:01 +0000 https://cookieandkate.com/?p=37061 We have a surplus of tomatoes this summer, and it’s glorious. I dreamed up this simple tomato salad recipe to make use of the excess. I simply…

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best tomato salad recipe

We have a surplus of tomatoes this summer, and it’s glorious. I dreamed up this simple tomato salad recipe to make use of the excess. I simply sliced ripe tomatoes into bite-sized pieces, then I added some crisp red onion, lots of fresh basil, and drizzled it all with olive oil and good balsamic vinegar.

The end result is so delicious! This salad really lets raw, peak-season tomatoes shine. The recipe is also quite versatile, so you’ll never tire of it. Try adding some cucumber, mozzarella, avocado, arugula or even peaches.

Serve this tomato salad as a fresh, healthy side salad to any summer meal. It’s best when it’s freshly made, so I recommend cutting the recipe in half if you’re not serving a crowd.

tomato salad ingredients

I grew heirloom tomatoes from seed for the first time this spring. It was a fun process that proved easier than expected. In fact, I underestimated how many of the seeds would sprout. I grew so many tomato plants that we filled our family’s three garden plots and passed along the extra to friends.

Strangely enough, our growing tomato plants have provided a sense of continuity and hope during a tumultuous year. I’ll do it all again next spring, but maybe leave some room for more peppers and cucumbers. Or maybe I need a bigger garden plot. I think I’m hooked!

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Colorful Veggie Sesame Noodles https://cookieandkate.com/veggie-sesame-noodles-recipe/ https://cookieandkate.com/veggie-sesame-noodles-recipe/#comments Mon, 10 Aug 2020 08:58:01 +0000 https://cookieandkate.com/?p=2210 These sesame noodles are colorful and completely irresistible! I’m always excited when I find sesame noodles amongst a plethora of dishes at a gathering. As a solo…

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sesame noodles salad recipe

These sesame noodles are colorful and completely irresistible! I’m always excited when I find sesame noodles amongst a plethora of dishes at a gathering. As a solo dish, I crave noodles with a little more color, perhaps, and more texture and flavor. Must be the “maximalist vegetarian” in me. Always more veggies!

This riff on sesame noodles is exactly what I’ve wished for. This recipe features tender noodles and green onions, of course. I replaced some of the noodles with tons of crisp raw veggies, plus I added tiny sesame seeds, toasted to bring out their best.

The bold but simple seasonings include soy sauce, sesame oil, fresh ginger and garlic, and a generous sprinkling of fresh cilantro (omit it if you don’t like it). I added some chili flakes for extra heat, which you can scale up or down to suit your preferences.

sesame noodle salad ingredients

From what I’ve read, sesame noodles likely originated in the Sichuan province of China (please let me know if you know more). These noodles are not authentic, but they are tasty. I can’t stop going back for more.

Bring these noodles to a gathering or serve them as a side dish. They are nice at room temperature or chilled. Or, turn this recipe into a light meal by adding shelled edamame, crispy baked tofu or a fried egg or two. This recipe keeps well for several days in the fridge, and packs well for lunch.

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Quick Chana Masala https://cookieandkate.com/quick-vegan-chana-masala/ https://cookieandkate.com/quick-vegan-chana-masala/#comments Wed, 18 Mar 2020 08:30:44 +0000 https://cookieandkate.com/?p=10636 Chana masala is one of my favorite menu items at Indian restaurants. It’s a hearty, saucy chickpea and tomato dish with warming spices. I bet you have…

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vegan chana masala recipe

Chana masala is one of my favorite menu items at Indian restaurants. It’s a hearty, saucy chickpea and tomato dish with warming spices. I bet you have the ingredients to make this easy homemade version in your pantry already!

I shared this recipe back in 2014, and wanted to revisit it as we’re all spending more time at home. I thoroughly enjoyed the fragrant 20 minutes I spent over the stove for this recipe.

chana masala ingredients

To make this chana masala, you’ll need onion, ginger, garlic, and several good-for-you spices, including coriander, cumin, and turmeric. Garam masala is the traditional spice blend for chana masala, but if you don’t have that on hand, you’ll find alternatives below.

I’d like to start cooking Indian recipes more often. Which one would you like to see next? For more pantry-friendly recipes, check my healthy pantry recipes roundup.

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