Cookie and Kate

20 Simple Vegetarian Dinners

March 18, 2019 90 Comments

This is a busy season, and I’m feeling energized by the warmer weather and longer days. Finally! I can’t wait for Kansas City to turn green again.

It seems like we could never have enough quick weeknight recipes, so I’m sharing a collection of my favorites today. These are warm and comforting, yet fresh and full of nutritious vegetables. They’re exactly what I’m craving right now.

If you appreciate this post, you might also want to bookmark my “easy weeknight dinners” category, which I update with recipes as they are published. For all of my vegetarian dinner recipes, simply click here or click on the “dinner” link in the menu bar. Don’t forget that my cookbook has many more delicious weeknight dinners, big salads, and more.

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Quick Collard Greens

March 15, 2019 18 Comments

I’m having a moment with cooked greens. I know, this is thrilling news, right? I’ve put cooked kale in my mashed potatoes, and now I’m sautéing collard greens for every dinner.

These collards are a little garlicky, a little lemony, and seriously irresistible. They’re the perfect quick and healthy side dish, and they’re exactly what I’m craving as we get a taste of spring weather.

You might associate collard greens with West African cuisine (I put collards in my peanut soup). Maybe you have tried Southern collard greens, which are slow-cooked with bacon or the like. Southern-style collard greens were inherited from Africa, and so were Brazilian collard greens, called “couve à mineira.”

I cooked these collards greens in the Brazilian style—quickly in hot oil, with some garlic and chili flakes. In Brazil, these collards frequently accompany the national dish, called “feijoada,” which is a rich black bean stew cooked with pork, and rice on the side. If you’re vegetarian or vegan, take note that these collard greens would go great with black beans and rice.

Now that our brief history lesson is complete, want to learn how to make this delicious side dish?

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Kale Colcannon

March 12, 2019 24 Comments

If you’re like me, you might think of mashed potatoes as holiday-only food. And if you’re like me, you might often wish for more holidays that call for mashed potatoes.

Today, I’m happy to introduce you to one more excuse to eat mashed potatoes. Meet colcannon! Colcannon is Irish mashed potatoes with kale or cabbage.

So, in case you need more justification to pull out your potato masher—these mashed potatoes have vegetables in them.

Did you know that St. Patrick’s Day is coming right up? Let’s make some colcannon!

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Blood Orange & Avocado Salad

March 6, 2019 41 Comments

It’s still way too cold outside! The days are getting longer, though, and juicy, in-season citrus is brightening up my days. Spring will surely come soon. Right?

For now, we can enjoy this cheerful avocado and blood orange salad. You could call it a wintertime version of my favorite avocado salad. It’s bold and bright, and almost looks more like abstract art than food. That is, until you take a bite, and fall in love.

This salad requires some careful slicing and attention to detail. As long as you’re not in a hurry, it’s a really fun dinnertime project and would make a statement at a party.

This salad comes from a relatively new cookbook called Dining In by Alison Roman, which I’ve been reaching for a lot lately when I need a burst of inspiration. I don’t know Alison, but I think she’s cool. She works for The New York Times and Bon Appetit; she’s from California but lives in New York. She’s way cooler than I will ever be.

I really enjoyed her kale salad made with roasted and raw kale, and I can’t wait until summer to try more of the fruit salads in her sweet-and-savory fruit salads chapter (!). I loved her citrus and avocado salad so much that I wanted to share it with you, with some ideas to change it up.

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What to Cook This March

March 1, 2019 80 Comments

Can you believe it? We made it to March. Asparagus is on its way and we’ll finally have more fresh fruits and vegetables to work with this month. You can browse in-season recipes below.

Instead of my usual monthly link roundup, I want to tell you about a book that’s very special to me. We lost a bright light when my friend Kirsten Farnsworth passed away last spring. She was lovely and incredible and lived with cancer for six years.

In her last months, she wrote a book about her experience called Incurable. The first printed copy arrived in her hands two hours before she passed. It’s not an easy read, but it is heartfelt and raw, tragic, funny, relatable and important.

I can’t find the words to express Kirsten’s exceptional strength and grace, but I hope that her book offers you a chance to know her. Her husband, Dan, published the book on Amazon, and it’s available here. ♥

Asparagus

Thai Green Curry with Spring Vegetables

Easily gluten free and vegan

“I made this for dinner tonight and it was the best green curry I have ever had, better than our favorite restaurant where we get it. So thankful I found this recipe so I can make it at home. Thanks so much for sharing, it was absolutely delicious!!!” – Ashley

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Veggie Breakfast Sandwich

February 27, 2019 68 Comments

And we’re back, with another back-pocket recipe! These veggie “breakfast” sandwiches are a nice, simple meal for any time of day. Can we ever have enough of those recipes? I think not.

Most breakfast sandwiches are rich and heavy, with lots of butter, cheese and bacon. This meatless breakfast sandwich is on the more healthy side. It features a modest amount of melted cheese and some fresh veggies to balance it out.

This egg cooking technique is so quick, your egg will be ready by the time your muffin pops out of the toaster. Feel free to add any crisp, raw vegetables in your drawer.

I’m a big fan of the onion and hot sauce components, which are bold on their own but balance out the richness of the eggs and cheese. Feta, raw spinach and roasted red pepper would be a nice alternative combo. You also can’t go wrong with goat cheese when eggs are involved.

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