I love waffles because they feel super fancy but really can be prepared at a moment’s notice with ingredients you already have stored in your pantry. I came up with these pumpkin waffles while eyeing a leftover can of pumpkin puree from Thanksgiving. The pumpkin adds a nice natural sweetness to the waffles and reminds me of the holiday spirit every time I make them.

These nearly paleo waffles are super easy to make. I blend all of the wet ingredients in my KitchenAid® Pro Line® Series Blender – the pumpkin, banana, eggs, almond milk, etc – to create a silky smooth base for the batter. Then I add my dry ingredients and blend on low until just combined. The blender allows for an easy no mess situation when pouring into the waffle pan. If you don’t have a waffle pan, no worries, this batter works great as pancakes too.

Feel free to drop a few dark chocolate chips into the batter for an extra special morning. I like to top the pancakes with sliced banana, toasted coconut flakes, and of course, some delicious maple syrup. Enjoy with your favorite chai latte or coffee 🙂

My matcha latte has become a daily ritual. I have an entire bin dedicated to the process, but most days I keep it super simple: matcha, steamed milk, coconut butter, cinnamon, and one of my favorite adaptogens: mucuna pruriens. I’ll often have an afternoon latte or evening tonic and today I’m sharing a few of my favorites – one with turmeric, one with blue majik, and one with gojis.

They are all spiked with adaptogens for maximum benefits. Adaptogens have infiltrated into mainstream consciousness recently – here’s a little 101 if you are curious why people are spiking their drinks. Adaptogens encompass a wide range of plants, herbs, and roots, many of which have been used as healing foods for thousands of years in traditional cultures. They essentially help you “adapt” to every day life and stressors. They can be incredibly powerful and help you build resilience and strengthen your body. Start slow, use cautiously, and make sure you are purchasing from trusted providers. Adaptogens work best taken in small doses over time – no quick fix here!

I hope you try out these delicious adaptogenic lattes all designed with a certain benefit in mind – the matcha latte for energy and detox power, the golden latte for immunity, the goji latte for it’s antioxidant beauty boosting power and the blue majik latte for it’s stress-reliving magic. Feel free to play around in the kitchen and come up with your own creations!

Every Sunday I head to the farmer’s market or the grocery store to stock up on lots of fruit and veg for the week. For me, it’s less about the meal prep and more about stocking my fridge with versatile vegetables that I know I can use to whip up dinner at a moment’s notice. This recipe shows the ingredients used two ways – one tossed together into a fall harvest salad and one way presented as a macro-style bowl. Picking up five or so veggies each week allows you to make a ton of different dishes. No endless repeats or boring leftovers of the same meal during the week! The stars this week were a bunch of carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, a couple heads of kale, and zucchini.

The best part of stocking my fridge up is knowing that my fresh vegetables are actually going to stay fresh all week long. I admit there have definitely been times in the past where I’ve come home to a head of kale only to find it wilted, or another vegetable past it’s prime. Best case scenario it ends up in the compost, and worst case – which kills me – it ends up in the trash. My solution is storing (and saving) veggies in the FreshWorks Produce Savers to help extend their shelf life. I transfer them directly to the containers, without washing or prepping, so they stay fresh as long as possible.

Beyond this beautiful roasted vegetable salad, you can assemble the bowl macro-style with roasted or steamed vegetables and drizzled with this dressing (turmeric tahini and miso-ginger would also be delicious). Other ideas with these versatile ingredients: make the curry-cauli bowl from my cookbook, try a cauli-rice stir fry, roasted carrots, or roasted cauliflower pasta.

GIVEAWAY – I did a giveaway of these life-extending FreshWorks Produce Savers in May and they were a huge hit. The giveaway includes 3 different size containers to store all different shapes and sizes of produce from kale to cauliflower. They are designed to keep your fruits + veggies fresh up to 80% longer*, which can mean up to two weeks! To enter, comment and let me know what your favorite veg-heavy side dish is during the holiday season 🙂

*Based on strawberries in FreshWorks containers vs. store packaging. Results may vary depending upon produce and use.

This is a healthy take on one of my favorite takeout dishes of all-time: pad see ew. Originally inspired by this recipe, I’ve added more greens, swapped out chicken for organic sprouted tofu, and added a gluten free tamari sauce. This is a such a versatile sauce, which makes it one of my go-tos. It’s great stir-fried with tofu and veggies served over rice or for marinating tofu (or any protein) before roasting. 

Fall rolls around and the pace of life suddenly picks right up again, which can mean less and less time dedicated to dinner. I’m constantly thinking about next to effortless dinners that still feel a bit special and elegant. My friend Athena recently sent me a copy of her cookbook, and she really hits the nail on the head with this. There are so many thoughtful dishes that are elegant in their simplicity but elevated with bright herbs, citrus, and tangy dressings.

I’m choosing to share my version of two of the toasts in Cook Beautiful, mostly because in the fall, toast can easily become a vessel for me at breakfast, lunch, or dinner. There are endless variations on these recipes – use the leftover ricotta for toasts topped with roasted mushrooms or poached eggs – or top the ricotta with jam if you’re out of grapes – stir into pastas and more. A note for the radicchio toasts: radicchio can be rather bitter so if bitter is not your thing, you could use milder endive, or watercress and some sprouts.

I’m looking forward to carrying this beautiful yet effortless cooking into each season to come (just as the cookbook is organized; by season) and cooking my way through the book. I have plenty already bookmarked like her creamy cauliflower soup with dukkah and watercress pesto, slow-roasted arctic char, and tons of the veggie dishes like delicata squash agrodolce, roasted cauliflower with lemon zest, parsley, capers, and jalapeno, and charred broccolini with green relish and feta. Congratulations to Athena, I know she will make a lot of happy home cooks!

PS since we are on the topic of all things toasts, my absolute favorite GF breads are the country loaf from Kim and Jake’s, everything Vegan Mario, and Honey Hi’s sourdough.