My name is Mary. I love cooking healthy food for family & friends, making specialty coffee, wine tasting, finding great beauty products, traveling, and organizing everything. I document it all here! xo
One pan dishes are my FAVORITE…especially ones you can prep ahead of time and then just pop in the oven whenever you’re ready to eat. This vegan and gluten-free lasagna is healthy and satisfying dish, layered with a lentil-mushroom sauce, herbed tofu ricotta and dolloped with walnut pesto.
These mediterranean stuffed sweet potatoes make the perfect healthy weeknight dinner. The sweet potatoes are cut in half and roasted face down, slightly caramelizing the flesh. The mediterranean salad is basically a lentil-based tabbouleh with refreshing mint and parsley, lemon, tomatoes, spring onions, dates and spices. All topped off with roasted walnuts, to add some crunch, and a drizzle of runny tahini.
This vegan and gluten-free sheet cake is pure decadence. Sweetened with dates and topped with a rich chocolate frosting made up of more dates, coconut yogurt, oat milk, cocoa powder, vanilla and coconut oil.
This winter citrus salad is made up of vibrant grapefruit, tangerines, navel and blood oranges. A refreshing dish bursting with a medley of flavors—perfect to brighten up a gloomy day or embrace the approaching spring season. The avocado cuts the acidity from the citrus while the dates add a touch of sweetness; the walnuts give it a nice crunch. If you want to be decadent (and you should) I recommend topping it all off with a drizzle of good honey.
I was scouring the interwebs for a simple gluten and dairy-free chocolate chip cookie recipe…however, although the chocolate chip cookie is by far the most popular cookie, there aren’t many recipes out there in this category. With good reason I’m sure, as it took me a few tries to get the concoction just right. I used chunks of bittersweet chocolate rather than chips for a more dramatic effect. I wanted the chocolate to ooze out of the cookie rather than nestle neatly in its place . It’s also easier to find high-quality baking chocolate in bar form.
I’ve been making this avocado smash as an accoutrements to most meals I cook as of late. It’s tasty piled on top of toast or a plate of veggies, sandwiched between two pieces of [gluten-free] bread or scooped on top of a salad. It takes less than five minutes to whip up and keeps you satisfied.
We had our friend Jack over for dinner the other night, and this cake was such a hit, we all had seconds (excluding the pieces we had earlier that day when recipe testing). This blood orange upside down cake is one of my favorite recipes of the year—yes it’s only February, but still, I’m really excited about it. You can throw it all together in about 15 minutes, plus baking and cooling time. The color of the blood oranges is festive enough to make for your sweetie on Valentine’s Day (perhaps a romantic date night in to beat the restaurant crowd)…but you never really need a reason to bake a cake, do yah?
This curried chickpea salad has been my go-to lunch as of late. I like to spoon it on top of an avocado half or eat it with sliced cherry tomatoes (they still have great tomatoes at the market here in London). It would also be delicious in a sandwich with some micro-greens, or stuffed inside pita bread (I just haven’t found any gluten-free versions yet). It takes no longer than five minutes to throw together and is a healthy alternative to the traditional mayo-laden comfort food. For at least 20 years I’ve abstained from any sort of creamy, chilled salad—I dislike mayonnaise with a passion. However, time and distance has allowed me to revisit the concept of a cold-salad sandwich, and create a modern take on it.
It’s been so cold here in Los Angeles the past couple weeks, although nothing compared to most places experiencing winter, I’m sure. Alas, we are wimps in southern California and anything below 60 F is pretty much considered FREEZING. This easy homemade tomato soup will warm you up wherever you are, takes less than 10 minutes to prepare and is packed with bright, refreshing flavors from the vibrant tomatoes and sherry vinegar. For those of us trying to detox from the holidays, it’s a healthy and satisfying dinner or lunch option too.
I’ve been meaning to post this itinerary for about a year now, since Joshua and I took a trip to South America for my best friend’s wedding, but with some distance, I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting the experience through photos and personal notes. With it’s dramatic landscape, narrow cobblestone streets, brightly-clad-llama-toting women, and proximity to Machu Picchu, the Ancient Incan capital of Cuzco (also spelled Cusco) is a once in a lifetime, perhaps more if you’re lucky, destination that appears on many bucket lists. There are endless day trips, adventures and experiences to be had—here are my top 10.
These grain-free tahini cookies are the perfect holiday treat, spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamon and topped with sea salt, crushed pistachios and dried rose petals. The cookies are delicately sweetened with maple syrup and have a savory note from the tahini and sea salt flakes. They take about ten minutes to throw together and you can swap out the toppings for anything you like—sesame seeds, pecans or dried cranberries.
This cozy, vibrant dish is easy to put together and packed with layers of flavor from the rich tomato sauce to the zesty parsley oil. I stumbled across this recipe for Greek baked beans in tomato sauce a couple months ago from one of my favorite food blogs, Bojon Gourmet. Since then, I’ve been making them every week. This dish is perfect for a dinner party as you can prepare everything ahead of time. Serve the Greek baked beans alongside a light salad and crusty sourdough.
I’ve been making a variation of this recipe, from one of my favorite food blogs, Feasting at Home, for a couple years now as a meat-free alternative for Thanksgiving. I finally got around to writing the down recipe as a few people have asked me for it. This time, I made a gluten-free and vegan skillet cornbread rather than a store-bought GF baguette and it was sooo delicious! It does add an extra step to this recipe, but I enjoy spending time in the kitchen with family and friends especially on a day practically devoted to cooking and feasting.
This cornbread is fluffy and moist, with crispy edges and a warm and savory taste. It takes about five minutes to prepare and the rest of the magic happens in the oven. I made it for a vegetarian stuffing and figured I just had to share the recipe. It’s the perfect gluten-free and vegan accompaniment to a holiday feast, warm soup, a hearty salad, chili—or a flavorful alternative to bread for your holiday stuffing.
I’m not a big meal planner per se—I like going to the farmer’s market with an open-mind, talking to the vendors about what’s good and finding new or different ingredients to cook with. Some of my best dishes were created without any recipes, just intuitive cooking. Friends and family ask what I cook during the week or when I’m not documenting my recipes, so I thought I’d share! Here’s what I bought at the market this week and how I plan to use the ingredients.
Delicately sweet, warm cinnamon and apples wrapped up in a savory crust with flakes of sea salt. Sometimes you just need a little something to warm the heart. This 10-ingredient vegan and gluten-free apple galette is easy to prepare and will permeate your house with the scent of fall.
Prague is a picturesque city centered on either side of the Vltava River. Its charming cobblestone streets and cozy vibe make it the perfect place to explore by foot. Ideally you will have more than two days in this romantic city, but any time spent here will leave you wishing you had more.
This butternut squash mac and cheese recipe is cozy, comforting, rich, “cheesy” and healthy-ish?? Well, it is filled with tons of disguised veggies blended together into deliciousness. The breaded top adds a nice crunchy texture that is oh-so-yummy when combined with the creaminess of the mac n' cheese. I have been waiting for fall just so I could share this recipe with you, and am so excited for you to try it!
