Have you ever tried a new product and were just like 'HOW DID I LOVE WITHOUT THAT?!' Because that is totally how I feel about RightRice! I stumbled upon this product back in late February and immediately bought a few bags to try at home. It comes in 4 flavors - original, spanish, lemon pepper and (my favorite) garlic herb - and is made up of 90% vegetables. Unlike most rice and rice wannabe's, this product is made from simple, lower carb ingredients like vegetables and legumes, but keeps the same texture and flavor as traditional rice. It's got a way better, more consistent texture than a product like cauliflower rice, but is just as good for you! Plus it pack 10 g of protein and 5 g of fiber PER SERVING. Hi - give me more of that​, please! Even better? It's available at Whole Foods - and you know ​I love shopping at WF! 

When I brought it home for the official taste test my picky husband was stunned - even he loved it! We've had it served up a bunch of different ways at this point, but one of my favorites is this simple, 1-pot Miso Veggie Rice Soup! It comes together quickly and is super satisfying - the perfect sick day food. We also used hearty miso broth from our fave brand, Nona Lim, but you can definitely use your own broth here, is you prefer. I bet chicken broth would be really great, too! Oh and did I mention this all goes along with a BIG, FUN GIVEAWAY!? Yup. Keep scrolling for recipe + giveaway deets!

Before we break down the recipe, I wanted to take one quick moment and tell you about the giveaway happening over on the RightRice + Nona Lim IG pages today! They're teaming up to giveaway a Variety Pack of RightRice and Vegan Soup Sampler from Nona Lim to winners on each of their accounts, an entry is easy, but you've gotta enter to win, right? ☺️Just click the links above to get those entries in and them c'mon back so we can get some soup started and you can be eating by lunch time!

1-Pot Miso Veggie Rice Soup

Ingredients:
-1 tablespoon coconut oil
-1 medium onion, dices
-4 carrots, thinly sliced
-4 celery stalks, thinly sliced
-4 cups (32 oz) Nona Lim Miso Ramen Broth (or broth of choice!)
-4 cups (32 oz) water
-1 package of Garlic Herb Right Rice
-1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
​
Directions:
In a large soup pot over medium heat, melt your coconut oil. Add the chopped onions, carrots + celery and sauté until softened, about 8-10 minutes.

Pour in the Nona Lim Miso Broth and water into the bot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, pour in the Garlic Herb Right Rice, remove the pot from heat, and let sit for 10 minutes. Right Rice will expand and cook on it’s own in the broth.

When the timer dings, serve + enjoy! Leftovers can be saved in the fridge, but because of the rice absorbing the liquid it is best eaten fresh and hot. Serve with crackers and make for all your sick friends and family - they will thank you!

​Serves 4-6.

Easy peasy, right? Perfect for lunches, a quick dinner in or a sick day meal! Leftovers reheat easily - but won't last long so enjoy it while it's hot and fresh for the best flavor! Now - who's ready to WIN some RightRice + Nona Lim? I AM! Clicking over to enter now. BUT FIRST! Print out the recipe above and let me know what you think about the dish in the comments below. Enjoy, babes!

Whether you’re sick with a fever or a broken heart, this soup is the answer. We replaced the chicken in this classic comfort food with chickpeas to give you the protein you need to help recover when you’re feeling sick, and the broth filled with fresh thyme and garlic will smell so good your sinuses will want to clear up all on their own! If you’re still heartbroken, a little ice cream probably wouldn’t hurt, either! This recipe is straight from my new cookbook, The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook! (Which, by the way, is 45% OFF today for Cyber Monday! 🙌) It made a sneak appearance in my last cookbook too - it's THAT good, guys. This soup is single-handedly the most requested sick-day recipe in our home, and it's the one dish I always make for friends and family when they need a little pick-me-up, too. 

It whips up easily and tastes so much like the real thing - with no chicken at all! Still packed with protein from the chickpeas and tons of flavor from all the fresh herbs, this soup is a serious crowd-pleaser. Scroll down and let's eat!

'Tis the season of potato salad! Seriously, I've made more cole slaw and potato salads this month than I think I ever have...which is fine with me! We've had a lot of BBQ's, backyard parties, and things to celebrate this summer so we've been loving experimenting with different ingredients, and until last week, I had never thought to toss tahini in my the mix. I know - WHAT?! I LOVE pouring tahini on all things potato normally, and literally make a snack out of baked potatoes with tahini, lemon and dill on the regular. So how had I never poured any in my potato salad and served it up? Well, it was love at first taste. The addition of crunchy veggies and a little vegan mayo for creaminess makes it next-level good. I've been eating the leftovers all week! You AND your dinner guests will love it, too, I promise. So what're we waiting for?! Let's eat! 

INGREDIENTS
2 lbs. red potatoes, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped 
3 ribs of celery, thinly sliced
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup vegan mayo
1 cup tahini
2-4 tablespoons of lemon juice
3 tablespoons freshly chopped dill
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

DIRECTIONS
​Place the potatoes in a large pot of water over medium heat and bring to a boil. Cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain and set aside to cool.

While the potatoes are cooling, chop up the onions and celery and them set aside.

Whisk together the mayo, tahini, lemon juice, dill, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl. Toss in the potatoes, chopped red + green onions and celery, and toss to combine. 

Serve + enjoy immediately or keep it in the fridge up to a week!

NOTES
Serve 6-8.

Leftovers may need to be tossed as the lemon juice and tahini will separate slightly overtime. 

For years, the only stuffing I'd ever eaten was the weird, kinda mushy, from-a-box version that only came out at our place on Thanksgiving and Easter. And it was okay, but I had no idea what I was missing. I don't remember the first time I had a crusty, moist homemade stuffing, but it changed my mind forever. Once you've had the real thing, you just can't go back. This year I'm tackling stuffing and officially making it my favorite side dish. It tastes great smothered in mashed potatoes and sopping up gravy, and packs much more flavor than you'd imagine for such a quick + easy recipe. It's sweet and savory and looks lovely with all the color from the vegetables peeking out. The walnuts add just a touch of texture and earthy flavor, and the apples and cranberries balance everything out. Missing an ingredient? Sub in something else you love! This recipe is easy to make your own and tastes great just about anyway you serve it. Let's eat!

INGREDIENTS
8 cups stale sourdough bread, cut into 1-in. cubes
2 teaspoons coconut oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 medium red apple, cored and chopped
1/4 cup fresh cranberries
1/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons fresh sage, finely chopped
1 teaspoon each salt + pepper
2 cups vegetable broth 
​
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cube up your stale bread and set it aside in a large mixing bowl.

In a large cast iron skillet, melt the coconut oil over medium heat. Sauté the garlic, celery and onions until softened and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add apples and cranberries and continue to cook until apples soften, about 3-4 more minutes. Sprinkle in walnuts, sage, salt and pepper and toss to incorporate. 

Pour the vegetable mixture into the bowl with the cubed bread, and stir. Pour vegetable broth over the mixture, stirring to evenly coat all the bread with liquid. The bread will absorb most of the liquid, but there should be some left. 

Pour the entire stuffing mixture into a greased baking dish and bake for 30 minutes, until stuffing is becoming golden brown and making the kitchen smell delicious.  Pull it from the oven and serve immediately. Enjoy!

NOTES
To reheat, you can place the entire baking dish back into the oven covered in foil, removing the foil about halfway through cooking. Or if you have a microwave, feel free to use that. 

If you don't want to use sourdough bread you can substitute your stale bread of choice.

We're in the full swing of autumn and I'm taking every chance I get to make and eat soup. I love soups of all kinds, shapes, and sizes and will put just about anything into a pot with some vegetable broth. One of my favorite cozy fall soups right now is this super easy Roasted Butternut Squash + Apple Soup. It packs a ton of flavor into a ridiculously easy recipe, and is such a great way to throw some beta carotene-rich butternut squash into your diet! We like to use tart green apples, but you can use whatever apples you have on hand. We also like to blend the soup to an ultra velvety texture in our blender, but keeping some chunks in it is great if that's your style, too. It tastes great paired with naan or crusty bread and a sprinkle of toasted pepitas and nutmeg. Make a batch for dinner tonight or pour it into a thermos and take it for lunch at work all week long. Let's get cooking!

INGREDIENTS
1 teaspoon coconut oil
1 - 3 lb. butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 small yellow onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium carrots, sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 tart green apples (any apples work though), cored and chopped
4 cups vegetable broth or water
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
​pinch of nutmeg
toasted pepitas, garnish (optional)
sprinkle of nutmeg, garnish (optional)
 
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel and cut butternut squash into 1 inch cubes and place on the parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon coconut oil and a sprinkle of salt + pepper and bake for about 30 minutes, flipping halfway through. Set aside to cool. 

While squash roasts, heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil over medium heat in a large pot or dutch oven. Sauté onions and garlic about 5 minutes, until they because fragrant and softened. Toss in carrots and celery and sauté together with the garlic and onions another 2-3 minutes. Toss in apples, vegetable broth and spices and bring to a boil.

​Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove from heat, toss in roasted squash, and blend using an immersion blender or (for extra creamy soup) a high-speed blender. Blend in batches, if needed. Pour blended soup back into the pot and serve immediately with toasted pepitas and a sprinkle of nutmeg for garnish. Saves well in the fridge for about a week, and freezes indefinitely. Enjoy!

NOTES
Don't have butternut squash? Substitute any type of squash you like, or use sweet potatoes!

I love fall for the weather, changing colors (okay not so much now that I'm living in California), and delicious, sweet, pumpkin-y baked goods. Which is also the problem...a girl can only eat so many of those baked goods before your belly is like WHOA GIRL and you just need to eat something a little healthier, a little lighter. We're trying to balance our Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookie and Pumpkin Zucchini Bread intake with this savory, flavorful salad. It'll wake your tastebuds up and remind you that healthier dishes can taste pretty damn good, too! It's a great dish for detoxing the crap that has accumulated in your system all month and because quinoa is a complete protein, it'll keep you full longer than you'd expect. This salad has a great mix of sweet (golden berries, roasted butternut squash) and savory (celery, onions, parsley) that makes it a real crowd pleaser. We love using Essential Living Foods Golden Berries in this salad 'cause they keep their foods completely raw, organic, and full of superfood goodness...and they taste amazing! (We're huge fans, and you can check out their complete line of superfoods for yourself here.) It's perfect as a Thanksgiving side dish or a packed-lunch for the week, and we just know you're gonna love it so let's EAT!

INGREDIENTS
3 cups butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch cubes
2 cups water
1 cup rainbow (or really any kind) quinoa
1/3 cup celery, sliced thinly
1/3 cup red onions, diced
1/3 cup golden berries, roughly chopped
1/3 cup sliced almonds
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped 
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon champagne or apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Peel and cut butternut squash into 1/4 cubes and place on the parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt + pepper and bake about 30 minutes, flipping halfway through.

While squash bakes, place quinoa and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, then cover with a lid and cook until liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes.

​Prepare celery, red onions, golden berries, sliced almonds, and fresh parsley and place it into a large bowl. Set aside.

In another small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar, dijon, maple syrup, salt and pepper.

When squash and quinoa have finished cooking and cooled, pour the quinoa and roasted butternut squash into the large bowl of veggies and gently toss with a wooden spoon. Drizzle the vinaigrette mixture over the salad and toss again to combine. Serve immediately or save in the fridge up to 3 days in an airtight container. Serves 6-8. Enjoy!

NOTES
If you don't have/ don't like golden berries or almonds or any other ingredient, sub it out for something you LOVE! This salad is super customizable and you should totally take advantage of that based on your preferences and what you have in the pantry. 

If you love a big glass of green juice to start your day, then good for you! You're already on the right path to getting unrefined nutrients right to your system in one of the healthiest, easiest ways possible. For a lot of people though, green drank has a stigma for tasting like straight up soccer turf. And it doesn't have to! 
In the spirit of honesty, I've made some pretty disgusting green juices. Its all about balance here, people- and this drink has it! It'll make anyone who currently doesn't love green juice, LOVE GREEN JUICE! The apple and pear add some sweetness and the lemon gives it a great citrus kick that cancels out the bitterness of the kale. The celery is more a filler, and since its sweet, it aids in balancing out the sour of the lemon. Plus, celery is water-packed and hydrating, and a great way to sneak in some extra H2O. Not only will this juice nourish you and hydrate you, but it'll make your skin glow and help with digestion. A triple threat! Go get your juicer out, its time to get cozy with kale.

INGREDIENTS
1 small bunch of kale (about 1 packed cup)
1 apple
1 pear
2 lemons
4 celery stalks 

DIRECTIONS
Wash all the produce, then removes the cores from the apple and pear, remove the peel of the lemon, and trim the celery stalks. Run all your veggies through a high-powered juicer (or if you're REALLY fancy, a slow juicer- my dream!) and into a clean glass cup. Drink up! This recipe easily doubles or triples for sharing or making your juice a day ahead. Juice last up to 3 days in an airtight container in the fridge.

I'm big on comfort food. Growing up my favorite food was mashed potatoes with gravy, and I ate them as often as I could. Lucky for me, I grew up in a state where some counties took the month of September off from school to harvest potatoes! They were on the table 5 nights a week, and I just learned to love 'em. I try to eat more of a variety of a color palette now, but I still LOVE comfort foods. And this week, I've been feeling pretty under the weather. As a nanny, I get sick nearly every time the little ones do, no matter how much vitamin C I've consumed, and this week I went down hard. Some combination of tummy trouble/ chills/ sore throat + an awful cough had me down and all I wanted was a warm, creamy, cheesy bowl of soup to make me feel better. This soup is perfect. The carrots and celery add great flavor and the potatoes keep it creamy, and the addition of cayenne kicks it up just a bit. Just serve with fresh parsley, a bit of crusty bread, & a Netflix marathon and call it an afternoon.

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
3 small potatoes, cut into small cubes
2 heads broccoli florets with stems removed (about 4 cups), chopped
3 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon each salt & pepper
1 cup vegan cheese (we used Blode Kuh's White Cheddar, but any cheeze capable of melting should work here!)
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped 

DIRECTIONS
In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Sauté garlic with onions, celery, and carrots in a mirepoix until they begin to soften. Add potatoes and broccoli florets and sauté all together for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in vegetable broth, nutritional yeast, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper and cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender. Remove from heat, add the cheese, and blend with an immersion blender or in a regular blender in batches to desired creaminess. We like to leave some chunks! Stir in the freshly chopped parsley, then serve. Makes 6-8 servings, and lasts up to a week in the fridge. Freeze for long-term saving. Enjoy!

A good potato salad recipe can save you from any disaster. Potatoes are almost always on hand in this house, and Alex considers my potato salad the very best (or so he tells me). Its been a solid 75 degrees most days since we've arrived, and its got me feeling like its mid-July. I whip up a batch of this potato salad anytime I'm feeling like eating something summery. Barbeques (veg-g-q's?), picnics, poolside- this is my go to snack. It'll fill you with some good stuff, and its cheap enough to make and share with a group. I usually use Veganaise brand vegan mayo, but we've made it before with both homemade vegan mayo (coming soon!) and the Trader Joe's brand, and both work fine. Add extra veggies if you like, or throw in a bit of smoked paprika, I guarantee it'll come out perfectly delicious everytime. 

Ingredients:
6-8 medium sized red potatoes
1 teaspoon salt, for boiling
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 1/2 cups vegan mayo
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon garlic salt
2 teaspoons dried dill
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:
First, scrub those potatoes clean. Bring whole potatoes and 1 teaspoon of salt to a boil in a large soup pot for 20-30 minutes, until skins begin to crack and a fork in easily inserted. Try not to overcook the potatoes or they'll get crazy mushy. (You know they're overdone when the skins peel completely away from the flesh.) Once they're done, take them off the stove, drain the water out, and let them cool either on the counter or, preferably, in the fridge until cool. The colder the potatoes, the better the recipe will turn out (things are less likely to get mushy when mixed if they're cold), so if you have time to refrigerate the cooked potatoes overnight, do it. 
While the potatoes cool, chop the celery and green onions, and set 'em aside. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the mayo, vinegar, lemon juice, and spices. Toss in the celery and onions, and toss to combine. 
When the potatoes have cooled, cut them into 1 inch chunks and toss them in a large mixing bowl. Add in the veggie-filled dressing, and gently toss to combine. Serve with a sprinkle of green onions or coconut bacon. Makes a bunch (you know, 6-8 potatoes worth), and saves well covered in the fridge for about a week. Enjoy!