I received the final, printed version of the book last week, and friends: It. Is. GORGEOUS. Every recipe and the book as a whole are more wonderful than I dared to dream! I spent more than three years working on this book. I poured every ounce of my heart and soul into the recipes, writing, and photography shoots to make it perfect for you. These recipes are my BEST EVER, and they are exclusive to the cookbook!...
In addition to the season, chili has been big on my brain, as I spent most of this past weekend working on a new healthy chili recipe for my upcoming cookbook. After several test batches, a run to the store for additional storage containers, and subjecting Ben to multiple blind taste tests, I’ve had an ample amount of time to reflect on the qualities that take a chili from “good enough” to “gobble it up....
Even if you don’t consider yourself a green smoothie person, have disliked other kale smoothies you’ve tried, or are skeptical of anything green before 11 a.m. in general, you will be hard-pressed to resist this kale pineapple smoothie recipe. This healthy breakfast smoothie has dozens of glowing reviews.It’s cool, creamy, and absolutely delicious.It’s powerful! Start your morning with a glass, and you’ll feel oddly invincible the rest of the day....
A warm loaf of homemade bread is one of the greatest pleasures in life. From the smell, to the way the soft interior steams, to the way butter melts right into the surface, the utter satisfaction of enjoying something so primally simple but so profoundly satisfying is a moment of paradise. Best of all is the bread you bake yourself. It’s shockingly easy to do! I’ve been baking this particular rosemary olive oil bread recipe since my 20s....
Whenever I’m hitting a healthy dinner rut, Indian food is the genre that (quite literally) spices my life up once more. Recipes like this slow cooker chicken curry make me feel genuinely excited about what we are eating and proud of the flavors I can create. Richly flavored, high in protein and fiber, lusciously creamy, and super delicious, not only is this satisfying Indian chicken recipe healthy, but it is easy too!...
Now that I’ve seen the final book in print—and am, no joke, cooking from it every single week—I’m even more excited for you to have your copy. Remember that if you preorder the book before publication day (August 25th), I’ll email you an exclusive recipe bundle with extra recipes that went through the same rigorous testing process as the ones in the cookbook. These recipes aren’t in the book or on my blog....
Spatchcocking is a method of preparing a turkey by removing its backbone and spreading it flat for cooking. Also called “butterflying,” spatchcocking is a common preparation method for chicken, and it works fantastically for turkey too. Benefits of Spatchcocking While Classic Roast Turkey looks the most Norman Rockwell-esque on a platter, spatchcocking turkey has serious advantages over whole roast turkey. More Surface Area for Crispy Skin. Since the bird is laid flat, all of the skin is on the top, where it’s more directly exposed to heat, giving you more golden, crispy skin....
I went through a Major Smoothie Phase after college, stocking my refrigerator and pantry with all manners of pricey “super foods.” I thought that unless I made smoothies with exotic fruits, fancy bulk section buys, and dark-green powders with long names, my smoothies “didn’t count.” Ummm…where did I get this idea?! Whole fruits and vegetables like strawberries and spinach not only make for easy smoothies that taste fantastic, these smoothies are super healthy for you too!...
This may not come as a shock to you, but I am definitely one of the “next meal” people. And next snack. I even sometimes fall asleep at night thinking about what I’m having for breakfast the next day. When you have something as delicious as high-protein overnight oatmeal that tastes like a sugar cookie waiting for you in the refrigerator, it’s easy to do! About These Overnight Oats This high-protein oatmeal recipe is essentially classic overnight oats, with a few simple tweaks to make them extra high in protein, and, I must say, extra tasty too....
Actually, let’s make that giant hugs, Taco Casserole, and a pitcher of Skinny Margaritas. Let the fun begin! This Taco Casserole recipe takes the core ingredients of any classic taco plate—beans, cheese, tortillas, juicy ground turkey (my healthy swap for beef; chicken would work well too), and a yummy array of toppings—and transforms them into an easy-to-make, even easier-to-eat layered taco bake. It’s like a baked Mexican lasagna. Except…I didn’t bake it....
Anyone who feels healthy food can’t look beautiful clearly has never set eyes on a delicious Korean vegetarian bibimbap bowl (or Cabbage Stir Fry). Steamy, fluffy rice studded with tender-crisp veggies, fragrant sesame oil, and spicy Korean chili goodness, bibimbap is a layered masterpiece of color, flavor, and aroma. If you’re not familiar with bibimbap (which translates to “mixed rice”), it is a traditional Korean dish of hot rice served with an array of mixed veggies, chili pepper paste, and (sometimes) a fried egg....
We’re giving away five $25 VISA gift cards. It’s happening right now over on my Instagram. Anyone can enter! Visit my Instagram post here to enter and for giveaway details. We also have several special, limited-time offers for The Well Plated Cookbook happening right now! With more than 130 vibrant, delicious, feel-good recipes for every meal and every diet (the book isn’t diet specific but has plenty of vegetarian options and dishes can be easily tweaked to be gluten free too), a gorgeous photo for every recipe, and 320 pages (this book feels substantial in your hands), The Well Plated Cookbook makes a beautiful, useful gift for your family, friends, and of course, for you…....
Last week, as I was sneaking my fifth bite of Zucchini Brownies before 10 am (which would have felt slightly more excusable had I not enjoyed a duo of leftover Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler and Cherry Blackberry Crisp the night before), it occurred to me that shifting my baking energy into a healthy breakfast muffin might be a wise choice for the time being. These scrumptious zucchini carrot oatmeal muffins turned out to be one of my very favorite zucchini recipes to date....
One of the absolute best things about ordering any kind of vegetable fries is that it feels like cheating. You can tell your brain that you are eating something healthy (look mom, zucchini!), but I think we know what’s really going on here. In a restaurant, deep-fried vegetables of any kind, while ultra tasty, aren’t what my body habitually needs. Enter, baked zucchini fries. Whenever I set out to lighten up a traditionally indulgent recipe like fries, first and foremost I prioritize making sure the recipe tastes fantastic....
My sister—who is in the midst of some home projects that make ours look as invasive as reorganizing a coat closet—warned me that real life is “not HGTV.” I wasn’t entirely sure what she meant…until I was driving to an IKEA in a different state to pick up several missing parts of the shelving units that the store forgot to ship. Add the shelf snafu to our first round of curtains being too short (the right length is now back ordered until July), the guy installing our blinds leaving halfway through the job for another appointment (he still hasn’t been back), and the fact that the only concrete step we’ve taken towards repainting our kitchen cabinets is to narrow down the color options from 17 shades of “white” to 7, and you have a situation that is a far cry from the 48-hour flips as seen on HGTV....
I feel like I’ve been prepping my entire life to make the perfect baked stuffed peppers. Over the years, I’ve created a stuffed pepper recipe for every need and possible craving: We have our culturally-inspired stuffed peppers: Italian Stuffed Peppers with mozzarella cheese and Mexican Stuffed Peppers with black beans. (Ben would have me add Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Peppers to that list too.)We have our vegetarian stuffed peppers: Vegan Stuffed Peppers and Quinoa Stuffed Peppers....
Its “place” being on my plate, and “at the table” being my kitchen counter, where I devoured a sneaky slice before taking the rest over to a highly skeptical group of girlfriends who polished it off. If you’ve tried cauliflower crust pizza, you know that it’s not only “not bad”; it’s “exceptionally good.” Fans include the Pioneer Woman, my Italian-food-loving stepfather, and even Trader Joe’s, which makes a frozen version....
This slow cooker soup celebrates the Tex-Mex flavors that never fail to hit the spot (why, hello Mexican Chicken Casserole and Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas). Just like Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Soup, it stars juicy chicken breasts, filling beans, and a star line up of Mexican pantry spices, like chili powder and cumin. It is delish and worth every ounce of praise. And while I love chili spices with cooling avocado, in the aptly named chicken tortilla soup, it’s the tortilla that stars....
Chicken and dumplings is a rich, extra thick, and creamy chicken soup topped off with dumplings. The dumplings cook directly on top of the soup, absorbing some of the soup’s flavor in the process. They provide a dimension of satisfying texture. Think of soup dumplings like a next-level bowl of soup bread dunk. Chicken and dumplings are deeply comforting and (typically) not considered a light meal. Many recipes add processed shortcuts –– like adding canned “cream of” soup or making crockpot chicken and dumplings with Bisquick or Pillsbury –– leaving you with a dinner that doesn’t feel particularly wholesome....
Lean pork roast slow cooked with vegetables and apples in a sweet and savory maple balsamic sauce, this crock pot pork recipe is meat-and-potatoes comfort with a lighter seasonal touch. While we often think of the slow cooker first for tougher, fattier cuts of meat (like Slow Cooker Pulled Pork), it can also work famously with leaner cuts, including Crock Pot Pork Chops and today’s tender pork loin. Tuck some seasonal vegetables in with the meat—I opted for crockpot pork roast with potatoes and carrots, plus apples for good autumn measure—and you have an all-in-one, make-ahead dinner that can do so many things....
