Who knew that cabbage soup could be this good?! This bright and light recipe is a lovely spin on classic vegetable soup. If you’re trying to get back to healthy eating after the holidays, this warming cabbage soup is an inexpensive wintertime alternative to leafy green salads.

Cabbage soup may have originated in Eastern Europe, but this recipe offers simple Italian flavors. It starts with carrots, onion and celery cooked in a generous drizzle of olive oil. Once those are tender, we’ll add fresh garlic and dried oregano, followed by chopped green cabbage.

You can use an entire small head of cabbage in this soup; it shrinks as it sweats excess moisture and becomes silky soft as it simmers. Crushed tomatoes and lemon juice add welcome acidity, bringing this simple soup to life!

The post Cabbage Vegetable Soup appeared first on Cookie and Kate.

This Mediterranean bean salad is one of my all-time favorite salads and sides. Bold claim, I know, but I can back it up. I’ve been loving this recipe for ten years running now!

This salad is crisp and satisfying, fresh and full of bright Mediterranean flavors. The recipe features hearty kidney beans and chickpeas, which balance crisp cucumber, celery and red onion. The remaining simple ingredients—lemon and olive oil, garlic and lots of fresh leafy herbs—yield truly irresistible results.

This Mediterranean-style salad is perfect for spring picnics, summer potlucks and cozy fall get-togethers. It’s a crowd-pleasing salad or side dish that suits most special diets, too. The recipe is vegetarian, vegan and gluten free.

With how quickly this salad comes together, it’s an easy addition to your weekend menu! It’s a simple chop, whisk and stir situation that’s ready in about 20 minutes. I hope this dish becomes one of your standby recipes, too.

The post Mediterranean Bean Salad appeared first on Cookie and Kate.

Have you met my all-time favorite chickpea salad recipe? Sure, I have many beloved chickpea salads on the blog already, but this is my tried-and-true favorite from my cookbook, Love Real Food. In the book, I called it the “Outrageous Herbaceous Chickpea Salad,” which is exactly right!

“Here’s a simple chickpea salad that I could eat every single day. It’s bursting with fresh Mediterranean flavors, thanks to chopped bell pepper, parsley, red onion, and celery. Lemon and garlic take it from tasty to transcendent. This salad packs well, so it’s perfect for potlucks and picnics. It’s also a great lunch option, so long as your serving is large enough…”

I love this recipe as much today as I did when I created the recipe several years ago. In fact, I stand behind all of the cookbook recipes, and it makes me so happy to hear that you’re cooking from the book!

I’m truly a healthier eater when I have this salad in the fridge. It’s the perfect hearty side salad or mid-afternoon snack. Pile it onto a bed of greens, or cooked whole grains like farro or quinoa, or even onto your scrambled eggs or cheese nachos. You can’t go wrong with this one.

The post Favorite Chickpea Salad appeared first on Cookie and Kate.

Make this Southwestern corn chowder for a cozy dinner at home! This vegetarian corn chowder recipe is fresh, wholesome and delicious. It’s perfect for cool late summer or fall evenings when fresh corn is at its peak. Or, you can make it any time with frozen corn.

I wanted the corn flavor to shine and balanced its sweetness with some Southwestern spice. You’ll find bell pepper, poblano and chili powder in this atypical chowder. I promise you will not miss the bacon.

I purposefully avoided using the heavy cream that you’ll find in most chowder recipes. Heavy cream has a tendency to dull flavors and also makes me feel weighed down. Instead, I blended a bit of butter into the soup (one of my favorite soup tricks) and stirred in some crème fraîche or sour cream at the end. These dairy ingredients offer some creaminess, of course, plus some tanginess that you won’t get from plain cream.

You can easily make this soup dairy free or vegan, if desired. You’ll love the end results either way!

The post Southwestern Corn Chowder appeared first on Cookie and Kate.

Let’s make homemade caponata! This classic Sicilian appetizer or side dish is perfect for late summer meals. This recipe combines roasted (not fried) eggplant with sautéed bell pepper, celery, tomatoes, olives and capers. Red wine vinegar and honey make it irresistibly tangy and sweet. If you generally enjoy these bold flavors, you’re going to love caponata.

Since international travel is largely off the table, I’ve been traveling vicariously through my food. This caponata is the perfect example. I’ve yet to make my way to Sicily to sample authentic caponata, but learning to make this dish has deepened my desire to explore the island. Mark my words, I’ll get there someday.

Caponata recipes vary from region to region and household to household. This recipe is where I landed. I took some cooking cues from my ratatouille recipe, which also features roasted eggplant stirred into a simmering tomato sauce. Caponata’s flavors are even deeper and more complex largely due to the intense agrodolce factor, or the interplay between sweet (honey and raisins) and sour (vinegar and capers).

I can’t claim this recipe is entirely authentic, but I hope it offers you a little taste of Sicily.

The post Caponata appeared first on Cookie and Kate.

Some of my recipes start off with a strong concept or challenge, while others are designed to satisfy a craving. This lentil salad falls into the latter camp. It’s exactly what I’ve been craving lately.

This salad is tangy, crisp-tender, a little spicy, and quite satisfying. The earthy lentils and carrots ground the more bold flavors, so they’re not too overwhelming.

Dill, tahini and pepperoncini peppers aren’t everyone’s favorite ingredients, I know. I love them—the more, the better. If you’re not a fan, you’ll find some options to change up the recipe in the notes.

Better yet, try my classic lentil salad, Greek lentil salad with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes, or my lemony lentil and chickpea salad with mint. Those are all safer bets!

The post Tangy Lentil Salad with Dill & Pepperoncini appeared first on Cookie and Kate.

You know how most vegetable soups are pretty tired and “blah”? Not this one! This hearty homemade vegetable soup is full of fresh, wholesome flavors.

I’m excited to share this vegetable soup recipe with you. It’s honestly the best I’ve ever had, and I hope you’ll agree. You just might have all the ingredients you’ll need to make this easy soup on hand already.

I can think of so many reasons to make this soup. Warm up with a big bowl of veggie soup on a cold day. Make it for someone who’s under the weather. My husband has a cold and it’s snowing outside as I type, so this soup is just what we need right now.

Prepare a batch and you’ll have a healthy side dish ready to go for the rest of the week. This soup is a great way to lighten up heavier meals, especially as we get into the holidays. Did I mention that it’s vegetarian, vegan and gluten free for all to enjoy?

The post Seriously Good Vegetable Soup appeared first on Cookie and Kate.

I never truly loved a potato salad, until I made this one. This potato salad recipe is a riff on classic French potato salads, which contain no mayo and lots of herbs. I opted for lemon juice instead of vinegar for a super fresh-tasting salad. Chopped celery offers some welcome crunch. 

Unlike standard potato salads that are drenched in mayonnaise, this salad is lightly creamy yet miraculously mayo-free. It calls for red potatoes instead of Yukon Golds or russet potatoes, which hold their shape and absorb flavors well.

This potato salad recipe is special diet friendly, too. It’s vegan, egg-free, dairy-free and gluten-free for all to enjoy. Can I go ahead and call it the perfect potluck potato salad?

This recipe is surprisingly quick and simple to make. I hope this potato salad becomes your go-to potluck recipe, as well as a standard side dish at your dinner table. It goes great with burgers, sandwiches, and much more.

The post Herbed Potato Salad (no mayo!) appeared first on Cookie and Kate.

Here’s my meatless version of classic chicken noodle soup, made with chickpeas instead of chicken! This soup is exactly what I want to eat when I’m feeling under the weather or craving some familiar, comfort food flavors.

It seems like everyone has caught at least one cold this winter season, me included. As a longtime vegetarian, I haven’t eaten chicken noodle soup in years.

Every time I get sick, I wonder why I don’t have a restorative soup recipe, but don’t have the energy to figure it out. Eventually, I get well again and move on to more exciting meals. So it goes.

We finally broke the cycle and I’m excited to share this recipe with you today. It’s the perfect meal to bring to your friend who isn’t feeling well, and it’s simple enough to pull together if you’re not feeling well yourself.

The post Chickpea Noodle Soup appeared first on Cookie and Kate.

Meet my favorite black bean soup! It takes advantage of canned black beans and comes together quickly. Yet the soup tastes remarkably fresh thanks to the carrots, celery and garlic.

Cumin and a little bit of sherry vinegar (or lime juice) add a Cuban flair that takes it over the top. This lightly creamy black bean soup is packed with flavor.

This homemade soup is a million times better than the store-bought variety. Read the comments if you don’t believe me just yet!

The post Spicy Black Bean Soup appeared first on Cookie and Kate.