This recipe was inspired by Chipotle’s tofu option called “sofritas.” Have you tried it? I often order it on my burrito bowl for some additional plant-based protein. It’s hearty, saucy and spicy, and makes the extra three-dollar charge for guacamole worthwhile.

I based this recipe directly on Chipotle’s ingredient list. Then, I played around with the amounts and the method until it tasted just right. Honestly, I like this version even better! It tastes fresh, flavorful and nicely spiced. Sometimes Chipotle’s sofritas are so spicy that they overwhelm the other flavors in my bowl.

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Brighten your day with this chipotle salsa recipe! Make it for an afternoon snack with tortilla chips, or serve it alongside your favorite Mexican recipes. This chipotle salsa is a little smoky, somewhat spicy (or downright spicy, if you wish), and totally irresistible.

This salsa is based on my go-to red salsa recipe, with the addition of smoky chipotle peppers. Chipotle peppers are vine-ripened jalapeños that are smoked and dried, so they offer great depth of flavor. For this recipe, we’ll use chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, so they’re ready to blend into the salsa.

This chipotle salsa requires only seven basic ingredients, and the end result tastes so fresh. You’ll need canned tomatoes, onion and garlic, fresh cilantro, jalapeño and chipotle peppers, and fresh lime.

This chipotle salsa is easy to make and comes together in about 10 minutes. Keep reading for a few more tips and the full recipe. I hope you love this one as much as I do.

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I’m craving some adventure and daydreaming about future destinations. Mexico City might be my first stop. It’s a vibrant, energetic city with incredible food around every corner. I hopped down there a few summers ago and came back with a list of restaurants to try next someday.

For now, we can make tacos at home. This recipe is easy, quick, tasty, and quite versatile. (If you’re looking for truly epic vegetarian tacos, here they are—but they are a bit more time-consuming and reliant upon fresh produce.)

I hope these black bean tacos are exactly what you need right now. I’ve provided suggestions on ingredient substitutions and alternate sauce ideas below.

Serve them as-is for an easy dinner, or keep on reading for side dish suggestions!

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Yeah, I would be skeptical of this cheese-less queso if I were you. Queso literally means “cheese” in Spanish. This dip is a dairy-free, cheese-like fraud—a fraud that this dairy-eating queso lover thoroughly enjoys. That counts for something, right?

I was highly skeptical of vegan queso until Ali convinced me to give Füd’s vegan nachos a chance. She said they’re the best nachos in town, vegan or not, so I agreed to meet her there for lunch. While I would still argue that the world’s best nachos feature golden, bubbly, baked cheese (and are cooked to order at The Library Bar and Grill in Norman, Oklahoma), Füd’s nachos were pretty good.

They were good enough that I happily polished off my half of our heaping plate of nachos and left with a belly full of chips and “cheese,” like I would if presented with real cheese nachos, except this time I didn’t need a nap afterward. Bonus point for dairy-free queso.

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Pop quiz! What is a “pulse,” in food terms? Pulses are the edible seeds of legumes, including lentils, chickpeas, dry peas and beans. I’ve been a big fan of pulses ever since I stopped eating meat. All of a sudden, I was craving them and cooking them all the time.

I shouldn’t have been surprised. Pulses are packed with protein, fiber and iron. Did you know that one half-cup serving of cooked lentils has twice as many antioxidants as blueberries and twice as much protein as quinoa? Plus, they’re inexpensive and an important drought-resistant crop to many people around the globe. They’re definitely a crave-worthy food, whether you’re a meat eater or not.

I’m writing about pulses today because each year, the United Nations picks a topic of global interest. They named 2016 to be International Year of Pulses because of their significant health, economic and environmental benefits. Gearing up for 2016, the UN asked each country to submit one pulse recipe to represent their country. The USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council reached out to me to develop a recipe to be in the running. How cool is that?!

They are running a Facebook competition to pick the winner. With your help, my recipe could be selected as the National Signature Pulse Recipe for the U.S.! You can help me out by going to the USADPLC Facebook page, and voting for mine by Liking the photo. Please do! You’d make this food geek really happy. (Update: Voting is over, and this recipe won! Thank you tremendously for your support!)

Watch How to Make Roasted Cauliflower and Lentil Tacos

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Fall is in the air, as they say. The green leaves are just beginning to acknowledge the change in seasons along their peripheries; my nose is following suit with incessant sneezes. It’s that wonderfully awkward transitional time when I’m never sure what to wear: shorts now, or a sweater for later? And what do I cook: the last of the tomatoes, or sweet potatoes? We’ll be bundled up in scarves, carving pumpkins and crafting Halloween costumes before we know it. I can’t wait.

Football season seems to be in full swing, too. My old friends are taunting me with photos of game day meals made in the college town I used to call home—let’s be honest, football is really all about the food and beer anyway. Forget standing in crowds at stadiums! Give me a comfortable seat, friends, good food and drinks. The fact that a game is on while I chit-chat is purely secondary.

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These stuffed peppers are my kind of Mexican food: fresh and full of flavor, filling but not too heavy. They’re the first complete recipe I’ve cooked from Sara and Hugh Forte’s beautiful new cookbook, The Sprouted Kitchen, and I can easily see why they are one of Sara’s favorites to cook for company.

I feel pretty safe in assuming that most of you, as readers of this little whole foods blog, are familiar with Sprouted Kitchen. Sara’s recipes, which are photographed by her husband Hugh, are always vibrant, inspiring and feature fresh, seasonal produce at its finest.

Sara and her publisher, Ten Speed Press, kindly sent me an advance copy, which at first flip through sent my mind into a tizzy with its gorgeous photos and ingenious recipes. The cover of my copy already has a few splatters on it and I expect there will be many more to come. This one is a keeper, friends. I think you are going to want a copy of your own.

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