Like carrots? You’re going to love this carrot soup recipe. It’s luxuriously creamy and full of incredible roasted carrot flavor.

This classic carrot soup is a wonderful soup to serve with your favorite winter salads, sandwiches, and even holiday entrées. Since carrots go well with so many other flavors, it’s a versatile soup to keep in your repertoire.

You might be pleasantly surprised to learn that this creamy soup is actually made without cream. It’s a light and healthy soup, not to mention budget-friendly, too.

I tried making the soup with sautéed carrots instead of roasted, but roasted carrots give this soup magical powers. If you’re a fan of my butternut squash soup or cauliflower soup, the method for this recipe will be familiar already.

Since I can’t help but play around with flavors, I came up with three fun and simple variations—carrot ginger soup, curried carrot soup, and Thai curried carrot soup with lime. You’ll find details in the recipe notes. It’s about time this food blog had a proper carrot soup recipe, and it’s really four in one!

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Have you tried roasted cauliflower? I don’t get very excited about raw cauliflower. Roasted cauliflower, though—I can eat it straight off the pan like French fries.

Raw cauliflower transforms into golden, caramelized deliciousness in the oven. If you roast it with just olive oil, salt and pepper, it’s a tasty snack. This roasted cauliflower recipe is the perfect simple side dish for your fall and winter meals.

You can also use basic roasted cauliflower to add bulk and tasty roasted flavor to other veggie dishes, like my lentil tacos and farro salad. It’s neutral enough that it doesn’t overwhelm other flavors, so it goes well with a variety of cuisines.

As much as I love basic roasted cauliflower, it’s the perfect vehicle for creative flavorings. I came up with three fun flavor combinations this week inspired by Italian, Mexican and Indian cuisines. I can’t decide which one I love best! In the recipe below, you’ll find options for plain roasted cauliflower plus my simple variations.

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This soup recipe was a long time coming! Over the years, I made some lackluster lentil soups that never saw the light of day on this website. No vegetarian food blog would be complete without a proper lentil soup, though, so I perfected one of my own.

Here it is. My lentil soup is made with mostly pantry ingredients but includes hearty greens and a squeeze of lemon for bright, fresh flavor. It’s seasoned with a few of my favorite spices and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Honestly, it’s the best lentil soup I’ve ever had.

The original title of this recipe was “Spiced Vegan Lentil Soup,” which is accurate, but a mouthful. With over 500 five-star reviews, I think it’s safe to call this the Best Lentil Soup. Period.

Whether you’re looking to lighten up your meals or warm up with a steaming bowl of soup, this healthy lentil soup recipe is for you! It’s one of my all-time favorites and I hope it becomes a staple in your kitchen as well.

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The holidays are almost here, but I’ve been eating like it’s Thanksgiving for the past few weeks. Food blogger problems! I’m seeking balance in the meals in between recipe testing by filling my belly with my favorite veggie-packed meals.

Case in point: This sweet potato, kale, chickpea and farro soup, which is both impossible to describe using fewer words. I shared this recipe five years ago, and it’s still one of my favorites.

I’m counting down the minutes until I can heat up a big bowlful of this soup for lunch. It’s spicy, filling, satisfying, and overflowing with so-called power foods and whole grain goodness. The Thai red curry paste might seem like an unlikely pairing for sweet potatoes, kale and farro, but somehow it just works.

I love this soup because each main ingredient contributes flavor while retaining its texture. The farro stays nice and chewy, the chickpeas don’t turn to mush like lentils might, the sweet potatoes retain their delicate bite, and the kale never wilts into nothingness like spinach tends to do.

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Is it too soon for soup? When I had a full-blown cold last week, soup sounded like just the ticket. I flipped through Angela’s new cookbook, Oh She Glows Every Day, and landed on this creamy, plant-based soup bursting with vitamin A and other goodness.

Carrots, sweet potato, and warming Thai curry blended with an unexpected ingredient—almond butter—made it a sweet and spicy, rich soup. I wish it could say it cured me for good (if only soup could), but it definitely made me feel better that evening. And the next morning, when I heated up leftovers for breakfast. Thank you, Angela!

Fans of Angela’s first book, The Oh She Glows Cookbook, will find tons of new favorites in her new one. Fun vegan breakfasts, smoothies, salads and soups, hearty plant-based dinners—this book has it all, with beautiful, bright and light photos by the lovely Ashley of Edible Perspective.

Blogging has a lot of perks, and meeting wonderful people through the blog is the best one. I’m so glad to have gotten to know Angela and Ashley over the years. I emailed Angela for cookbook advice a couple of years ago, and I’m so thankful for her generous advice and support. She’s a really hardworking lady, and I know that every recipe in this book has been tested over and over again to make sure it works. I hope you’ll get a chance to pick up her new book soon.

Watch How to Make Creamy Thai Carrot Sweet Potato Soup

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You know dinner was good when you want to eat it for breakfast. Speaking of, it’s 10 am and I’m writing with a happy belly.

This Thai red curry made a fantastic meal last night and perhaps an even better breakfast this morning. It’s warm, comforting, and perfect for cool days. It’s a little rich, too, but so full of vegetables that it doesn’t feel too indulgent.

I’ve been meaning to try a red Thai curry based on my green curry for a while now, and I’m so glad I finally did. It’s the best curry I’ve ever had, restaurant versions included! Yeah, I said it.

Bonus? You should be able to find everything you need for this simple curry at a well-stocked grocery store.

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I’ve been on a vegetable-packed coconut curry kick lately—they’re just the perfect transition food for this time of year. This vegetarian Thai green curry recipe features fresh asparagus, carrots and spinach in a delicious green coconut sauce. It’s full of flavor and simple enough for weeknight dinners.

I used store-bought Thai curry paste instead of raw ingredients, because some (like galangal) are difficult to find and time-consuming to prepare. I’ve watched a chef prepare curry paste in Thailand, and he really worked up a sweat! So while this recipe is not perfectly authentic, it’s a lot easier to make.

This curry is based on an older Thai green curry recipe, which I’ve since deleted. I loved the base recipe for that dish (I learned how to make it at a fun cooking class), but I was never quite satisfied by my choice of mix-ins.

So here we are, three years later, with an improved, extra-green version. This time, I opted for asparagus (snow peas would also work), carrots and wilted spinach. I love it, and I think you will, too!

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I’m finally back in Kansas City. I arrived home on Tuesday, to a house full of all the things I haven’t used in the past month. I almost hoped I’d greet the things like long-lost friends (oh hello, favorite knee-length boots!) but I really just sighed at the sight of those things, those burdens that I pack up and carry from place to place.

If you took away the blog-related cookbooks and photography props (code word for so many breakable plates and glasses), maybe it would be a more reasonable amount of stuff for one person. My closet is definitely overstuffed, however. The end of winter is nearing and I’m feeling some pressure to wear all of my cold weather apparel at least once before it goes. I have too much!

I think about minimalism a lot—how much I love the concept and how difficult it is to put into practice. I’m too attached to my things. I often find myself looking around my place and wondering, how much does one person really need? Is this a reasonable amount for one person?

I’ve watched my grandmothers downsize into smaller, more manageable living situations and I think about all of the care and time that went into filling their homes and the difficulties in downsizing. Some of that is inevitable, but I don’t want my life to be characterized by the getting and getting rid of things.

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Have you ever gotten to the airport only to find that your pilot has gone missing? Apparently that happens. I finally got out of Kansas City and caught a red-eye from Chicago to London (hello from Heathrow!). I only wish I’d been smart enough to pack basic toiletries and a change of clothes in my carry on. Here’s to hoping that my luggage meets me in Tel Aviv eventually.

I love how cultures collide in airports. Right now, I’m listening to a guy speak French into his iPhone while wearing a shirt that says “Brooklyn” across the front. I just accepted German chocolate from a friendly Jordanian and earlier walked by a group of chic Europeans (maybe Italians?) drinking Stella before noon. Then there’s the pink-faced stranger of unknown origin who’s snoring loudly a few seats over. Snoring is a universal language, n’est-ce pas?

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Afternoon forecast: too many decisions up in the air. I stayed up to an ungodly hour last night trying to plan out what I need for my new [rent] house and where to put everything. I don’t know why I didn’t drag my blinky-eyed self to bed earlier, as my subconscious sorted some things out while I was asleep. Isn’t that how it always goes?

So today, in addition to sucking down two mugs of strong coffee and stumbling across a promising oatmeal cookie recipe, I’ve made some executive decisions. I’m feeling good about my pendant lamp choice for the dining area and can’t wait to hang a new framed print on the living room wall.

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