They’re juuust spicy enough to be fun. They’re filling but not heavy. They’re versatile and colorful and so super nutritious. Vegan burrito bowls are WHERE IT’S AT this month.
The Big Four:
Cauliflower walnut taco meat
Blistered pepper strips
Rice
Black Beans
In typical fashion, toppings are an ocean of possibilities. Lime. Cilantro. Salsa. Avocado. Hot Sauce.
If your picture of fall does not involve butternut squash and red lentils and cauliflower cooked in a coconut-creamy red curry sauce and poured over a mini-mountain of steamy rice, are we even friends?
I’m not even sure where to start. This curry is cozy beyond cozy. There’s just enough curry paste to make your tastebuds perk up, and the texture is creamy, but still with some tender veggie pieces intact, and it’s all just so yummy.
Also: it is totally vegan, gluten free, dairy free, full of vegetables, all the things. And somehow it was still the container of leftovers that I found myself reaching for all week amidst cheesy pastas and meaty leftovers.
Heading back to school, prepping for a new baby, or just tryna get your life together?
All of the above point to one thing:
FREEZER MEALS!
A little history of this post: I started to do some research around freezer meals for my maternity leave in 2018, and I was shocked at the lack of options out there. Don’t get me wrong – the internet has many freezer meal recipes, but most of them were pretty disappointing to me in terms of health and flavor. So I put together my own!
Here’s what makes these freezer meals you can actually love:
Freezer meals that are healthy – made with real food.
Freezer meals with actual vegetables in them.
Freezer meals that are vegan and vegetarian.
Freezer meals with no-cook prep.
Freezer meals with no advance thawing required.
Freezer meals made with fun, bold, interesting flavors that we wouldactually be excited to eat! For me, these had to be at least as good as a takeout pizza, otherwise it was game over, and add the cheesy breadsticks please.
Enter: this post. It contains my favorite freezer-friendly recipes that are big on flavor, nutrition, and ease of prep!
It’s more like a pile of warm roasted sweet potatoes, caramelizy onions, and crisped chickpeas, all fragranced-up with some sprigs of fresh rosemary and speckled with toasty maple walnuts, piled on quinoa with fresh greens if your heart feels it, and eaten warm – or cold! – at your desk, in between morning and afternoon pumpkin lattes.
It is the food manifestation of cozy, with a healthy foot forward. It is ready for sweater weather. It is fall in a bowl.
Guess what? Pasta and chicken are getting spicy, creamy, and ultra-cozy for fall! That’s what.
There are zero fancy things going on here. We’ve got pasta (farfalle, because bowties are just adorable, aren’t they?) tossed in a luscious and creamy sauce that is kicked up a notch with paprika – spicy or not! you choose. The chicken is baked under a nice coat of dry spices and can be served tossed in with the pasta, or just sliced and laid nice and pretty on top.
And… that’s all. Add some roasted broccoli or green salad or whatever you like as a side (would crusty bread be too much?), and this is silky-smooth paprika chicken pasta is suddenly looking like a hot new fall accessory.
This cinnamon sugar apple cake is just one of those things that is very regular but somehow elevates the day a little bit. It’s low maintenance, highly snackable, and 100% as warming, fragrant, and cozy a basic apple cake should be.
This apple cake is:
light and fluffy
loaded with fresh apples
sweet but not overly sweet
magically crispy with that layer of cinnamon-sugar on top
a nice vehicle for some whipped cream or honey butter
excellent with coffee
and a sweater
and a fall candle
coming to you, warm, fresh-out-the-oven, in just under an hour.
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