Healthy Carrot Soup

Though this gingery carrot soup recipe may seem ideal for spring it's actually an excellent soup to serve any time of year because you can almost always get good quality carrots at the store year round. And they are a staple food most of us keep stocked in the fridge.

This soup has such a delicious inviting flavor between it's sweet carrot goodness, the bright ginger and garlic, a light background spice boost, and the richness of the coconut milk.

It's a vegan soup but can also be adapted to use what you have on hand if you don't intend to make it vegan. Ingredients such as chicken broth, and half and half or heavy cream can be used.

Guests will love it as an appetizer for dinner, or serve it as a main course at lunch with whole grain bread or no knead homemade bread (great for dipping of course), or a grilled cheese sandwich.

Easy Vegetarian Chili

You'll love that this is a vegetable chili you can feel great about eating and feeding the family, and it doesn't taste too much different than a meat-heavy chili thanks to all those flavorful Mexican spices.

It comes together quickly, it's just a bit of chopping and has a fairly short simmer time compared to that of traditional chili. It's hearty and filling thanks to the beans and fiber rich vegetables and it's still a great base for piling on all the best chili toppings.

We love it with avocado, cheese, and sour cream atop but if you if you want to make this a vegan chili then opt for a vegan cheese and sour cream, or just omit them both altogether.

Sweet Brown Sugar or Honey Glazed Carrots

You may find these are reminiscent of sweet potatoes but with a fraction of the time effort! And you only need 5 ingredients (plus salt and pepper).

Carrots are sliced on a biased, steamed in a skillet until nearly tender, then sautéed with butter and brown sugar or honey.

It's a simple method that has plenty of leeway for adaptations (variations I'd recommend are adding spices, tossing in dried nuts or dried cranberries, and finishing with other herbs such as chives or dill).

You'll find it to be a quick go-to side dish that will compliment so many of your favorite entrees, they may even take center stage for favorite item on the dinner plate. Even kids will love these!

It's often the simplest things that are the best.

Vegetable Stir Fry - A beautiful, colorful rainbow of fresh vegetables are sautéed together in a hot skillet or wok and seasoned with a abundantly flavorful sweet and savory stir fry sauce. It's nutritious and completely delicious!

Rainbow Vegetable Stir Fry Recipe

Our favorite takeout-style easy vegetable stir fry! Made with a lovely blend of colors and boasting with plenty of fresh flavor.

It makes a delicious vegetarian main dish (with a vegan option) that you can serve with brown rice or white rice, or it can double as a side to a healthy protein such as salmon, shrimp or chicken.

In it you'll find a tasty variety of vegetables and the stir fry sauce will leave you craving more!

It's easy to substitute here using other vegetables you may have on hand (see ideas below).

So clean out the fridge with all those veggies and make this delicious stir fry!

Fresh Tomato Basil Soup

This is how you do comfort food. A vibrant, healthy soup with a grilled cheese to accompany it.

This soup will likely become a highlight of summer dinners, and it's a great way to use all those garden fresh tomatoes.

It requires minimal ingredients but yields such amazing results! The key ingredients include several pounds of gorgeously red ripe tomatoes, lots of flavorful fresh basil, and a fair amount of garlic for a perfectly fresh tasting soup.

Though there may be several steps the process is quite simple. You roast the tomatoes and aromatics, then simmer the soup on the stove, and finish by blitzing it all together with immersion blender. And then you've got yourself an undeniably delicious homemade tomato basil soup!

Want to make it creamy? Simply add 1/2 cup to 1 cup cream to the soup at the end. And feel free to toss in some parmesan cheese too if you can't resist.

Coconut Lentil Curry

This meat-free lentil curry recipe is such a tasty main dish that pairs beautifully with white rice, cauliflower rice or naan.

It has a delicious complexity of flavor, the lentils make it a nutritious choice, and the coconut milk adds some body to make it more substantial.

It makes an excellent vegan dinner and any extra that's left is perfect for lunch the next day (you can even freeze it).

If you haven't yet had lentils this is a great place to start. With the rising prices of meat these days it's a great recipe to add into the dinner rotation since lentils are a much cheaper alternative to meat.

And by using a the homemade spice blend here (which is basically a curry spice blend) you can control the amount of heat that goes into the dish making it as mild or spicy as you prefer.

Tomato Basil One Pot Pasta

Who doesn't love another easy dish to add to the dinner repertoire? This humble pasta begins with basic everyday ingredients and finishes with well blended, perfectly complimentary and satisfying flavors.

I've long loved one pot pasta recipes because they are as quick and easy as a made from scratch dinner gets.

Plus they are incredibly versatile (see more of my one pot pasta recipes listed below).

This easy pasta recipe tastes fresh, tomato-y, and has just enough rich cheese and pancetta to highlight it and build up the flavor.

It's a homemade dish that's great for those busy days, and it will make great leftovers for lunch the next day!

Easy Lasagna Recipe

Talk about new favorite dinner recipe to get excited about! You get perfectly tender lasagna, a rich, beefy and tomato based sauce, and an abundance of flavorful cheese!

Sure you may not get that piled high 20 layers lasagna you'll see on the cover of a magazine but with this easy lasagna recipe we are all about making it flavorful and simple.

A realistically doable dinner (any night of the week) that you'll turn to time and time again. Not a lasagna that takes 1 hour+ prep.

This recipe has been my go to for months. I don't know why it's taken me so long to get around to sharing it, it really is just too good!

My family is crazy about it. My daughter has even labeled this specifically as one of her favorite foods.

It is comfort food done right. Nothing complicated. Just simple ingredients and a fool proof method and you've got a dinner everyone can agree on!

Looking for more healthy soup recipes? Try my classic Vegetable Soup, Cabbage Soup and Lentil Soup.

So this is me, I eat pretty healthy most of the time so I can make room for dessert all the time. I'm kidding (sort of). But really, I think balance is important, which doesn't really mean dessert every day but sometimes I think it's necessary.

I've said it before, all the healthy food is definitely good for your physical health but I say the sweet stuff is good for my emotional health because how could I survive without sugar (especially chocolate)? Addicted? Maybe. Content with that, definitely.

This soup has got to be one of the healthiest I've ever made though. It is packed with so many fresh, healthy ingredients and it really does taste amazingly delicious!

I've learned that light and healthy recipes don't need to be boring, they just need to have the right blend of flavors and good seasoning and it makes such a big difference.

You’ll love how this soup is very filling without all lots of added fats or empty carbs. Plus it makes a big pot-full so you can have some for lunch for the next few days.

And yes, this minestrone soup recipe does call for quite a few ingredients but don't shy away from this recipe because of that. It's worth it!

Photography credit: Jess Larson

Vegetarian Lentil Tacos for Meatless Monday

Do you do Meatless Monday? I'm not the type to be organized and plan ahead so I don't do specifically "meatless Monday" but I try to eat more vegetarian recipes, especially for breakfast and lunch. And lately I'm trying to do a few more meatless recipes for dinner for my family.

This a meatless recipe my whole family can agree on, even my husband (who's crazy about meat) loves these! And you can't beat the quick prep time of this recipe. Plus you'll be glad you'll likely have leftovers for lunch the next day.

You can finish these easy tacos off with any toppings you like, then if you are making them vegan use vegan cheese or omit it.