The aroma wafting through the house while this cake is baking in the oven is heavenly. And eating it is like drinking the best chai latte you’ve ever had. Serve this cake with coffee and tea for a casual get-together. You really don’t need anything else to host friends and family and connect.

You don’t have to be a good cook to be a great host. What you do need is a desire to bring people together to connect, a want to serve your guests well, and a game plan for executing well. I’ve shared here my game plan and tips for pulling together a collection of snacking boards that, together, creates a substantial amount of food to feed your guests well.

I can’t think of a better way to bring loved ones together for the holidays than with this Holiday Baked Brie. Topped with rosemary, toasted walnuts, pears and honey, it can either serve as the kick-off to an elaborate holiday meal or as a stand alone centerpiece for an appetizer and drinks get-together. No matter your gathering, your guests will leave with both their hearts and stomachs full.

When you crave something indulgent, but also want to feel good about what you’re eating, these bites are just what you’re looking for. They are gluten-free, plant-based/vegan and contain no added/refined sugars and can be enjoyed equally as a snack or dessert.

Salad has never been a part of my Thanksgiving tradition, until this year. There are many reasons to include a fresh, leafy greens salad on the holiday table, and I’ve shared them here. And, of course, this salad works well throughout autumn and winter.

If you love cornbread, I’ve shared five reasons why I recommend making your cornbread as muffins vs in a sheet pan or skillet. In addition to the cornbread muffin recipe, you’ll get my maple honey cinnamon butter recipe!

I recently ate at Laser Wolf, an Israeli restaurant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and their Shawarma Spiced Cauliflower entree was out of bounds! It inspired me to make a copy-cat version and this is what I came up with. No doubt different from what I enjoyed at Laser Wolf, yet quite delicious in its own right.

Roasted chickpeas are always on hand in my house, as they add flavor, texture and good nutrition (hello fiber and plant-based protein) to so many dishes. I particularly like this shawarma-spiced option, as this spice blend is rich with earthy, warming and sweet-spiced notes.

I love the mix of spices in Shawarma, so much so that I make this blend in large batches and keep it in my pantry to flavor a variety of dishes. The flavor profile is a fragrant and delicious combination of earthy, warming and sweetly-spiced tones. Here’s my version.

Every Fall I make a large batch of this apple butter and it is the foundation for so many snacks, meals and desserts. When you realize how easy it is to make and how much money and packaging waste you’ll save making it yourself, you’ll never buy store-bought again.

For those who have to eat strictly gluten-free, Chinese food is off limits for the most part…unless you find the very rare dedicated gluten-free Chinese restaurant. So, when a craving hits, you have to make it yourself, like I do with this Cauliflower Fried Rice. To make it a full Chinese experience, I pair it with some great frozen egg roll/potsticker options, that cook up just like you’d get in a restaurant. Even my gluten-eating husband is impressed with the authentic flavors.

Here’s a twist on the Southern sandwich staple. I replaced white bread with a dense, whole-grain, seeded bread, swapped out the mayo for avocado basil aioli, and added in a layer of micro greens—all of which kick up the taste, texture and nutrition profiles a notch.

This recipe is bursting with both nutrition and flavor from the chickpea flour, tomatoes, arugula and rich combination of Middle Eastern herbs and spices. To boot, the Tomato Chutney is a recipe unto itself. Double or even triple it, store in the fridge, and you have a condiment for burgers, toasts and sandwiches, a flavor enhancer for rices, and a topping for chicken and fish all week long. 

I love the Japanese philosophy and artistic expression of wabi-sabi: appreciating the beauty in the imperfect. We don’t appreciate the beauty of imperfection in Western society, so we have to take the initiative to cultivate it for ourselves and within the communities and cultures to which we belong. What does this have to do with Summer Quinoa Salad? Nothing, except that the day I created this recipe, I was reminded of the concept of wabi-sabi and wanted to pass it along.

I’ve made this frittata recipe and variations of it countless times, with the variations being the point of this post. It’s an honor for me to tailor my recipes to my guests’ needs, as it enables me to help them to resource themselves. Knowing how to resource ourselves is important, because when our resources exceed our demands it allows us to show up as leaders with creativity rather than reactivity, and that’s the key to leading well…whether leadership to you means running an organization and/or driving social change and/or parenting and/or taking care of family and community. Yes, we resource ourselves for our own health and wellbeing…but we also do it so we can show up better for others.

This Green Goddess Tuna Salad is not just packed with great nutrition, it will keep you feeling full for hours to come. This is what we call satiety, and making satiating meals involves both nutrition knowledge and culinary know-how. If you love this tuna salad as much as I do, it will bring both staying power to your tummy and your recipe collection.

When you want something fast, healthy and satisfying, this loaded sweet potato is it. The combination of flavors may seem odd, but they are oddly complementary to one another. I often bake a few sweet potatoes on Sunday so that I can make this quickly when I don’t have much time for lunch or dinner throughout the week. You can also microwave the sweet potato, but roasting caramelizes the skin and makes for a softer, sweeter end result.

There’s literally nothing not to love about this energy bites. You get to indulge in rich chocolate flavor with hints of orange and ginger without compromising on healthful, wholesome eating. These bites are gluten-free, dairy-free; 100% plant-based/vegan and contain no refined sugars.

If you haven’t heard of kichadi (or kichari), it’s a South Asian rice and beans porridge containing ingredients to ease an irritated and inflamed GI tract, including ginger, turmeric and fennel. Eat is just as is or used as the base of a bowl where you add vegetables, nuts and/or seeds, and a complementary green herb.

When you want to celebrate a loved one or make something special without all of the time and effort, this is your recipe. It’s a crowd-pleaser and so easy to make. It can be served frosted (frosting recipe provided) or, better yet, offer a variety of toppings for your guests to doctor it up however they like.

Whether used as a dip, spread, sauce or dressing, the flavors of lemon, parsley and cumin will take so many of your meals and dishes to a whole new level. I urge you to make a batch and be adventurous with all of the foods and dishes you can make better with this versatile recipe.

Croutons provide pops of joy that allow us to sustain healthy eating over the long term. They make salads and vegetable soups fun so that we eat them consistently over the long term. And they’re just as good on their own as a snack. So, go ahead and buy that larger loaf of bread so that you can make these delicious pops of fun!

All a salad needs to be really great is a freshly-made dressing that coats the greens and a few well-chosen, complementary ingredients. I like serving this salad in winter, when grapefruit is in season, and it’s sweet tanginess adds a fresh and inviting dimension to winter eating.

This orange pound cake with vanilla icing and chopped pistachios brings together the moist, rich texture of pound cake with tangy notes of orange, sweet hints of vanilla and a complementary nuttiness from the pistachios, if you choose to use them. While this pound cake can be enjoyed year round, I particularly like making and serving it in winter…as citrus brings brightness, liveliness and variety to the more subdued flavors of winter.