Let me introduce you to one of the best meals I’ve had all season! These fresh black bean burrito bowls are made from scratch with simple, wholesome ingredients. While the components initially take some time to prepare, they make great leftovers to enjoy all week long. These bowls pack well for lunch, too.

In fact, these burrito bowls represent how I eat at home. I like to make a few components that play nicely together, and mix and match them all week. That way, I don’t get bored, and I don’t have to start from zero with every meal.

“Tell me more, Kate,” you say. Ok, so maybe you first enjoy these burrito bowls exactly as shown here. You could change up your next bowl by adding some avocado and a fried egg.

Or, you could make a simple quesadilla, top it with pickled onion and cilantro pesto, and serve it with a side of black beans and rice. Another option? Turn these components into black bean tacos (or a burrito). Maybe you have some extra rice, so you warm it up and toss it into your green salad for lunch.

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Think of these sunny mango bowls as a Thai spin on your favorite burrito bowl. They’re refreshing and hearty, sweet and savory, and my new favorite summertime dinner.

These bowls were inspired by my Thai mango cabbage wraps, which are such a fun appetizer. I’ve added rice and shredded the cabbage to turn them into a more hefty dinner.

These bowls feature perfectly cooked brown rice and shredded cabbage topped with crispy baked tofu, fresh mango salsa and peanut sauce. None of the components are difficult to prepare, and the combination is irresistible.

You could make these bowls on a relaxed weeknight, or save them for the weekend. Invite friends over, or keep your leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch. You can’t lose with this one.

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These easy breakfast burritos are total lifesavers. You can make them for a crowd and enjoy a nice Mexican-themed brunch. Or you can freeze extra burritos for later. Enjoy your leftover burritos for quick breakfasts, lunches or dinners!

I came up with this recipe after receiving several reader requests for vegetarian breakfast burritos. Each person described a life-changing breakfast burrito ordered at a favorite restaurant. No one mentioned the same restaurant, but all of the burritos had crispy potatoes, eggs, salsa and avocado in common.

I actually discovered the breakfast burritos of my dreams far from Mexico, at a restaurant called Blackbird in Minneapolis and the Kimpton RiverPlace Hotel in Portland.

Those burritos had all of the above features in common, plus they were smothered in salsa. They required a knife and fork, and holy smokes, were they good. I was almost too intimidated to attempt recreating those burritos, but I’m excited to share my homemade version with you today.

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These stuffed sweet potatoes are everything you might imagine—fresh, hearty and delicious. They start with a base of baked sweet potatoes, then a mixture of brown rice and canned black beans, a rustic pico de gallo-inspired salsa, and finally, a dollop of simplified guacamole.

The recipe is conveniently gluten free and vegan, too. If you’re vegetarian like me, you might like to add grated cheese or sour cream. I was so hungry last night that I polished off two of these myself, so you might just want to double the recipe. I suspect the leftovers would pack well for lunch, too.

This recipe comes from a cookbook that I’ve been eagerly anticipating for quite some time. It’s by one of my favorite food bloggers, Laura Wright of The First Mess. I’m always inspired by her honest writing, lush photography and brilliant recipes, which combine to create a powerful trifecta of talent.

Her new cookbook, The First Mess Cookbook, is finally here. It’s everything I knew it would be—colorful, inspiring, and thoughtful. Her book offers over 125 plant-based recipes that creatively use familiar whole-food ingredients.

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Man alive! Monday snuck up on me after a weekend away. (Park City, Utah—have you been? It’s my new favorite mountain town.) No amount of black coffee or dark chocolate peanut butter cups have managed to wake me up from my post-trip fog, but I have this totally epic burrito bowl recipe for you. Let’s get to it.

Basically, all you do is roast some spaghetti squash until it’s tender and caramelized on the edges. While the squash is in the oven, you’ll have plenty of time to toss together a simple, colorful red cabbage slaw. It has lots of lime and some black beans for protein. Then, blend up some salsa verde with avocado for a creamy sauce that completes the dish.

These bowls are so simple and crazy delicious that I almost saved them for my cookbook, but I just couldn’t wait. Make them for dinner tonight?

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Cookie and Kate are finally back in the kitchen. I still wasn’t feeling in the mood up until a couple of nights ago, when I spent a few hours cleaning out the cabinets and the refrigerator. Turns out, everyday cooking doesn’t need to involve avalanches of dried pasta. Organization is key.

The past few weeks of kitchen avoidance have been heavy with introspection. I want to say that I’ve come out on the other side with clarity and a renewed zest for life. (Every sad story needs a happy ending, right?) The truth is, I’m still just one sappy coffee shop love song away from another fit of tearful existential despair.

It’ll pass. In the meantime, I’m treating myself right with these burrito bowls. Roasted sweet potatoes, seasoned black beans and cilantro-spinach brown rice combine in one bowl for a cozy vegan dinner. Oven-toasted pumpkin seeds, avocado and salsa verde make it totally irresistible.

More reasons to love this dish? You’ll have enough time while the sweet potatoes and rice cook to clean the kitchen before dinner’s ready. Oh, and these bowls reheat well for lunch, too. Burrito bowls for the win!

Watch How to Make Sweet Potato and Green Rice Bowls

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First of all, is a burrito still a burrito if the ends aren’t tucked in? That is the question. I’m learning toward yes, at least with these breakfast burritos (ok, and my other sweet potato burritos). I always pull of that extraneous tucked-in tortilla part before I take my first bite of burrito, anyway. Filling or bust!

Moving on. I have been stepping up my breakfast game lately. For the longest time, I was content eating plain yogurt with some fruit for breakfast. Then I started making my own granola and my old standby lost its appeal. That granola crunch is so necessary!

Then, I ran out of granola and started testing waffles for my pal Erin’s forthcoming cookbook. I froze all those waffles and got in the habit of eating a waffle with nut butter and maple syrup for breakfast. Eventually, I ran out of her waffles, which was incentive to play around with oat flour waffles (success!).

And here we are with breakfast burritos. I love that I can freeze them for future breakfasts, because breakfast is essential and, therefore, best kept simple. I never (ever ever ever) skip breakfast, but the general consensus amongst breakfast skippers seems to be that they run out of time or supplies. Enter the breakfast burrito. I’d call these guys breakfast backups or grab-and-go options, but they’re so good, they just might become your default breakfast option.

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This unexpected burrito bowl is an absolute delight. If you’re looking for a hearty meatless meal, give this recipe a try. These burrito bowls feature cooked brown rice, lime-marinated kale, seasoned black beans, and a quick and irresistible avocado salsa verde that brings it all together.

This burrito bowl is a complete and balanced meal that makes great leftovers. To make it more of an event, serve it with tortilla chips and salsa or guacamole, perhaps with a zingy cocktail on the weekend (try a margarita, paloma or ranch water).

I developed this recipe over ten years ago when I was craving a wholesome meal with greens after returning home from a weekend road trip. It’s economical and practical, but above all, delicious! This recipe is still one of my favorites, so I’m sharing it again today with updated photos and a video to show you how it comes together.

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Where do you call home? Home used to be such a simple concept, but I’ve struggled to define it lately. For the first few years of life, home was where I lived with my parents in a small town near the Oklahoma panhandle. Home had brown tile floors that I tottered across at the heels of my red-haired cousin. My family, friends and belongings were all there. Things got more complicated when we moved to an Oklahoma City suburb and I left for college, but now that I’ve moved out of my home state, I really don’t know what or where home is.

I visited Oklahoma the week before last for the first time since moving to Kansas City. There I was laughing with my dearest friends around a table at our favorite Mexican restaurant, but my old apartment wasn’t mine any more. The town that I had lived in for the past eight years felt like home, once removed. I spent a few nights at my parents’ place, too. They moved to a bigger house after I left for college; I still don’t know where all the light switches are. I suppose it will always be home since my parents are there but it feels a little empty now that my brothers have left the nest, too.

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This week has been a doozy. I’ve been running around like a chicken with its head cut off, scrambling to get caught up with work before I jet off to New York City (New York City?!) for the next few days. By the time this post goes live tomorrow morning, I should be well on my way! Footloose and fancy-free we’ll be tonight once we find authentic New York pizza and a bar with many taps. That’s all we have on the itinerary so far—I haven’t had time to research where to go, what to do and perhaps most importantly, where to eat in NYC! Please, tell me what I can’t miss. I know you all will know just what I should do!

If one of my raw kale salads got with my black bean tostadas, we’d get these baby burritos. Stuffed full of beans ‘n greens and brightened with lime and feta cheese, they’re a little spicy and entirely delicious. By my fourth burrito, I had my method down to a science; I can roll up one of these babies in less than 10 minutes flat. They’re just the right size for me, but if you’re feeding a hungry boy, you might want to buy bigger tortillas and double the amounts listed below. Enjoy!

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