Matthew Kaplan

For, the biggest challenge for daily healthy eating comes in the morning for breakfast. It usually happens on the go, and as a result I'm most tempted to reach for some not-so-great food choices for breakfast. However, I think I have (temporarily) cured some of my breakfast woes with this easy blueberry muffins recipe. I've rediscovered just how great healthy muffins are for an on-the-go breakfast.

Imagine, if you will, the scenario from whence this homemade pizza recipe came to exist. I was watching a movie with friends last Friday, and it was getting late. Towards the tail end of things, we were hit with hunger. The first instinct of my friends was to order in for food, in this case specifically pizza. But I couldn't allow that, seeing as I knew I could whip up something, even at this late hour.

I call this an everything but the kitchen sink chili because, well, it seemed like I threw in the most random ingredients I could. Truthfully, that's more or less how this vegetarian chili recipe came to be. I had a few staple items in my kitchen and I decided to be bold with them. From the seemingly chaotic array of ingredients comes a deliciously simple chili recipe that is perfect for a cold winter day.

When you use curry powder as much as I do, though, the cost starts to add up. That's why I like to use this curry powder recipe to make a homemade version. Not only do I save money in the long run, but I think this curry powder recipe tastes better than most store-bought versions anyway.

How many superfoods do you include in your diet? If you don't already eat kale, then you should as it is a nutritional powerhouse. Kale greens are fantastic for you, plus I think they're super tasty. Kale is a dark leafy green, like collard greens or spinach. I find that it has a rich, slightly bitter taste that goes well with stronger flavors like garlic. Cooking kale is super easy!

I solve the tofu texture dilemma by baking the tofu! The oven dries out the tofu block, making it actually have substance. My friend used to call these "vegan bacon" as they can be super crispy. I enjoy tofu chips just as is, but they're a great addition to salad, stir-fry or even sandwiches.

For a tasty and healthy side dish, this chickpeas recipe is hard to beat in my book. This chickpeas recipe was my attempt at incorporating that limited fresh produce into my diet. The main star of this healthy side dish recipe is garbanzo beans.

This borscht recipe is great for the wintertime because it features so many hearty winter root vegetables. Of course, the star in this recipe is beets. I love the sweet earthy taste of beets, and this dish permeates with that flavor. A traditional Russian borscht recipe uses beef shank and beef broth, but this version of vegetarian borscht uses vegetable stock.

Over the weekend, my friend decided he was in the mood for a hearty bowl of soup. I didn't have much in my kitchen at the time, but sometimes good soup recipes are born out of necessity. Normally, I try to avoid canned goods in my cooking. However, it seemed to make sense with this vegetable soup as it added to the recipe's "hankering down for winter" aura.

In this recipe for Pasta with Spinach and Olives, the main star is frozen spinach. I'm a big fan on dark leafy greens, and spinach is a nutritional powerhouse that is readily available and often reasonably priced. In this recipe, I used black olives from Lindsay olives.