Chipotle Shrimp Tacos

Fish tacos with a spicy creamy chipotle aioli.

Chipotle Shrimp Tacos // loveandlemons.com

I have some guilty confessions relating to this meal: 1. This might seem un-characteristic, given my general healthy habits but I love mayo. And I have an unhealthy addiction to Japanese Kewpie Mayo. If I had to choose 5 things to bring to a desert island, that just might be one of them. Along with a few chipotles to make this sauce. 2. I made these tacos all for myself one night last week while Jack worked late… catching up on my guiltiest of guilty tv shows… The Bachelor, which I had proudly avoided for weeks… and Smash, a show…

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Mini Ceviche Tacos

mini ceviche tacos, two ways (vegetarian & pesca)

I’m guest posting today on A House in the Hills (one of my favorite blogs), while Sarah is in Mexico this week. I know, I’m jealous too. To compensate for my vacation-envy, I made these bright little ceviche tacos and imagined myself on the beach soaking in the sun with a margarita in hand. Whitefish gets “cooked” with lots of lime juice. And for a fun twist I made a vegetarian version using chopped up hearts of palm that was equally, (if not more), delicious than it’s pesca counterpart. You could serve them with chips as an appetizer, or with tortillas as more…

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Curried Sweet Potato Soup

Curried Sweet Potato Soup / loveandlemons.com

Thank you all so much for the sweet birthday wishes yesterday. I had a great day, although today is even better because the sun is shining for the first time in 3 days.. (I know, I’m so spoiled living where I do). Dreary weather just gets me so down… But it takes a few gloomy days to feel grateful for the gorgeous days… and if it weren’t for the occasional grey sky, I probably wouldn’t make as much soup as I do. We’ve been eating this one all week. It’s so hearty, warming and surprisingly easy. We’ve got just over…

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Sweet Potato & Pomegranate Salad

This pomegranate salad is winter food at its finest. With nuts, feta & a tangy vinaigrette, it's a yummy jumble of bright, creamy & crunchy components.

Sweet Potato & Pomegranate Salad // loveandlemons.com

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas! Aside from a short Christmas morning trip to the emergency vet (everyone’s fine, false – yet expensive – alarm) we had a pretty relaxing day. We consumed tons of food, wine, cookies, more wine, and a few extra (unnecessary) rounds of dessert. Pomegranate Salad Recipe Ingredients With New Years right around the corner, the indulgences aren’t over yet… but all the more reason to pack in veggies along the way. This winter salad is a variation of the sweet potato salad that I was obsessed with at the beginning of fall. I…

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Roasted Squash with Apple Salsa

Sweet winter squash are topped with a crisp and tangy fall apple-jalapeño-lime salsa. Serve for a unique Thanksgiving side or a healthy vegan and GF main!

My mom is in town visiting this week. Usually she comes bearing a pile of recipe clippings that she’s been collecting for weeks leading up to the trip. I’ve been stuck in a bit of a “same-ingredient” rut lately, so I was really looking forward to someone else just telling me what to make. But this time she showed up empty-handed and said, “I’m here to eat what you make – you know, all of those recipes you post that I never get to eat because I’m not close enough to stop by for dinner.” So I sat down and…

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Miso-Maple Sweet Potato Tacos

These Asian-inspired glazed sweet potato tacos are topped with a creamy cilantro-coconut sauce. Serve them for a healthy meat, dairy, and gluten free meal!

It’s good to be home. We got back from Barcelona late last night… a shower never felt so good, and my bed has never felt so soft. Yet I still woke up around 5am, in the dark, ready to start the day in some other time zone. Hours and multiple cups of coffee later, I’m still in my pajamas, the puppy is in my lap… and I feel like quite the energetic insomniac. Did you happen to see our kitchen tour yesterday? We shot that just before we left for our trip along with this recipe. The heat here in…

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Green Papaya Salad

Green papaya ribbons tossed with a bright Asian-inspired herb, lime, and lemongrass dressing make a unique and healthy vegetarian meal.

I’ve been dreaming of making a green papaya salad for a while now… I just don’t see them (the unripe not-sweet green kind) around too often. A few weekends ago Jack and I ventured out to the MT Supermarket, a ridiculously huge asian market that we’d somehow never been to. If you live here in Austin, have you been there? The only way I can describe it is that it’s maybe the Asian grocery equivalent to IKEA. Super overwhelming… fun but probably only because it was our first time… and make sure you are highly caffeinated before you go. Among other treasures, I came…

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Couscous Stuffed Red Peppers

A fresh late-summer dinner. Red peppers are stuffed with a delicious mix of lemony kale, mint, pine nuts, and cilantro. Vegan, gluten free option.

I’m not always good at simple. Looking back at some of recipes I’ve posted recently, I realized that I heavily rely on my Vitamix and my food processor. To me, these things are not a hassle, but “old me”, (in a previous life, I never used to cook), would completely skip over a recipe if it asked me to drag out my food processor. Even if i could find all of the pieces for it, I wasn’t interested in the mess and the cleanup. So the other night, I set out to make something that didn’t require fancy ingredients or any…

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Roasted Carrots & Cilantro

Sweet roasted carrots served with a creamy, tangy cilantro yogurt sauce make a healthy weeknight side or appetizer for spring or summer.

We don’t really like carrots. Ok, I take that back, we like cake made out of carrots, and we like raw carrots, but both Jack and I grew up with a disdain for cooked carrots. Of course, we only knew them as the mushy baby carrot version. Or worse yet, the mushy baby carrots in the pot roast version. We both have memories of our moms smasing the carrots and boiled potatoes together and pouring gravy on top. “But it’s so good this way”, my mom would say… each and every time… as if one day this mush would miraculously…

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Poblano “Crema” Enchiladas

Healthy, veggie-packed green enchiladas make a delicious spring or summer weekend dinner. Vegan & gluten-free with tomatillo sauce & poblano cashew crema.

Nothing like a five o’clock Friday post the day before Cinco de Mayo… I’m sure everyone’s off on a patio with a margarita in hand by now, but I just had to get this one last recipe out before I go pour my first happy hour drink. We made this last night (hence the late post). I’ve posted cashew cream before, but I have to say that this roasted poblano version really takes the cake. If you make only one component here, make that. It’s a wonderful creamy sauce on these vegan enchiladas, but it would be delicious dolloped onto…

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Crab Cakes with Avocado-Wasabi Sauce

Healthy baked crab cakes made with Asian flavors: lime, ginger, and coconut. This 30-minute meal is served with a creamy vegan wasabi sauce. Dairy free.

I don’t post about it a lot, but seafood is actually a staple part of our diet. The only reason I haven’t featured more of it is that I can’t cook a good-looking piece of fish to save my life. I can make it taste good, but I’ve either poked the holy heck out of it, or it comes off the pan broken… and I just can’t get seem to get a picturesque sear when it counts. But crabcakes covered in panko and baked (my preferred foolproof method so they won’t fall apart), I can do. Now, this flavor combo could…

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A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.