Homemade Harissa

Harissa is a North African chili paste that's sweet, spicy, and aromatic. Made with fresh and dried peppers and spices, my recipe is easy and delicious.

Move over, ketchup and hot sauce—this homemade harissa recipe is one of my favorite condiments to keep on hand. Made with a blend of roasted red peppers, dried chiles, warming spices, garlic, and lemon, my version of this North African chili paste is sweet, smoky, and bright, with a subtle kick of heat. I love stirring it into shakshuka for spice, slathering it in falafel wraps, and dolloping it on roasted veggies to punch up the flavors. I started making homemade harissa years ago, back before it was widely available in grocery stores in my area. These days, it’s much…

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Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

This oatmeal bars recipe is a perfect meal prep breakfast! Easy to make in one bowl, the bars are soft, chewy, and filled with walnuts and dried fruit.

On busy mornings, I love having a stash of these oatmeal bars on hand. They’re a perfect grab-and-go breakfast, packed with hearty oats, walnuts, dried cranberries, and eggs to hold them together. They have a delicious soft-baked texture, and brown sugar and cinnamon fill them with sweet, spiced flavor. With two kiddos in the house, I rarely have time to make actual oatmeal on a weekday, but lucky for me, these oatmeal breakfast bars are even better! I adapted this oatmeal bars recipe from my baked oatmeal. When I started working on them, my goal was for them to have…

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Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins

These mini muffins are one of my son's favorite snacks! Filled with chocolate chips, they're moist, puffy, and easy to make with basic ingredients.

Let’s make mini muffins! These bite-size treats are moist, puffy, and studded with gooey, melty mini chocolate chips. The recipe calls for basic ingredients and is easy to make—easy enough that if you have mini-muffin-loving kids in your house, they can help bake! These chocolate chip mini muffins have been one of my family’s go-to snacks for over a year. I developed the recipe because, well… I had gotten in the habit of buying store-bought mini muffins for my son Ollie when he was a toddler. But last summer, we started baking together every week, and I decided it was…

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Succotash

This succotash recipe is the ultimate summer vegetable side dish! Ready in under 30 minutes, it's packed with corn, lima beans, tomatoes, and more.

This succotash recipe is a celebration of late summer vegetables, filled with sweet corn, peppers, tomatoes, okra, and lima beans. I lean into the fresh flavors by adding herbs like basil and thyme and mix in a pinch of smoked paprika for smoky depth. Ready in under 30 minutes, this succotash recipe is an easy side dish to whip up when you have lots of summer veggies on hand. I’ve been making different variations on it for years (see the Summer Squash Succotash on page 273 of The Love & Lemons Cookbook), but I’ve been especially loving this version this…

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Crispy Rice Salad

This crispy rice salad recipe is filled with crunchy textures and bright, bold flavors! It stars fresh veggies, herbs, peanuts, and a sesame ginger dressing.

This crispy rice salad recipe is quickly becoming my favorite summer lunch. It starts with a base of veggies—marinated cucumbers, edamame, scallions, avocado, and fresh mint—that I top with crunchy roasted peanuts, sheet pan crispy rice, and sesame ginger dressing. It’s so good that I’ve already made it 3 times this summer. Check back with me in a few weeks—I have a feeling I’ll have made it at least 3 times more. Crispy Rice Salad Ingredients I got hooked on the concept of crispy rice salads after eating an amazing one at Hai Hai in Minneapolis a few years ago. Theirs…

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Crispy Rice

This crispy rice recipe is a delicious way to add crunch to salads, bowls, and side dishes! It's easy to make on a sheet pan with 4 simple ingredients.

This crispy rice recipe is one of my favorite ways to add crunch to salads and bowls. Easy to make on a sheet pan with just 4 ingredients, it transforms dry, dull day-old rice into something completely delicious. It’s crackly, toasty, and infused with nutty, savory flavor from tamari and sesame oil. I love it as the base of a bowl or salad or as a crunchy topping for roasted veggies, sweet potatoes, and more. I developed this crispy rice recipe after eating the most delicious crispy rice salad at a restaurant (shoutout to Hai Hai in Minneapolis!). I’d made…

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Peach Crisp

This peach crisp recipe is one of my favorite summer desserts! Easy and delicious, it has a brown sugar oat topping and sweet, juicy peach filling.

summer / desserts

This peach crisp recipe is a delicious, easy summer dessert. Just slice up some sweet, juicy peaches, toss them with a little sugar, flour, lemon, and vanilla, and bake them with a quick brown sugar and oat crumble on top. The whole thing calls for 10 ingredients and is ready in under 45 minutes. Peak-season peaches have always been one of my favorite parts of summer. While there’s nothing I love more than eating one over the sink, the juice dripping down my chin, this fresh peach crisp recipe is a close second. I’ve been making it for years, and…

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Caprese Gnocchi

This Caprese gnocchi recipe combines baked gnocchi with classic Caprese flavors. Perfect for summer weeknights, it cooks on one pan in 30 minutes!

This Caprese gnocchi recipe is about to become your go-to summer weeknight dinner! It cooks on one pan in under 30 minutes and is bursting with fresh flavor. Inspired by a classic Caprese salad, it combines store-bought gnocchi with summer tomatoes, fresh basil, and creamy mozzarella cheese. Just like in my sheet pan gnocchi recipe, I don’t boil the gnocchi here. Instead, I bake it in the oven alongside cherry tomatoes. The gnocchi soaks up the flavorful tomato juices while becoming lightly crisp and browned. After baking, I finish it with torn mozzarella, basil, and dollops of pesto for bold,…

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Whipped Cottage Cheese

This whipped cottage cheese recipe is an easy, delicious high-protein snack! It's smooth, creamy, and ready in 5 minutes. I love it as a dip for veggies!

This whipped cottage cheese recipe is an easy, delicious high-protein snack. It comes together in under 5 minutes: just add cottage cheese to a food processor with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and a pinch of salt. With a couple of pulses, the curds in the cottage cheese disappear. You end up with a creamy, tangy, silky-smooth dip that’s perfect for scooping up with crackers and veggies. It’s been on repeat in my kitchen lately. I love blending it up on the weekend so that I have a grab-and-go snack on hand during the week, and it’s also a great last-minute…

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Pasta Alla Norma

Pasta alla Norma is a traditional Sicilian pasta dish made with a flavorful tomato sauce and eggplant. Learn how to make it with this easy recipe!

Eggplant lovers, this pasta alla Norma recipe is for you! Eggplant skeptics, I think you’ll actually get behind this Sicilian pasta too. It stars a garlicky tomato sauce filled with tender eggplant slices. The eggplant practically melts into the sauce, thickening it and adding rich flavor. I round it out with ricotta salata cheese and a shower of fresh basil. Pasta alla Norma is a classic Italian pasta dish that originated in Sicily, in the city of Catania. My recipe has traditional flavors, featuring a tomato sauce with eggplant, ricotta salata, and basil, but I roast the eggplant instead of frying…

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Burrata Salad

This burrata salad recipe is a delicious summer side dish! A fresh twist on a Caprese, it's filled with juicy tomatoes, pesto, and creamy burrata cheese.

This burrata salad recipe is simple summer perfection. Easy to make in just 15 minutes, it stars juicy heirloom tomatoes, balsamic-dressed cherry tomatoes, drizzles of pesto, fresh basil, and torn burrata cheese. It’s like an updated take on a Caprese salad, with the creamy burrata instead of mozzarella and the pesto for extra basil flavor. I’m a Caprese fan through and through, but I might like this burrata version even more than the classic. I originally made this burrata salad recipe in late spring, when we got our first tomatoes of the season in Austin. I can’t count how many times…

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Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

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I'm Jeanine Donofrio, a New York Times bestselling cookbook author and recipe developer. I share fresh, delicious vegetarian recipes that celebrate seasonal ingredients and flavors.

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