Pumpkin Soup

This creamy pumpkin soup recipe is perfect for a cool fall night. Packed with curry spices and pumpkin flavor, it's comforting, nourishing, and delicious.

Is there anything more autumnal than creamy pumpkin soup? A few weekends back, Chicago was seeing its first fall weather of the year. The air was crisp, a few leaves were turning yellow and red, and Jack and I were making our traditional Sunday trip to the farmers market. When we got there, I caught sight of a massive kabocha squash with vibrant orange skin. As soon as I saw it, I knew how I was spending my afternoon. On a cool day like that, there’s nothing I love more than making a big pot of soup. I scooped up…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

Creamy, cheesy, and SO delicious, this butternut squash mac and cheese is the ultimate fall comfort food. It'll be a hit with the whole family!

Butternut squash mac and cheese! If you thought the Trader Joe’s version was good, you’ll LOVE this homemade one. I adapted the recipe from my traditional macaroni and cheese. Instead of making a roux with flour and butter, I used pureed roasted squash as the base of the cheese sauce. The squash makes it insanely creamy (even creamier than classic mac!) and adds a subtle sweetness to the rich, cheesy flavor. Bonus: it sneaks in some extra nutrients too! This butternut squash mac and cheese has been a huge hit in our house. It’s comforting, delicious, and—thanks to the squash—just…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Falafel

Packed with fresh herbs and spices, this crispy baked falafel recipe is bursting with flavor. Stuff it into a pita wrap with all the fixings, and enjoy!

I’ll never forget the first time I tried falafel. Stuffed into pita bread with fresh herbs, crisp veggies, and a big slather of hummus, it was crispy, rich, and bursting with earthy, aromatic flavor. I devoured the entire wrap in minutes, amazed at the medley of tastes and textures dancing across my tongue. Falafel has been one of my favorite foods ever since. I still order it out to eat whenever I get the chance, but these days, I more often make this homemade falafel recipe. What Is Falafel? I’m getting ahead of myself. What is falafel, anyway? In case…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

These stuffed peppers are a vegetarian dinner that everyone will love! They're filled with rice and beans and topped with a melty layer of cheese.

These stuffed peppers deserve a spot in your dinner rotation! They’re the perfect combination of comforting and fresh, filled with a delicious blend of rice and beans and topped with melty cheese. Yes, they’re vegetarian, but these stuffed peppers are so tasty that everyone—meat eaters included!—will love them. I’ve shared other vegetarian stuffed peppers on the blog before, but this NEW recipe is hands down my favorite. Here’s why: The filling is so darn flavorful. It starts with a base of hearty brown rice, with black beans for protein and corn kernels for crunch. Onions, garlic, and tomato paste make it…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Eggplant Lasagna

You won't find any noodles in this eggplant lasagna recipe, but trust me—you won't miss them. Tender roasted eggplant is a delicious substitute.

This eggplant lasagna recipe is perfect for this time of year. Summer produce is still abundant, but the temps are starting to cool off. After months of eating salad recipes and veggie burgers off the grill, I’m ready to add comfort foods to our regular rotation. Eggplant lasagna, coming right up! If it’s not clear from the name, this eggplant lasagna recipe is a no-noodle situation. Instead of pasta, thin planks of roasted eggplant separate the layers of bubbly marinara sauce and melty cheese. It’s every bit as delicious as a classic lasagna (even Jack will vouch for it!), just…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Mediterranean Quinoa Bowl

This Mediterranean quinoa bowl is a delicious weeknight dinner or healthy lunch! Great for meal prep, it's packed with veggies, chickpeas, and more.

Quinoa bowl recipes are some of my favorite easy meals to toss together for a healthy lunch or weeknight dinner. I love them because They’re customizable. You can change up the quinoa bowl toppings based on what you’re craving or what you have on hand. They’re great for meal prep. Cook the quinoa and mix up a tasty sauce over the weekend. Then, quickly assemble quinoa bowls all week! They’re super satisfying…not to mention tasty! I fill my quinoa bowls with protein-packed quinoa, fiber-rich veggies, and big drizzles of a flavorful sauce. It’s the ultimate combination of healthy and delicious. You can…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Creamy Corn Pasta

This corn pasta is deliciously creamy...without any cream! Blended corn creates the sauce's luscious texture. Fresh basil takes it over the top.

This corn pasta recipe is late summer in a bowl. Just like the season, it feels transitional. While it’s bursting with fresh, summery produce like sweet corn and basil, it’s also creamy and comforting, suggestive of all the cozy fare we have coming our way this fall. To clarify—when I say that this corn pasta is creamy, I don’t mean that it’s made with actual cream. The luscious texture comes from the corn itself! It blends into a silky sauce that beautifully coats the pasta. More corn kernels stay whole for crunch, while basil and pecorino cheese add depth of…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Tofu Sandwich

Great for cookouts or game day, this tofu sandwich is loaded up with the works—BBQ tofu, vegan mayo, slaw, avocado, and pickles. Pass the napkins!

This tofu sandwich recipe doesn’t skimp on flavor. Smoky BBQ tofu plays off a tangy, nutty cabbage salad, which in turn contrasts with sour dill pickles, creamy avocado, and a soft, sweet bun. When it comes to plant-based cookout or game day recipes, it’s a tough one to beat. This tofu sandwich is bold, hearty, and seriously saucy. I learned the hard way: don’t attempt to eat it without a stack of napkins nearby. Tofu Sandwich Recipe Ingredients Here’s what you’ll need to make this tofu sandwich recipe: Tofu, of course! 1 (14-ounce) package extra-firm tofu, to be exact. Note…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

15 Easy Eggplant Recipes

Even eggplant skeptics will fall for these 15 tasty eggplant recipes! With tacos, pasta, salads, and more, they include something for everyone.

Of all the vegetable recipes I post, eggplant recipes are the most divisive. Early on, this surprised me, because eggplant recipes have always been some of my favorite foods to eat. As a kid, I never wanted to stop playing at dinnertime, except when my mom was making eggplant Parmesan. And when I started to explore vegetarian cooking on my own, grilled eggplant was one of the first dishes I mastered. But if I’ve learned one thing through writing Love and Lemons, it’s that not everyone likes eggplant. I’ve heard it called spongy, bitter, and bland, and to that I…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Sweet Corn Pizza

Corn on pizza? Yes, please! The crisp, juicy kernels offer a delicious contrast to the hearty crust, creamy cheeses, and nutty basil pesto in this recipe.

Do you have an opinion about corn pizza? Love it? Hate it? Never tried it? I’m firmly in the “love it” camp, and I’m sharing my favorite corn pizza recipe in the hopes of winning more folks over. Of all the pizza toppings out there, sweet corn is seriously underrated. The reason it’s so good is its texture. The lightly crisp, juicy kernels offer a delicious contrast to creamy cheese and starchy crust. They add an unexpected sweetness to a pizza as well. This white corn pizza really shows these qualities off. I pair the corn with lemony ricotta, melty…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

50 Fresh Tomato Recipes

Show off your peak-season tomatoes in these fresh tomato recipes! We've got salads, soups, pasta, and more—you're bound to find something you love.

Fresh tomato recipes go on repeat in our house every summer. In the dead of winter, there’s nothing I crave more than a summer tomato—sweet, juicy, and ripe. The out-of-season supermarket ones can’t compare, so when summer rolls around, I only have a few months to make every tomato salad, sandwich, pasta, and pizza I’ve imagined throughout the year. When I made my grocery list this morning, I added cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, and tomatoes on the vine. We have lots of tomato recipes on tap this week. 🙂 I hope you’re also cooking with tomatoes like crazy right now, while…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>
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.