Nicoise Salad

You won't miss the tuna in this vegetarian spin on a Niçoise salad! Olives, artichokes, capers, and lemon vinaigrette fill it with bright, briny flavor.

I first fell in love with Nicoise salad when Jack and I visited the city where it originated: Nice, France. While we were there, I ordered it everywhere we went. There’s something about the combination of crisp summer veggies, bright lemon vinaigrette, and briny olives and capers that I find absolutely irresistible. As an added bonus, hard boiled eggs and potatoes make it hearty enough to be a meal on its own. And in the summer, anytime I’m eating salad for dinner, I’m happy. If you’re familiar with traditional Niçoise salad, you know that it’s made with tuna. Of course,…

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51 Easy Picnic Food Ideas

Looking for new picnic food ideas? You're in the right place. With recipes for sandwiches, wraps, salads, and more, we've got something for everyone!

summer / favorites / favorites

It’s picnic season! Your blanket’s ready, your cooler’s out, and you can’t wait to get outside. Now, all you need is good picnic food to take with you. In my experience, the best picnic food ideas aren’t just delicious – they’re simple, too. They’re dishes that you can make ahead knowing that they’ll still taste great when you’re ready to eat. They’re easy to pack in a cooler or a bag, and you only need a few utensils to serve them. No utensils? Even better! Jack and I don’t have any big travel plans this summer, but we are anticipating…

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Radish Salad

If you like radishes, you'll LOVE this radish salad recipe! It uses them two ways - roasted and raw - and has a bright radish green pesto on top.

spring / salads

I immediately thought, “Radish salad!”, when I opened our CSA box a few weeks ago and found a heap of gorgeous radishes inside. Often, radishes play second fiddle in green salads and noodle bowls, but at this time of year, when they’re extra-crisp, piquant, and even a little sweet, they deserve to be the star of the show. This radish salad recipe puts them front and center. I use the roots two ways – roasted and raw – and dollop a bright, nutty radish green pesto on top. Instead of adding a bed of greens, I bulk this salad up…

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Lemon Vinaigrette

This lemon vinaigrette recipe is SO easy to make! With its zingy, bright lemon flavor, it'll blow any store bought dressing out of the water.

cooking basics

How is it possible that in 8+ years of writing Love and Lemons, I haven’t shared a basic lemon vinaigrette recipe until now?! Often, I post salad recipes with a dressing included – a kale salad with carrot ginger dressing, a watermelon salad tossed with lime juice. But a few weeks ago, as I was whisking together this lemon vinaigrette, I realized that tying a dressing to a specific salad recipe can sometimes sell it short. This lemon vinaigrette is one of my favorite salad dressings. It’s zippy, fresh, and bright, it comes together in minutes, and it keeps well…

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Italian Chopped Salad

This chopped salad recipe is exactly what I want to eat in spring and summer. It may be light and healthy, but it's still packed with bold flavor.

salads

Who else loves chopped salad? I’m a huge fan of all salads, but chopped salad has to be one of my favorites. Because the ingredients are, well, chopped, you can get a little bit of everything in each bite, so it’s extra-flavorful and fun to eat! Speaking of fun, this chopped salad recipe comes from my friend Gaby’s new book What’s Gaby Cooking: Eat What You Want. If you’re not already familiar with Gaby’s blog and Instagram, you absolutely should be. Her recipes aren’t entirely vegetarian, but her California-style cooking is always packed with fresh produce. Her new book is…

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Bright Spring Salad

I'll be making this spring salad recipe all season long! Simple, bright, and delicious, it's the perfect way to showcase the season's best produce.

spring / salads

When the weather warms up in the spring, there’s nothing I crave more than this spring salad. Light, bright, and packed with spring’s best produce, it’s a perfect example of why eating seasonally is so exciting. This spring salad recipe is almost entirely veggies, but because each one is at its snappiest, sweetest, or softest right now, you don’t have to do much to turn them into a tasty dish. Toss them with a zesty dressing, sprinkle on a little cheese, and add a handful of nuts for crunch. With just a few minutes of effort, you’ll have made a…

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Citrus Salad with Fennel & Avocado

This citrus salad will brighten up any winter day! It's refreshing, light, and filled with flavor from fennel, fresh mint, avocado, and more.

If a tomato salad is the best part of summer, a citrus salad is surely its winter counterpart. When tender greens and bursty berries are still months away, citrus season is at its peak. Good tomatoes may be scarce, but satsumas, grapefruit, oranges, and mandarins are sweet and acidic, juicy, and vibrant. So if I’m in the mood for something fresh, light, and bright in the winter months, a citrus salad is the first thing I turn to. This recipe is my favorite citrus salad yet! It uses a mix of fruit to show off the season’s best, and it’s…

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Curried Lentil Salad

Prepare to fall in love with this lentil salad recipe! It's filled with bold curry flavor, it's fresh, yet satisfying, and it even tastes great on day two.

vegetarian / salads

This lentil salad recipe is my ideal winter lunch. It’s fresh and filled with veggies, but it’s hearty and satisfying at the same time. Curry spices and a zippy cilantro lime dressing infuse it with bright, bold flavor, and cubes of roasted paneer cheese and crisp turmeric cauliflower give it unexpected complexity and texture. Furthermore (yes, there’s more!), it’s flexible and easy to make, and it still tastes great after a few days in the fridge! Serve it as a side dish or prep it on a Sunday for lunches all week, but no matter what, make this lentil salad…

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Pomegranate Rice Salad

This rice salad recipe will brighten up any fall or winter meal! Studded with pomegranates, pistachios, and herbs, it's a stunning, fresh holiday side dish.

fall / salads

How pretty is this rice salad? If you’re looking for an easy holiday side dish that doesn’t skimp on flavor, this recipe is just the thing for you. It’s simple, you can prep it ahead of time, and it’s richly flavorful. A spiced citrus dressing coats the hearty rice, nuts add crunch, and herbs give it fresh, aromatic flavor. Last but not least, a sprinkle of pomegranate arils takes it over the top! Today, we’re partnering with POM Wonderful because Jack and I love pomegranates! He likes to snack on them and I like to use them in salads, dips,…

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How to Cook Couscous

Learn how to cook couscous! Toss this tiny pasta with herbs and lemon to make a simple side dish, or try one of the couscous recipes suggested below.

If you open up my pantry, you’ll almost always find a box of couscous inside. I love keeping this quick-cooking starch on hand, as it’s an easy side dish that pairs well with all kinds of meals. Because I’m such a big couscous fan, I thought I’d dedicate today’s post to discussing what it is and how to cook it. And of course, I’ll share some of my favorite couscous recipes! First, what is couscous? Couscous might seem like grain, but it’s actually a type of pasta. First made by the Berber people of North Africa, it’s made from rolled,…

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How to Cook Farro

Learn how to cook farro with this step-by-step guide! Plus, find my favorite farro recipes, along with more serving suggestions for this delicious grain.

fall / how-to

Do you have a favorite whole grain? I love everything from millet to quinoa, but if I had to choose one, I think it would be farro. It’s hearty and wholesome, with an amazing chewy texture and nutty flavor. I enjoy it all year long, but it really becomes one of my kitchen staples in the fall. Its toasty flavor is delicious with fall produce like squash, apples, and kale, and cozy herbs like sage, rosemary, and thyme are its natural companions. If you’ve never tried it before, now is the perfect time – toss it into salads, add it…

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Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.