Berries & Coconut Cream

A simple spring & summer dessert when berries are in peak season! Made with vegan coconut cream.

Our 4th of July ended up being a quiet day, just the two of us. Jack grilled up some stuffed mushrooms & poblanos and then whipped together this juicy little dessert. We have a new annual tradition – which is not the 4th of July – but rather the annual “Jack cooks because Jeanine’s hand is all busted up from trying to break up yet another dog fight.” Yes, this has happened before, and no, I’ll never learn. Everyone’s fine, by the way, but lets just say our little Annie is looking much more disheveled than this guy. But back…

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Chile-lime Grilled Veggie Skewers

Chile-lime Grilled Veggie Skewers - mango, zucchini and red pepper are SO good on the grill. Serve them on skewers or wrap them in tortillas with tomatillo salsa. Perfect for memorial day or 4th of July cookouts.

Cookouts are not always a vegetarian’s best friend. Over the years, I’ve eaten more dry cardboard-flavored Boca burgers than I care to remember. And for no good reason other than I suppose most of the parties we used to go to were single-dude cookouts. You know the kind: burgers, buns, and beer. Done. Since my younger veggie days, I’ve learned a few things: #1: Veggies are (of course) amazing on the grill. and #2: Make foodie friends and life will be a lot tastier. Vegetarian or not, these would make a delicious addition to any summer bbq.

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Red, White, Blue & some Green

Happy weekend everyone! For those of you starting to plan your 4th of July celebrations, I’ve rounded up some of my favorite summer veggie recipes. From left to right & top to bottom: Grilled Panzanella  /  BBQ Portobello Sliders Seared Okra  /  Stuffed Red Peppers Veggie Ceviche Tacos  /  Edamame Succotash Also, as many of you know, Google Reader shuts down tomorrow, so don’t forget to import your list of regular reads over to another service. And/or click one of the options below to ensure you never miss a post: follow Love & Lemons on Feedly subscribe via email (you…

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Grilled Peach & Walnut Crumble

It’s going to be 106 degrees here today, so needless to say, summer is on. If you’re cooking out this weekend, I have the perfect simple dessert for you. No baking is required, just toss some peaches onto your already-hot grill and you’re nearly done. I, myself, will be having a “cook-in,” making this on my grill pan in my temperature controlled kitchen. A note about this walnut crumble topping – it’s become my go-to lately for quick desserts. Top it on any kind of fruit, add a scoop of ice cream & dig in.

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Cherry Tomato Basil Salad

A simple summer salad - perfect for picnics and BBQ's when tomatoes are in season!

I realize… this hardly counts as a recipe. In fact, I can list a whole slew of “recipes” I’ve posted that don’t reinvent any wheel or involve genius ingredient combinations. But it’s summer, and I’m of the opinion that when summer produce is at it’s peak, you should do little with it. That, or I’m starting to get lazy, I’m not sure which. Either way, this not-rocket-science salad was dinner last Sunday night. A simple & pretty way to welcome the first official weekend of summer. It’s a glorified caprese salad, with sweet basil oil and some crunchy raw corn.…

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Lemony Pea Pesto

My husband Jack can’t tell a lie. Not because he’s any nicer than the rest of us, he’s just incapable of it. For example, if he made this for me and wanted to hide the fact that it’s made almost entirely of peas, it would go like this: Me: yum, what’s in this? Him: um… well not peas, that’s for sure. It’s endearing, really. He’s the most trustworthy guy you’d ever meet because he doesn’t know how to be any other way. So now that this post is going up, the cat’s out of the bag and I have a teeny…

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Mexican Street Corn Salad

This Mexican street corn salad is one of my all-time favorite summer sides. Fresh, bright, lightly creamy & spicy, it's easy to make and sure to please.

This Mexican street corn salad is my at-home version of all the elotes we ate in Austin. Creamy, tangy, and a bit spicy, it’s one of my favorite ways to showcase summer sweet corn. If you’ve been reading the blog for a while, you know that fresh corn is one of my all-time favorite foods. Crisp, juicy, and sweet, you just can’t beat it. Of course, I’ll always love it straight off the cob, but this Mexican corn salad takes it to a whole new level. Mexican Street Corn Salad Recipe Ingredients If you’re not familiar with them, elotes are…

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Mango Lime Pops

Mango pops. These two words just feel happy together… and even happier between a couple of cute little fat asterisks. To be honest, I’ve been in a slight bit of a funk lately, but as I sit here to write this post, I’m realizing that there are so many things to be happy about. I don’t want to turn this into a big “be grateful for your life” post (although, be grateful for your life, it’s a good thing). But maybe take a second to think about the tiny things that make your world go ’round. For example mine, right…

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Cold Cucumber Soba

A healthier noodle dish that uses spiralized cucumber in place of half of the noodles. Fresh, healthy, vegan and gluten free.

I guest posted the other day at Turntable Kitchen. Kasey and Matt are in Japan, which is one of the places Jack and I loved the most. We spent a week in Kyoto and one of the first things we set out to find was soba. It’s served in teeny tiny hundred-year-old restaurants. The noodles are handmade, and cold soba is served plain with a dipping sauce. Just dip and slurp. The louder the better. Since the soba I make at home comes from a box I, of course, add stuff. But I try to keep it simple. We’ve been…

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Strawberry Balsamic Crostini

I have a soft spot for the trio of tomato, basil, & balsamic. Jack has a soft spot for soft cheese (ok, really, any cheese). Since I likely don’t need to explain how to make a tomato crostini, I made a little sweet twist on my favorite appetizer using strawberries instead. You could toss the strawberries in balsamic, or go one extra step and reduce the balsamic into a pan until it becomes a more concentrated, tangy syrup. And be sure to get the sweetest strawberries and some good fresh mozzarella because when there are this few ingredients, each one counts. p.s. I’m…

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Green Bean & Avocado Quinoa Salad

It’s been so inspired by the bounties of spring veggies that have been available lately. I think I’m the only person on the internet that has not gotten my hands on any ramps this season (do they even grow in texas?), but I really can’t complain because I still have tons of amazing options. They key to any great salad is a variety of tastes, textures and colors. Although I find that sometimes it’s easier to come up with new ideas if I set some kind of limitation. This particular day I had leeks, green beans, and dandelion greens I wanted to use.…

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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.