Spicy Mango & Avocado Rice Bowl

It’s been feeling summery around here, so I say – let’s bring on the colorful food! Lately, I’ve been slightly obsessed with these black rice veggie sushi rolls that are new-ish at (our) Whole Foods. One in particular includes mango, avocado and cucumber and I find myself craving it all the time. I’ve had it on my list to recreate it for you for awhile now, but the idea of rolling sushi has felt too labor intensive. For us, at-home sushi making is “sometimes” food. It’s reserved for those special nights when the sake is flowing and we have nothing but extra time……

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Toast with Radishes & Dandelion Greens

I’ll never forget the first time I bit into a radish. I was in Sunday school and I was maybe seven or eight. I’m not sure if they ate radishes in Bible times, but for whatever reason that morning’s lesson involved passing around new raw foods to try. I don’t remember much else about that day except the shockingly bitter taste that I couldn’t get out of my mouth until my family picked up Dunkin’ Donuts on the way home. I spent years picking radishes out of salads until I slowly came to love the crunch and slightly bitter bite – especially when thinly sliced,…

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Watercress Farro Salad with Tart Cherries

There's no spring lunch I love more than this simple watercress salad. With a delicious blend of textures and flavors, it's a light, yet satisfying meal.

I have a confession to make – I am not only a terrible gardener, but I’m also a terrible herb gardener. They’re so easy to grow, but they’re oh-so-hard to remember to water. Lucky for me, my mom recently came to visit and planted tons of new herbs, including my favorites – basil and mint – just in time to include them in this salad. What would spring be without an herby grain salad, right? This one is packed with chewy farro, peppery watercress, and dried tart cherries, which add a necessary pop of sweetness to balance it all out. I’ve talked about the…

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Spinach & Sun Dried Tomato Frittatas

Do you have Easter brunch or Easter dinner? My family always has a formal Easter ham dinner, but around here brunch seems to be more popular. Not that it matters for us this year – Jack and I will doing what we’ve done for every holiday this year so far – testing and shooting cookbook recipes. Yep, that’s right – this book project started with Thanksgiving tacos and now Easter weekend will be a smorgasbord of random bits and bobs, tons of dirty dishes, and some really funky combinations of leftovers. There definitely won’t be ham, but there might be a few…

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Vegan Corn Chowder

This easy vegan corn chowder recipe is one of our all-time favorite soups! Smoky, sweet & creamy, it's destined for your regular meal rotation.

It’s hard for me to pick favorites, but I’ll come out and say it: this vegan corn chowder recipe is one of my favorite soups on the blog. I don’t care what temperature it might be outside – I could eat a bowl of this creamy, smoky corn chowder anytime. Vegan Corn Chowder Recipe Ingredients This vegan corn chowder recipe uses veggies and spices to get a delicious creamy texture and smoky flavor without any meat or dairy. Here’s what’s in it: Onion, garlic, and celery make up its aromatic base. Sweet corn is the star of the show! It…

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Lemon Broccoli Pasta + Exciting News!

I’ll cut to the chase and just start with “exciting news” part – we’re writing a cookbook! I haven’t been overly secretive about it, but it’s official… 288 pages of never-been-blogged-before vegetable-ey goodness will be out next April! (I know, I know, a whole year away – I promise it’ll be worth the wait). It’s being published by Penguin US and Penguin Canada, the teams behind some of my favorite books including Oh She Glows and What Katie Ate. We’ve been hard at work for months now and I can’t wait to show you how it’s coming together! I’ll be sharing updates and previews…

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Pavlovas with Lemon Coconut Cream

If you've never had a pavlova for dessert, you're in for a treat! In my recipe, I top vanilla meringue with lemony coconut cream, berries & fresh mint.

For me, there’s such an overlap between cooking and traveling – I just love navigating new recipes as much as I love exploring new places. I’m in my happy place when I’m getting lost, trying new things, and tasting new foods… whether in my kitchen or somewhere around the world. We’ve had a serious case of wanderlust lately. Jack and I have spent a good amount of time in Europe and Asia, but one place that’s been high on our travel list is New Zealand. By an amazing stroke of coincidence, Air New Zealand approached us to partner up for…

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Kale Salad w/ Avocado Tahini Sauce

This green-on-green salad was inspired by St. Patrick's Day, but its fresh flavor & creamy dressing have made it one of my year-round lunch favorites.

I have a very green, yet not very St. Patrick’s Day-themed recipe today. Maybe next year will be the year that I finally decide to revamp the shamrock shake (why don’t I think of these things earlier?). But for now, I’ve got green-on-green-on-green. Kale, brussels sprouts and avocado…. with some other veggies tossed in for crunch and a pop of color. The trick to raw kale salads is usually to massage the kale – this time I just chopped the leaves really small, mixed them with shaved brussels sprouts, and tossed it all with a creamy avocado tahini dressing to help wilt…

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Matcha Green Tea Ice Cream

When we go to Japan, our favorite treat is the matcha green tea ice cream. Here's my vegan version, which uses coconut milk in place of dairy.

Jack here, bringing you one of the many joys from our Japan travels – matcha ice cream. We had no idea, before going, that green tea ice cream was even a thing. But the minute you walk down the street in any touristy area, you’re guaranteed to see giant fake green soft-serve cones outside of ice cream shops. Seeing something so American and familiar as a giant fake soft-serve ice cream cone, but *green*, was, well, it made me want to eat some. Fast forward through the trip, and Jeanine and I must have eaten 1 cone each every other day. So enough…

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Simple Swiss Chard Pasta

Swiss chard brings two textures to this yummy 20-minute pasta. The stems add crunch, while the leaves gently wilt into the white bean & tomato sauce.

It doesn’t get much easier than this one. I’ll admit, I often get very veggie-happy. While I don’t mind chopping up a rainbow of vegetables – sometimes it’s more than ok to keep it simple and let just one ingredient be the star. Last night, I chopped up this beautiful red chard and tossed it with a few simple pantry ingredients. Dinner was done in less than 20 minutes, and Jack and I were able to get right back to our House of Cards marathon. (Don’t tell me what happens, we’re only a few episodes in). Chard works especially well in a 1-vegetable meal because…

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Vegan Spelt Chocolate Chip Cookies

Looking for the BEST vegan chocolate chip cookies? You've found them. Double this recipe to make a bigger batch, and enjoy!

Happy Saturday! I’m so excited to share this vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe today because I just realized something: for as much as I love to bake cookies, this blog is seriously lacking recipes to show for it. Then, I realized why – the camera can hardly snap a photo before Jack reaches his hand into the frame, and they all disappear. Waiting for me to arrange warm cookies nicely on a plate is not something this guy I’m with usually has the patience for. But today, we were able to get a few shots of these, and I couldn’t be happier, because…

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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.