Spicy Mango, Black Bean & Avocado Tacos

What's more fun and more simple than mango tacos? Almost nothing. Serve these sweet & spicy little guys for a crowd-pleasing weeknight dinner.

I don’t care if it’s taco Tuesday, taco Wednesday, or taco Friday… to me, any day is a good day to stuff things into tortillas! Some people buy a loaf of bread every week as a grocery staple – I buy tortillas. So naturally, my on-hand tortillas came in handy as part 3 of this week’s meal plan. Here are the ingredients that I started with: from the Mango Black Bean Ginger Rice Bowls: – a chunk of green cabbage (always trying to find a use for leftover cabbage!) – black beans – mango – avocado from the Cucumber Nori…

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Nori Wraps

If you love sushi but don't love rolling it at home, these easy nori wraps are for you. They taste just as good, especially with spicy mayo drizzled on top!

gluten free / vegetarian

Meal #2 this week: Nori wraps! If you missed Monday’s post, I made these Mango Black Bean Ginger Rice Bowls as part of this week’s three meal series showing how ingredients from one meal can work into the next, and then again into one more. I did a similar five part plan a few months ago, and many of you wrote to tell me how helpful it was… so here we are again! At the end of the week, I’ll recap it all with a full grocery list. For this recipe, I started with these ingredients that I had on hand…

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Mango Ginger Rice Bowl

This rice bowl is one of our go-to meals when we're craving something light. It's easy to make, and mango, ginger & basil make it wonderfully refreshing.

dinner / vegan / gluten free

Welcome to another meal planning week! About a month ago, I wrote a 5-part series that was all about my basic approach to meal planning. This was the plan: I started the week with a set amount of groceries and ideas for 5 meals, each meal utilizing the ingredients from the day before. The “plan” was not set in stone, so that my dinners would be somewhat flexible if I got a new idea mid-way through the week. If you missed that series, check it out here 🙂 After getting such a wonderful response to that series, I thought, let’s…

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Strawberry Rhubarb Chia Overnight Oat Parfaits

This yummy parfait is one of my favorite strawberry rhubarb recipes. I dollop a simple jam over oats with granola & lightly sweet coconut cream.

breakfast / vegan / gluten free

Back when we lived in Austin, rhubarb season existed to me only via Instagram. Rhubarb didn’t grow where we lived, and I didn’t quite understand why there was a sudden explosion of rhubarb recipes all over the internet every spring… until now. After the longest winter ever, our farmers markets are open again(!) and the first types of produce to appear have been asparagus, rhubarb, and… cheese. Yes – I think cheese is considered a vegetable here in the Midwest. One of My Favorite Rhubarb Recipes So far, I’ve only used rhubarb to make crisps, crumbles, and this strawberry rhubarb…

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Grilled Potato Salad with Scallion Vinaigrette

This is not your average potato salad recipe! Grilled potatoes, grilled scallions & grilled blueberries make a fresh & flavorful summer side.

summer / vegan / gluten free

Happy Sunday! If you need one more recipe idea to make for your weekend celebrations, give this grilled potato salad a try! When I say the words “potato salad,” my mind can only think of the kind that is laden with mayonnaise… which, admittedly, I will eat and enjoy once in a blue moon, but I love this one SO much more. By using par-boiled and then grilled potatoes, you get to taste the wonderful char-ry taste of the actual potato and not just a bunch of mayo. Punch Up Your Grilled Potatoes with a Scallion Vinaigrette! And speaking of…

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Grilled Avocado with Veggie Ceviche

If you've never tried grilled avocado, break out the grill ASAP! Tart veggie ceviche over lightly charred, creamy avocado is a delicious grilling side.

vegan / gluten free

Grilling week continues! For the 3 recipes I’m sharing this week (the first was a grilled asparagus recipe if you missed it), I really wanted to choose produce that’s less commonly grilled. We’ll have all summer to grill my favorite staples like peppers, zucchini, and eggplant. I’ve never grilled avocado, so I thought “ooh, that’ll be fun!” It was fun, we loved it, and so will you: How to Make This Grilled Avocado Recipe Start by making the veggie ceviche filling with hearts of palm (they have a fish-like texture), tomato, serrano pepper, cilantro, and diced red onion for crunch. Toss…

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Farro Salad with Grilled Asparagus

Make this beautiful grilled asparagus recipe for your next cookout! With pea shoots, radishes & lemon thyme dressing, it's practically spring on a plate.

spring / vegetarian

Welcome to grilling week! This week, each of the 3 recipes I’m going to post will all involve the grill. The sun is finally shining and we’re getting ready for Memorial Day weekend, so what better time to cook outside? Of course if you don’t have an outdoor grill, you can always use a cast iron grill pan on the stove top. We’re starting this series with one of my favorite things to grill – asparagus! The key to great grilled asparagus is finding really fresh thin spears of asparagus. I like fat spears for ribboning, but thin spears are…

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Chickpea Salad Sandwich

This chickpea salad sandwich recipe is my vegan spin on a pan bagnat! Crunchy veggies, herbs, and olives fill it with bright and briny flavor.

vegan / spring / summer

Jack has kindly titled this chickpea salad sandwich a Pan Bag-Not. If you ask me, it has everything that makes a classic pan bagnat so craveable: crisp veggies, briny flavors, and soft baguette. However, it doesn’t include the traditional tuna or hard-boiled eggs. It may be completely unconventional, but it’s completely delicious (and completely vegan, too!). Chickpea Salad Sandwich Recipe Components This chickpea salad sandwich starts with my favorite plant-based “tuna” salad. It’s briny and tangy from capers, Dijon mustard, and lemon juice. Instead of mayo, I add a bit of tahini to make it rich and creamy. The chickpea sandwich…

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Strawberry Tart

You won't find any dairy or gluten in this delicious strawberry tart recipe! Instead, it has a bright coconut cream filling and a nutty almond crust.

gluten free

This strawberry tart recipe comes from the Sweet Laurel cookbook by Laurel Gallucci and Claire Thomas. I know you will absolutely love this book – there are SO many amazing allergen-free baking recipes (many are vegan as well). In addition to this simple strawberry tart, there are cakes, cookies, bars, pies, muffins, quick breads, and pop tarts. Each recipe is more decadent than the one before it, yet they all have short ingredient lists and simple instructions. I can’t wait to try the Apple Pie Bars and Double Chocolate Muffins in the fall, but right now, I’m obsessed with this…

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Gaby’s Strawberry Shortcake

This classic strawberry shortcake recipe is a lovely, fresh dessert! I made mine fancy by mixing fresh basil into the simple strawberry filling.

spring / summer

As I’ve gotten older, a funny thing has happened where I’ve become less obsessed with chocolate desserts and more in love with fruity desserts – especially if those fruits happen to be strawberries! I can enjoy chocolate cake in moderation, but when it comes to strawberries, I want them all. To me, strawberry shortcake is the perfect not-too-sweet, fresh & fruity summer treat. So naturally, when I flipped through my friend Gaby’s gorgeous new cookbook What’s Gaby Cooking: Everyday California Food, I went straight for the strawberry shortcake recipe. Well, actually, there were two strawberry recipes that spoke to me.…

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Quinoa & Kale Veggie Quesadillas

Veggie quesadillas are one of my go-to weeknight dinners, and I love this kale & quinoa version. Don't skip the tomatillo salsa for dipping!

dinner / vegetarian

Aaaand meal planning week continues on Day 3 with these Quinoa Kale Veggie Quesadillas. Just to recap, I’m trying something new this week where I’m posting easy real-life meals in the order that we actually eat them. What does this mean? I went to the grocery store at the beginning of the week, I prepped a few components while making dinner on day 1, and I’ve been using those components and leftovers from the prior meal to make a different meal each day. One meal leads into the next, which makes cook/prep time a breeze. These meals are not culinary…

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Welcome to Love & Lemons!