Sweet Corn & Arugula Panzanella

Jul30

Tell me, what’s your favorite summer salad?

If you said panzanella, you’re at the right place. If you didn’t say panzanella, that’s ok too, because I think you’ll be converted after you try this one! 🙂 It’s the ultimate summer salad to make with a bounty of fresh tomatoes. Or in this case, if you have a few tomatoes and a bounty of fresh sweet corn.

Panzanella may be an Italian bread salad, but the special part about this panzanella is that it’s not entirely about the bread. I think bread salads can often get a bit too bread-y, which is where the corn comes in. It’s fresh, crisp, and it soaks up the tangy vinaigrette and tomato juices so well. (Yes, the corn is raw here – when you have in-season fresh sweet corn it’s delicious this way!)

Plus, corn is my favorite summer vegetable and it’s just now coming into season, so I’ll be eating it pretty much every day from now until the end of September.

I would usually choose a lighter bread like ciabatta bread for panzanella, but I like this particular salad with cubes of hearty & seedy whole grain bread like this one:

Did I mention that this salad comes together in just one bowl? It’s great to make ahead and it’s the perfect side dish to go with whatever you’re grilling. If you have a bit left over, it makes a great lunch the next day by adding some chickpeas and another handful of arugula.

Portobello Fajita Burrito Bowls

Jul25

main dish / vegan / gluten free

Everyone loves a good burrito bowl, and here’s one that we’ve been really into lately!

We love mushrooms, but even if you don’t think you do, give this a try because the preparation is so so delicious! Smoky, charred portobello slices are topped onto bowls of sizzling fajita peppers, beans, rice, arugula, (the quickest) guacamole, and fresh pineapple salsa. It’s summer grilling at its finest and a great way to use pineapple salsa if you have any left over from making this recipe or this recipe.

The mushrooms are seasoned with a simple 1-step marinade. Brush them with adobo sauce (the sauce that comes in the can of chipotle peppers)… and that’s it! Set them aside to marinate while your grill pre-heats. The first time I made these, I was surprised by how juicy and flavorful the mushrooms turned out with so few ingredients and such little effort.

I cooked the peppers in cast iron skillet on the grill next to the mushrooms. If you also use a cast iron pan, make sure you have an oven mitt handy because this pan is HOT! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve burned my hand on hot cast iron skillets going to and from the oven or the grill.

If you don’t have a grill, you could make this recipe in a cast iron skillet on the stovetop.

Assemble the bowls with your desired fixings or the ones listed in the recipe below. Serve with extra salsa and enjoy!

Farmers Market Breakfast Bowls

Jul19

breakfast / summer / vegetarian

This post is in partnership with KitchenAid®.

Lately, my fridge has been overloaded with vegetables! We’ve been hitting one, if not two, farmers markets each week. After a long winter, I’m still in awe that we’re able to leave the house, enjoy the fresh air, and peruse rows and rows of glorious vegetables. I want to buy them all! It’s hard for me to hold back, even though I’m mindful of what we’ll actually be able to eat in a week. Another thing that’s hard to hold – my heavy veggie bags as Jack runs off to find the nearest cheese sandwich vendor.

With all of this great produce, we’ve been eating a ton of vegetables (Jack’s cheese sandwiches aside) and it feels great! This recipe is essentially a glorified salad for breakfast, but the cumin-spiced “riced” carrots and beets create a substantial grain-like base for these bowls. Juicy tomatoes, crisp radishes, and soft boiled eggs are all piled in, followed by a scoop of green goddess sauce to bring it all together. It’s a meal you can feel good about because so many veggies are packed in!

About that goddess sauce – it’s creamy, tangy, and full of fresh herbs.

So many people always tell me “but I don’t have a food processor! I live in a small apartment!” and I totally hear you. For years, I held off buying a food processor because I was worried about storing it. So my answer is: you have to try the new KitchenAid® 7 Cup Food Processor! It’s the perfect medium size that’s not too big for sauces and pestos, but not too small for falafels and veggie burgers. It can slice, chop and puree in no time without taking up a ton of counter space. It’s also easy to put together and clean (I put the pieces in my dishwasher). It’s the perfect everyday food processor, in my opinion. For space saving there is also a cord wrap under the food processor. I love it!

If you’re trying to eat more veggies, make these bowls! 🙂

My Favorite Easy Summer Recipes

Jul17

summer / vegetarian

This is how I feel about summer cooking: I don’t want to spend tons of time in the kitchen, but I DO want to make meals at home using all of the seasonal produce that is so stunning at this time of year. The nice thing about summer cooking is that since the ingredients are so wonderful, you don’t have to do much to them in order to make a great dish.

Click on the pictures to go to the full recipes:

Blackberry Basil Pizza

This is the easiest recipe in this post! Because blackberries and basil are such flavorful ingredients and make an A+ combination, the ingredient list is super minimal. This one gets rave reviews by my family.

Watermelon Poke Bowls

I love how the bright pink watermelon in these bowls mimics the look of sushi-grade fish, but you end up feasting on refreshing summer produce! Tangy sesame-tamari-lime sauce and poke toppings like pickled ginger fill these bowls with flavor.

Tart Cherry Tabbouleh

This riff on tabbouleh is perfect for summer picnics – it’s super easy, and it packs up well if you make it in advance! I love the chewy texture of the tart cherries alongside the freshness of parsley and mint.

Heirloom Caprese with Mint Pesto

This is the recipe to make if you have show-stopping local tomatoes. Elevate them just slightly with creamy mozzarella and bright mint pesto, and you have my ideal summer meal.

Corn & Green Bean Tomatillo Tacos

This recipe stars one of my favorite parts of summer: sweet corn! Simply grill the corn with green beans, and toss them both with cherry tomatoes, cilantro, and a zesty tomatillo salsa! Stuff the veggie filling into tortillas, and enjoy!

Watermelon Gazpacho

With its cool, refreshing tang, gazpacho is one of my all-time favorite summer dishes. Don’t worry, the watermelon in this soup doesn’t make it taste too fruity, but it adds a subtle sweetness to balance and accent the flavors of the other fresh ingredients.

Tomato, Peach & Corn Panzanella

With peaches, corn, fresh tomatoes, and herbs, this dish is packed with summer flavor. Plus, it’s an easy one-bowl recipe and super flexible. If you don’t like one of the ingredients, swap in something else or leave it out altogether!

Sweet Corn Gazpacho

Since corn and gazpacho are two of my favorite things, why not corn gazpacho? This soup couldn’t be easier – all the ingredients are blended together – and it gets more flavorful as it sits in the fridge!

Vegetarian Orzo Stuffed Peppers

These stuffed peppers are a great vegetarian main. Serve them with an herby yogurt sauce or top them with cheese for a heartier meal. Again, the filling here is flexible, so customize it with your favorite veggies and grains!

Zucchini Lasagna with Zucchini Ricotta

This recipe is from our cookbook, and I love that it lightens up traditional lasagna without sacrificing flavor. Planks of zucchini sub in for half the noodles, and a zucchini-basil-lemon vegan ricotta takes the place of the traditional cheese filling.

Peach Tostadas with Creamy Green Chili Sauce

I love the sweet and spicy combo that comes from layering fresh peaches with the creamy green chile sauce in this recipe. Refried beans, cotija cheese, cherry tomatoes, and pepitas finish these tostadas off, making them a light and flavorful option for when you have peak-season peaches.

Avocado Strawberry Caprese Salad

This version of caprese salad adds strawberries for extra sweetness, avocado for creamy texture, and pecans for a little crunch. With these add-ins, this simple salad is a crowd pleaser even without perfect tomatoes!

Spicy Mango Black Bean & Avocado Tacos

Another taco recipe! I love how tacos let summer produce shine without a lot of cooking. Crispy cabbage and sweet mango are the stars here… add a little spicy sriracha mayo, and you have a 10/10 dinner.

One Pot Vegetable Penne Pasta

This is the simplest pasta recipe of them all: add the veggies, pasta, and water to a pot, bring to a boil, and in less than 15 minutes you have a full meal! The starches from the pasta create a sort of creamy sauce in this recipe that’s amped up with lemon juice and zest.

Heirloom Tomato Bean-LT Sandwiches

When tomatoes are in top form, it’s BLT time! The “B” in this recipe is a simple white bean spread full of delicious tang from lemon and capers. Top this sandwich with smoked paprika for a hint of bacon-like flavor!

Almond Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

This is one of my family’s favorite recipes on the blog, and it’s a good way to polish off your excess zucchini in the summer. The chocolate chips on this bread make for a heavenly combination with the cinnamon and zucchini. With my family around, I didn’t have many leftovers, but if you do, this bread freezes well!

Cardamom Yogurt Tea Cake

Jul15

summer / snack / dessert

I hope you’re all having a great weekend! Ours has been pretty chill – we went to the farmers market, Jack played video games, and I did some baking. I’m excited to share this lovely little tea cake recipe with you because I think it’s the perfect Sunday afternoon treat. It’s lightly sweet and nicely spiced. The yogurt makes it tangy while giving it a nice puffed up look. It’s moist with that perfect cake-y crumb that you want in a quick bread.

I’ve been snacking on it all week reflecting on the lovely trip that inspired it…

One of the great perks of my job is when I get to visit new, picturesque places and meet farmers who so passionately live for their work. I got this in spades when Stonyfield invited me to Vermont to visit some of their partner organic family farms and to hear from their co-founder Gary Hirschberg. I’m not sure what I expected, but after spending two days meeting with the farmers and hearing Gary’s mission of (basically) converting our whole planet to organic, I left truly inspired.

I was delighted to see that these farms are true family farms, as Stonyfield doesn’t actually own their own dairy farms. In order to work with Stonyfield, these farms have to be organic, which basically means that the cows predominantly eat grass from the pasture and are not exposed to pesticides, antibiotics, or other chemicals. Being organic is not only best for the animals and the land, these farmers spoke passionately about the benefits to their families as well.

I heard one story of a farmer who converted to organic because he had a lightbulb moment when he realized that he could not come home from a day’s work in the field and hug his children without stopping in a shed to wash off pesticide residues first. Now that his farm is organic, his kids can ride on the tractor with him and spend time helping out, hopefully inspiring a future generation of responsible farming.

We all loved was petting the cows! It was so cute that they responded like little puppies – they love the attention! It was a joy to see the farmers’ love for their cows – one was reluctant to switch to organic BECAUSE she loves them so much. She was afraid that her cows would get sick without antibiotics, but she was happy to discover that when they were in a healthy ecosystem, with grass to eat and a pasture to roam in, the cows simply didn’t get as sick. Someone else said that they paid more for their dog’s vet bills than for keeping their cows healthy after switching to organic.

Of course, we had the pleasure of enjoying meals full of great organic produce every day of the trip. Pictured above was a wonderful farm lunch at Green Wind Farm, where we had one of many meals sitting around the table listening to Gary’s stories of starting Stonyfield and his passion for organics.

The final dinner was on the hilltop of Philo Ridge Farm at sunset, hosted by Blue Apron‘s Culinary Team. The evening kicked off with hors d’oeuvres, Blue Apron wines, and a tour of Philo Ridge, followed by an amazing, interactive farm-inspired dinner. The chefs spoke about their sourcing philosophy, namely the emphasis on seasonality and sustainability. It was fun to chat with Blue Apron’s head chef John Adler about their processes for creating and testing recipes that are fun (and educational!) for people to make. Their dedication to bringing people around the table with an incredible meal experience was so apparent, especially with details like decorating the table with fresh herbs as the centerpiece so we could DIY garnish our dishes – I may steal this idea for my next dinner party!

We ended the meal with the cake that inspired the recipe below, and took home samples and instructions for a special sunflower seed granola recipe. All in all, an amazing way to end my trip to beautiful Vermont.

Love and Lemons

Healthy, Seasonal, Whole Food Recipes Blog

Sweet Corn & Arugula Panzanella

Portobello Fajita Burrito Bowls

Farmers Market Breakfast Bowls

My Favorite Easy Summer Recipes

Cardamom Yogurt Tea Cake