How to Cook Corn on the Cob

Learn how to cook corn on the cob with this easy recipe! Hot, sweet, and juicy, it's the best summer side dish. Seasoning variations included!

It finally feels like summer around here, and for me there’s nothing more summery than corn on the cob! When I was a little kid, I remember my mom covering the stoop on the back patio with ripped-open paper bags, and my sister and I would spend hours removing the husks. I love sweet corn so many ways – I top it onto pizza, mix it into cornbread and cornbread stuffing, stuff it into tacos, blend it into hummus, add it to soups, chowder, and chili, or top it onto salad. You get the picture: I’m a corn addict! But my favorite…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Strawberry Salad with Balsamic

My sweeter take on a classic Caprese salad, this strawberry salad recipe is bursting with flavor from cherry tomatoes, basil, and tangy balsamic.

This strawberry salad recipe comes from our first cookbook, and it’s gotten rave reviews time and time again. Like so many spring and summer salads, it’s a perfect example of how fresh, in-season ingredients can combine to make a delicious dish in no time. This strawberry salad uses under 10 ingredients, but it still has an incredible mix of textures and flavors. The peak-season berries are sweet and juicy, and a handful of soft summer basil adds a surprising fresh accent. Toss in a little cheese and diced avocado for richness, pecans for crunch, and a drizzle of tangy balsamic,…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Sweet Potato Lasagna

This sweet potato lasagna recipe is my favorite kind of comfort food. Filled with herbs, cheese, and marinara sauce, it's super cozy, but healthy, too.

I’m so excited about this sweet potato lasagna recipe because it combines two of my favorite foods: sweet potatoes and lasagna! Instead of regular lasagna noodles, I use paper-thin sheets of sweet potato. I’m always a fan of finding inventive veggie substitutes for pasta and rice, but this sweet potato lasagna is what veggie dreams are made of. The tender sheets of sweet potato combine with a creamy filling, cozy herbs, and marinara sauce to create a comforting dish that just so happens to be good for you! I made my sweet potato noodles with the KitchenAid® Artisan® Stand Mixer Vegetable…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Butternut Squash Salad

This butternut squash salad is a must-try fall recipe! It's filled with spiced squash, pomegranates, goat cheese & a delicious cumin-date dressing.

Do you do Friendsgiving or Thanksgiving? Or both? We’re celebrating both this year, so I created this crowd-pleasing butternut squash salad recipe because I know both friends AND family members will love it. It’s the kind of salad that will convert anyone to being a salad lover, because it’s filled with spiced roasted butternut squash, pomegranates, goat cheese, and pistachios. It’s a roasty, spicy, creamy, tangy combo that Jack and I are pretty obsessed with. Butternut Squash Salad Recipe Ingredients This salad packs a huge punch of flavor, thanks to 6 essential components: Spiced roasted butternut squash. I toss the…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Zucchini Lasagna

This zucchini lasagna recipe is packed with veggies! I blend zucchini into the creamy filling and layer zucchini planks into the lasagna itself.

Everyone loves lasagna, so I put it on my “to make for September” list. My plan was to use the last-surviving summer vegetables, particularly zucchini since it’s still growing rampant. Instead of using regular ricotta cheese as the filling, I would make a healthier ricotta mixture. Maybe I’d even blend a vegetable to make the ricotta filling. And then I realized – oh wait, I have this Zucchini Lasagna Recipe in THE COOKBOOK that is already my favorite zucchini lasagna recipe of all time. So instead of reinventing the wheel, here’s the wheel! My Favorite Zucchini Lasagna Recipe This is…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Zucchini Lemon Orzo

I stumbled into making this easy orzo recipe when I had half a box of orzo in the pantry. It ended up being one of my favorite meals of the summer!

You know those days when you feel like there’s nothing in the fridge, but then suddenly you’re able to rally enough ingredients to pull together a great meal? You feel accomplished, creative, and oh-so resourceful. The best feeling! Well, this orzo pasta isn’t that recipe. This is the recipe that I came up with the night after. Normally when the fridge is empty and I haven’t gone shopping, we would go out to eat. But it was late – I didn’t want to go out and I definitely wasn’t up for a trip to the grocery store, so I started poking around in the…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Summer Blackberry Basil Pizza

We all love tomatoes & basil, but berries & basil are another perfect match. Try this sweet/fresh combo on this easy, delicious summer basil pizza.

Hey, long time no blog! So sorry about that! Things have been a little crazy over here since we’re moving in just a few days. I hope you’ve been able to enjoy a little time away from the computer this summer as well 🙂 Today’s Blackberry Basil Pizza recipe is super simple. I know I’ve been saying this a lot lately, but it’s summer, and I love a recipe that comes together without much fuss! The grocery list is short and the prep time is minimal, but the flavors are so fresh and delicious. If you haven’t tried combining blackberries and basil yet, you’ll…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Festive Fruit Salad with Lemon & Ginger

No summer picnic is complete without a fresh fruit salad, and this bright recipe, with a simple lemon-ginger dressing, is my absolute favorite.

My best 4th of July memories are all about watermelon and pool parties. When I was younger, we used to go to the community pool, and they hosted this relay race game where you’d swim across the pool trying to push a slippery watermelon with you. It was harder than you think, especially when you’re a little kid. Afterward they’d cut up the watermelon for all the kids to eat. Between the splashy water and the watermelon juices, well, it was all a big fun slippery summery mess. About this Fruit Salad Recipe All of these thoughts of watermelon made me immediately…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Farmers Market Potato & Asparagus Pizza

Celebrate spring with this light & bright asparagus pizza! Fresh herbs, crisp radishes, and a sprinkle of cheese make it an explosion of flavor & texture.

If you caught Monday’s post, I wrote all about my strategy for coming up with a dinner recipe while shopping on the fly at the farmers market. And, drumroll please… here’s what I made! It’s a big green, veggie potato pizza loaded with chopped asparagus, asparagus ribbons, cheese, flowering thyme, chives, and those pretty chive blossoms that I got at Chicago’s Logan Square Farmers Market. It’s spring on a plate… or rather, spring on dough. I know I say this all the time, but I LOVE letting local produce lead my meal planning. These fresh impromptu meals just really make…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Blueberry Fennel Flatbread w/ Whipped Feta

Here, blueberries & fennel make a wonderful unexpected pairing, and tangy whipped feta accents their sweet, fresh flavors. Perfect for a spring brunch!

If you caught last week’s post about my CSA box tips, you might recognize some of those ingredients here in this recipe. What I love most about my “surprise” Farmhouse box is that it inspires me to come up with flavor combinations that I would not have thought of otherwise. Blueberries and fennel?? Yes, it works! The saying is true – what grows together goes together. These were the first blueberries of the season, and I knew I wanted to make a simple recipe to really highlight them. This flatbread is so easy to make and I think it’d be such…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Creamy Polenta Recipe with Roasted Beets

Top creamy polenta with lemony raw & roasted beets, and you have a healthy, comforting, delicious dinner. Great for date nights!

We celebrated Valentine’s day early this year with this creamy polenta recipe. We actually celebrate most holidays early around here… at least food-wise. Christmas cookies in October, Thanksgiving food in late August and so on.  I’m not sure what we’re doing for “real” Valentine’s yet – but once I got this recipe just right and the pictures were done, Jack and I sat down to a romantic (albeit reheated) meal for two. The only caveat – Jack doesn’t like beets. He’s not a picky eater but beets are on his short list of foods he usually won’t touch. I originally tried…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>
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.