Watermelon Tomato Salad

Hot days call for hot food, and this spicy watermelon tomato salad is the perfect grilling side! A punchy ginger dressing ties it all together.

I hope you have lots of tomatoes. Why? Because I have a really great watermelon tomato salad for you! This one is completely different from Tuesday’s tomato salad – it’s really quick and full of spicy/sweet/savory/tangy flavor. You may recognize the gingery tamari-lime dressing from the cookbook and also from these rice bowls. It’s so perfect here because the contrasting flavors really make the sweetness of the watermelon pop. This is the salad that I’ll be eating until summer is over because it’s just so delicious and refreshing. Watermelon Tomato Salad Ingredients And speaking of pop – this one is…

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Avocado Summer Rolls

These fresh vegetable summer rolls make a fantastic healthy snack or light meal. Serve with creamy vegan coconut basil sauce for dipping!

All of the fresh herbs that we have growing on our little deck inspired this recipe for summer rolls. We have a ton of basil and some very fragrant Thai basil, among other plants like Thai chiles, tomatoes, peppers, and even figs. We’re very proud of our little plant escape, and when I say “we” I mean that I’m very proud that Jack has been lovingly watering everything up to twice a day to keep it all going. This might be the longest that we’ve actually kept plants alive. Dipping Sauce for Summer Rolls Since I know many of you…

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Cucumber Gazpacho

Spice up your summer with this easy cucumber gazpacho! Made with tomatillos, cucumber, jalapeño & cilantro, it's a cool, refreshing soup.

I love gazpacho. If it’s on a restaurant menu, I’m ordering it, and once summer rolls around, I make it at home as much as I can. To date, I’ve made gazpacho recipes out of watermelon, tomatoes (raw and roasted), corn, green apples, zucchini, and even carrots. I think it’s fun to experiment with different types of fruits and vegetables to find out if they can blend up into delicious cold soups. So why did it take me so long to think about tomatillos and cucumber?! I get giddy about tomatillo salsa, so the obvious next step was to throw…

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Ultimate Crudité Platter

Move over, grocery store veggie tray - here's the ultimate crudité platter for any party! Full of sweet & savory components, it's a delicious appetizer.

I love a good crudité platter. I feel like they get a bad rap because the grocery store versions with the sad celery, raw cauliflower, and grubby carrots are never the most exciting appetizer at a party, but this board fixes that by being bright, fun, and delicious! It’s a yummy mix of fresh things, salty/savory bites, and even a sweet element from the delectable Tart Cherry Thyme Compound Butter. Each little recipe is made up of super simple combinations of creative ingredients that, together, make a really unique crudité platter! I brought this board to my family’s Father’s Day…

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Chipotle Cauliflower Nachos

The ULTIMATE vegan nachos, these are loaded with smoky cauliflower "cheese" sauce, sweet pineapple salsa, black beans, cilantro, and tomato.

If you made Thursday’s stuffed peppers and have leftover pineapple salsa and leftover chipotles, this recipe is for you! And if you didn’t, well that’s ok, you can still make it anyway 🙂 This is a nacho plate that you can feel good about! Instead of weird boxed nacho cheese, we’re making an oozy, spicy cheese-like sauce out of cauliflower. Seriously, is there anything that the mighty cauliflower can’t do? What’s in Chipotle Cauliflower “Cheese” Nacho Sauce? Good question! This irresistible sauce consists of 10 simple ingredients: Cauliflower makes up the bulk of the sauce and contributes to its luscious creamy…

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Stuffed Mini Peppers

Serve these stuffed mini peppers as a crowd-pleasing party appetizer, or pair them with smoky chipotle pinto beans and enjoy them for dinner!

These stuffed mini peppers are the perfect summer party appetizer! They’re bursting with bright, zesty flavor, they’re easy to make, and they’re just so darn cute. I already have an affinity for miniature things, so when miniature vegetables come into the picture, I’m automatically on board. I always love making stuffed red bell peppers and stuffed poblanos in the summertime, so when I saw these Organic Mini Sweet Peppers at ALDI, I immediately knew that I wanted to make a stuffed mini peppers recipe. They take everything I love about regular stuffed peppers and shrink it into a miniature, shareable…

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Four Simple Summer Snacks

Four easy, healthy, delicious snack ideas that are easy to make - perfect for busy weekdays or fun weekend bites.

On social media, everyone always talks about the concept of “not a sad desk lunch”… but what about “not-a-sad desk snack?” For me, snacks can get SO boring. Often, at 3pm when my stomach is growling, I reach for a handful of plain raw almonds because that’s all I’ve got (when I’ve already eaten through the roasted ones). And then I’m kind of bummed that I didn’t have something a little more flavorful and that I just wasted a perfectly good snack opportunity. So today – better snacks! Whether you work at a desk or you’re constantly on the go,…

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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!

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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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.

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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Asparagus Ribbon, Mint & Pea Pesto Toasts

Have you ever tried peeling asparagus into ribbons? Lightly crisp, fresh & delicious, they're just the thing to top these yummy spring-themed toasts.

If you love asparagus, but the people you’re living with don’t, this post is for you. Even if you’re just blasé about asparagus, like I used to be, give it a chance by ribboning it! The thin, raw ribbons tossed with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper are so fresh and delicious that you’ll completely avoid the unpleasant fibrous, stringy experience that asparagus sometimes causes. You can toss them in salads, put them on pizza… last weekend we ate them on fancy toast because these happened to be the ingredients that I had on hand. To make the ribbons, you…

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Vegan Seven Layer Dip

This healthy recipe for seven layer dip is a guaranteed party hit! Refried beans, guac, spiced quinoa, cashew cream & fresh veggies load it with flavor.

I have a huge weakness for seven layer dip. Growing up, my mom made it for SO many holidays and gatherings. I’d be sure to grab a seat at the table right next to it so that I could gobble it up, chip after chip after chip after chip. In my family, this was (and still is) called Tex Mex dip. When Jack and I were first dating, he thought this was hilarious, and once I moved down to Texas with him I learned why – this dip is neither Tex nor Mex. In the intervening years, I also learned…

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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.