Mango Sesame Avocado Salsa

This wasn’t originally going to be a post, but of course that’s how so many of these things start out. I was making dinner one night last week… the mango salsa I usually make, on top of seared tuna. (thanks to my Aunt Judi for the suggestion!). I started preparing my tuna the way I usually do – marinated in soy sauce and maybe some ginger… pressed in sesame seeds, with a drizzle of sesame oil at the very end. That’s when I had the “ah-ha moment” that those asian-inspired ingredients would make for a nice spin on the salsa itself. So…

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Creamy Roasted Tomato Gazpacho

A creamy summer soup that's made with roasted tomatoes, peppers, marcona almonds and thickened with bread.

vegan / summer / soups

There’s a soup for all seasons, and summer is no exception. Chilled gazpacho, along with a big salad is my perfect summer dinner. And summer lunch. And dinner again the next night if there happens to be any left. This is a bit of a twist on a Spanish style gazpacho. I make it numerous ways, always drawing on the memory of the one I had on this day. Sometimes I switch up the peppers, sometimes I make it raw. Sometimes I add a few spices. But I particularly love the subtle smoky flavor that happens when the ingredients are first…

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Serrano & Corn Salsa

summer / vegan / gluten free

This recipe started as an idea for a salad. My salad “testing” often happens during lunch – I experiment with a variety of veggies, usually a concoction of whatever I happen to have around. When I come across an especially good combo, I save the idea and make it again later to shoot for a post. The afternoon I sat down to eat the salad-version of this, I was sure it would be a winner. Corn, peppers, cucumber, tons of lime… an easy recipe to use up tons of late summer produce. Well it turned out to have a little…

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Roasted Shishito Peppers

summer / appetizers / local

I’ve posted these little guys before, but they’re one of my favorite summertime snacks, so I couldn’t help myself from sharing them again this year. Nearly every weekend I pick them up from JBG at the farmers market. If you’ve never had shishitos (or padrones), they’re mild… but they say 1 out of every 10 is a spicy one. Sometimes I roast them simply – with just some soy sauce and sesame oil. This time I made a few dipping sauce options. These sauce recipes will make more than you will need for the peppers. The leftover basil yogurt was…

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Cherry Tomato Basil Salad

A simple summer salad - perfect for picnics and BBQ's when tomatoes are in season!

summer / salads / gluten free

I realize… this hardly counts as a recipe. In fact, I can list a whole slew of “recipes” I’ve posted that don’t reinvent any wheel or involve genius ingredient combinations. But it’s summer, and I’m of the opinion that when summer produce is at it’s peak, you should do little with it. That, or I’m starting to get lazy, I’m not sure which. Either way, this not-rocket-science salad was dinner last Sunday night. A simple & pretty way to welcome the first official weekend of summer. It’s a glorified caprese salad, with sweet basil oil and some crunchy raw corn.…

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Lemony Pea Pesto

spring / appetizers / vegetarian

My husband Jack can’t tell a lie. Not because he’s any nicer than the rest of us, he’s just incapable of it. For example, if he made this for me and wanted to hide the fact that it’s made almost entirely of peas, it would go like this: Me: yum, what’s in this? Him: um… well not peas, that’s for sure. It’s endearing, really. He’s the most trustworthy guy you’d ever meet because he doesn’t know how to be any other way. So now that this post is going up, the cat’s out of the bag and I have a teeny…

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Strawberry Balsamic Crostini

summer / appetizers / berries

I have a soft spot for the trio of tomato, basil, & balsamic. Jack has a soft spot for soft cheese (ok, really, any cheese). Since I likely don’t need to explain how to make a tomato crostini, I made a little sweet twist on my favorite appetizer using strawberries instead. You could toss the strawberries in balsamic, or go one extra step and reduce the balsamic into a pan until it becomes a more concentrated, tangy syrup. And be sure to get the sweetest strawberries and some good fresh mozzarella because when there are this few ingredients, each one counts. p.s. I’m…

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Mango Pesto

mango / vegan / gluten free

Admittedly, I have a pesto obsession (see here, here & here). Adding mango wasn’t something that ever occurred to me, but I’ve been trying to think of simple creative ways to use mango. (And no this isn’t another Arrested Development post, if you know what I mean. If you don’t, you can google it)… But mango pesto – so delicious, who knew? I just love this lighter and brighter twist, especially for summer. You can be healthy, like we were, and eat it as a snack with sliced cucumbers. Or you can do what we did with the leftovers – scoop it on…

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Parmigiano & Fig Grilled Cheese

vegetarian / whole foods

A few weeks ago Whole Foods set out to break the Guinness World Record of number of Parmigiano Reggiano wheels cracked simultaneously. Jack and I were the “official” witnesses of Parmageddon at our Austin store. I know what you might be thinking… how does the lactose intolerant girl get herself into these things? Well, first of all, Jack will not ever turn down an opportunity for free cheese. And second, in recent years I’ve learned that hard cheeses don’t have very much lactose, and that I don’t have as much of a problem with really high quality cheese. (ie. just…

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Edamame Hummus & Radish Crostini

Fresh spring toasts topped with zesty edamame hummus and lemony yogurt dip.

appetizers / vegan / spring

It’s been snack time around here lately. I don’t know if it’s because spring is in the air, or because our schedules have been irregular lately, but we seem to have traded regular meals for snacky meals. Here are two variations that we’ve recently called dinner… best served with wine and maybe a light soup or salad. The snacking continued with the leftovers. The next morning I baked a tortilla until crispy, and topped it with edamame hummus and a fried egg. (New discovery: the breakfast tostada). The rest of the yogurt sauce went on a salad with chopped veggies.…

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Mushroom & Quinoa Lettuce Wraps

spring / vegan / gluten free

Nutella one day, quinoa the next. This is what I call balance. Tasty balance. Last week, I had this huge head of red lettuce. After a few days of salads, I worked my way down to the small rounded leaves in the center. I thought they were just too cute to tear apart into another salad, so I thought… lettuce wraps. This could be a lovely spring appetizer, or a light meal for two. Especially if you’ve been over-indulging lately like we have been.

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Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.