Sambal Salsa & Black Bean Tacos

I’m a little bit behind. I realize – today is Ocho de Mayo and I’m late to the game with a salsa & taco recipe. But the way I see it – every day can be taco day. Aside from avocado smashed on toast, “stuff in a tortilla,” is my next go-to meal. I came up with this recipe a little bit by accident. A few weeks ago, I was in Chicago visiting my family, cooking with whatever was around my mom’s kitchen. On that particular day: a few tomatoes, an avocado, some onions, etc… Halfway through chopping all of…

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Almond-ella Spread

Here's a delicious, healthy version of nutella made with almonds. It's vegan, dairy-free, gluten free, and only three ingredients!

snacks & dips / gluten free / udi's

Everyone loves nutella right? I love it as much as the next person, but I don’t love all of the unhealthy ingredients that are in it. This almond chocolate spread, (almond-ella is what I’m calling it), is just as creamy and delicious. It’s super easy and just 3 ingredients: almond butter, chocolate, and (the secret to it’s smooth texture), coconut oil. Melt everything together, pour it into a jar. It’ll firm up and set as it cools, (if you can wait that long). Slather it on toasted bread and top it with your favorite fruit. Many of you have asked me to recommend gluten…

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Vegan Carrot Cake

I make this vegan carrot cake recipe for Jack's birthday each year. Moist, cinnamon-spiced, and slathered in frosting, it's perfect for celebrations.

spring / vegan

This vegan carrot cake recipe is a riff on my mom’s traditional recipe. That cake is Jack’s all-time favorite dessert, so she makes it whenever she comes to visit. Then, I make it again for Jack’s birthday. This year, instead of making her recipe as written, I adapted it to make a vegan carrot cake instead! My mom’s recipe calls for applesauce, which makes her cake super moist and light. Using applesauce, you can actually veganize carrot cake relatively easily. Along with the shredded carrots, it adds enough moisture to eliminate the need for flax eggs or other unconventional ingredients.…

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Spicy Kohlrabi Noodles

An easy vegan weeknight recipe made with ginger-lime marinated kohlrabi, fresh herbs, and rice noodles. A great make-ahead lunch! Healthy & gluten-free.

salads / gluten free / vegan-option

Oh, kohlrabi… I first learned of this alien vegetable years ago when I received my very first CSA box. At the time, I wasn’t adventurous with vegetables, so I had no clue what it was and no clue what to do with it. Kohlrabi has seemed to gain some popularity since then – I often see it on restaurant menus – but back then it was barely google-able. Fast forward to now – it’s one of my favorites. People say it’s similar to broccoli stems, but I think it’s closer to daikon or even jicama. Slice it up into sticks,…

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Dukkah Spiced Yogurt Dip

Learn how to make dukkah with this simple recipe! It's a delicious way to spice up a yogurt dip, hummus, toast, and more!

appetizers / vegetarian / gluten free-option

My Dukkah Recipe Inspiration I recently contributed this dukkah recipe to Food 52’s Small Batch series. When they first suggested it, I had to look up how to (authentically) make it. It turns out — there’s no one way. The word dukkah literally means “to pound” and it generally consists of hazelnuts, sesame seeds, and a few whole dried spices. To me, this was the perfect opportunity to use up the nuts and spices I had just cleaned out of my pantry shelves. (Specifically, the ones that didn’t fit when I transferred them from little bags to little jars). Along with the…

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Hazelnut Tahini Pasta

pasta / vegan / gluten free

I keep a pretty full pantry (to say the least). I love to have a variety of oils, vinegars, grains & nuts on hand… but every now and then “on hand” becomes completely out of hand. This little sauce came about one day when I was cleaning out my shelves and found five separate stashes of hazelnuts. Some were newly purchased, some were tucked waaay in the back. Also, back beyond my immediate reach was a still-pretty-new-yet-forgotten-about jar of tahini. I had pasta noodles to use up, but this would be great as a dressing drizzled over a farro salad, or over…

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Ginger Kombucha Cocktails

spring / cocktail / favorites

I just realized that I have a pattern of only posting cocktails on Fridays. I don’t know if it feels more socially appropriate that a cocktail should be a pre-weekend treat or if I’m trying to cover up the fact that I’m known to have a glass of wine (or two), on any given day(s) throughout the week. I like to celebrate the little wins in life, even if a “win” is just getting through an ordinary Monday. This week, however, is not about ordinary Mondays. I just about fell off my chair two days ago when I found out…

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Avocado Almondaise Tartines

Almondaise - a rich creamy vegan sauce made from almonds, almond milk, turmeric, garlic, and dijon mustard - is perfect on toast with avocado and crisp radishes.

vegetarian / spring / almond breeze

I’m having a hard time looking at this recipe and not talking about the weather. I realize… weather not a crowd-pleasing topic, but I just can’t get over the gorgeous-ness that is happening outside of my window. (If you’re a fellow midwestern transplant, you understand my excitement). I also can’t get over these bright little tartines. Oh, and this sauce. It’s along the same lines as some of the cashew-based sauces I’ve made, but it’s also somehow entirely different. The almonds and almond milk create a light, creamy homemade mayo-ish texture. The mustard gives it tang (don’t be shy with…

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Matcha Mint Iced Tea

vegan / gluten free / spring

We’re about to get fresh around here… it’s spring and suddenly mint is taking over my yard. When I was first setting up this little “garden” area of mine, I was warned that mint would trail out of control. To me, this sounded like a delightful problem to have. I mean, is it even possible to have too much mint?! (I’ll have to answer that one for you later). First up: this refreshingly simple mint matcha iced tea. This is obviously not a traditional way to use matcha, but I just love it. Instead of whisking your matcha, shake it up…

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Carrot Greens Chimichurri

Don't toss those tops! Carrot greens are just as edible as carrots themselves, and they're delicious in this tangy chimichurri sauce, pesto, and more.

vegan / gluten free

Today, we’re making chimichurri out of carrot greens! I don’t know who ever spread the idea that vibrant carrot tops should be tossed. They’re edible and delicious, so let’s start using them! This carrot tops recipe comes with a cute little backstory. A few years ago, Jack and I spent some time in Argentina, where I fell in love with chimichurri sauce. Upon returning home, I couldn’t find a recipe that tasted just like the bright, smoky chimichurri we had there. But recently, we learned that one of our friends in Austin is Argentinian! He kindly called his mother for…

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Meyer Lemon Ice Cream

vegan / gluten free

It’s probably about time for a truly lemony post, here on Love and Lemons. Pucker up, this sweet & sour ice cream is the perfect way, in my opinion, to welcome spring. (Or to dream about spring if it hasn’t quite reached you yet). Yes, an ice cream maker is required here — I’m not going to lie, it takes up an annoying amount of space, but we really do use ours quite often. It’s fun to get creative with flavor combinations you can’t just buy in a store, (especially non-dairy combinations). I imagine making ice cream would be a fun…

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Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.