Avocado Salad

This avocado salad recipe is a delicious, healthy side dish! A zesty dressing coats creamy avocado, juicy tomatoes, crisp veggies, and fresh herbs.

I’ve been craving this avocado salad recipe ever since I first made it. If you’re thinking, “Craving…a salad?”, well, you simply have to try this one. This avocado salad is not guacamole. But like guacamole, it keeps you coming back for more. Creamy avocado plays off juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, crunchy red onion, and spicy jalapeño. A bright lime dressing brings it all together. The fresh, zesty flavors and the delicious combination of textures make it so much more than the sum of its parts. It’s been one of my go-to side dishes this summer because it’s super tasty, super quick,…

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Ratatouille

This ratatouille recipe is a delicious version of the classic French stew. It's rich and flavorful, filled with late summer vegetables, olive oil, and herbs.

Ratatouille is a French stew made with late summer vegetables like eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini. It’s rich with olive oil, bright with vinegar, and flecked with fresh herbs. If you haven’t tried it, put this ratatouille recipe on your list to make this summer. It’s even more delightful than the Disney movie of the same name (which is pretty delightful, if you ask me). Making this ratatouille recipe always transports me to Provence, France. A few years ago, I stayed with a local family there. On my first night with them, they served ratatouille for dinner. We sat on…

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Grilled Broccoli

This easy grilled broccoli recipe is a simple, delicious summer side dish! Ready in 20 minutes, it's crisp-tender, flavorful, and beautifully charred.

This grilled broccoli recipe is a fresh, easy summer side dish. If you’re a fan of roasted broccoli, you’ll love it. It has the same dark, crispy edges and crisp-tender texture, but its flavor is even more complex. This grilled broccoli is smoky, sweet, and savory. As the broccoli cooks, the hot grill brings out its natural sweetness. At the same time, it becomes beautifully charred, taking on a smoky taste. A sprinkle of garlic powder gives it savory depth. This grilled broccoli is broccoli at its best. I’ve tried a variety of methods for grilling broccoli (in a grill…

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Quinoa Salad

This Mediterranean quinoa salad recipe is hearty, healthy, and packed with fresh flavor! Serve it as a side dish, or enjoy it as a meal on its own.

This Mediterranean quinoa salad recipe is fresh and flavorful. It’s a delicious addition to the menu of any potluck, cookout, or picnic. It can easily pass as a side dish, but it’s so hearty and satisfying that it can be the main event, too. And if you happen to have leftovers, you’re in luck! This quinoa salad keeps well if you make it ahead of time, so it’s a great recipe to meal prep for healthy lunches throughout the week. Over the years, I’ve shared lots of quinoa salad recipes on the blog, but I’m especially smitten with this one.…

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Blueberry Pancakes

These blueberry pancakes are soft, fluffy, and bursting with juicy blueberries. Top them with maple syrup for the perfect breakfast or brunch!

These blueberry pancakes are perfect for lazy Saturdays! They’re fluffy, golden brown, and easy to make with basic pantry ingredients. But best of all, they’re bursting with juicy berries. With 2 full cups of blueberries in the recipe, you get one in every bite. Douse your stack with a quick blueberry compote for even more blueberry goodness, or stick to classic fixings like butter and maple syrup. No matter which toppings you pick, you’ll love these blueberry pancakes. Blueberry Pancake Recipe Ingredients Here’s what you’ll need to make this blueberry pancake recipe: Blueberries, of course! Fresh and thawed frozen blueberries both work…

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Corn Fritters

These easy corn fritters are the snack of the summer! They're crisp on the outside, tender in the middle, and packed with fresh sweet corn.

These corn fritters are the latest addition to my summer recipe rotation. Fresh sweet corn made its first appearance at our farmers market this week. I was so excited to see it that I bought as many ears of corn as I could carry. After making my favorite corn salad and corn on the cob, I tested out these corn fritters, and they immediately had me hooked. I’ll be making them on repeat for the rest of the summer! These corn fritters are seriously delicious. They’re crisp on the outside, tender in the middle, and dotted with fresh, whole corn kernels for…

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Spicy Margarita

Jalapeños give this spicy margarita recipe a delicious kick. Tart and refreshing, it's perfect for a happy hour or summer entertaining.

Meet my go-to spicy margarita recipe! Like a classic margarita, it’s tart and refreshing, but jalapeño peppers give it an extra kick of heat. This spicy margarita recipe is easy to make. You only need 6 simple ingredients, and it comes together quickly in a cocktail shaker. Enjoy it with tortilla chips, guacamole, and/or salsa at a happy hour, Cinco de Mayo, or summer gathering. Cheers! Spicy Margarita Ingredients To make this jalapeño margarita recipe, you need 6 simple ingredients: Tequila – Use any good-quality blanco tequila (aka silver tequila) in this recipe. We like Espolon tequila, but feel free…

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Zucchini Pasta

This zucchini pasta recipe is a fresh summer meal that you can make in 30 minutes! Sautéed grated zucchini creates the lightly creamy, flavorful sauce.

This zucchini pasta recipe is the best way to use up an abundance of summer zucchini. Sorry, zucchini muffins and zucchini bread—this pasta calls for so much zucchini that no other recipe can compete. It’s exactly the sort of bright, fresh dish I crave in the summertime (and big win: our 3-year-old loves it too!). To make it, I grate the zucchini. Then, I sauté it until it cooks down into a light, silky sauce for the pasta, with garlic, lemon, and Parmesan cheese for depth of flavor. Just before serving, I garnish it with lots of fresh basil and/or…

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Breakfast Tacos

These healthy breakfast tacos are my favorite way to start the day! Filled with eggs, pico de gallo, and avocado, they're flavorful and easy to make.

If you asked everyone in Austin where they get their favorite breakfast tacos, you’d get a different answer from every person. Austinites have opinions about breakfast tacos like Chicagoans have opinions about pizza. When I lived in Austin, I ate more breakfast tacos than I could ever begin to count. Most I loved (some I didn’t), but after sampling them all over town, I learned that my favorite place to get breakfast tacos…is at home. This breakfast tacos recipe is my favorite way to start the day. It features an egg scramble made with pico de gallo and cheddar cheese, plus…

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Italian Pasta Salad

This Italian pasta salad recipe is fresh and delicious! A zesty Italian dressing, veggies, olives, pepperoncini, and cheese fill it with bold flavor.

I’ve made this Italian pasta salad for all our picnics and potlucks over the last few weeks. When I added the ingredients to my shopping list again this morning, I knew I had to share the recipe! This Italian pasta salad is full of bold, zesty flavor. It starts with colorful veggies, oodles of noodles, and chewy mozzarella cheese. Then, I add olives and pepperoncini for tangy, briny flavor and fresh herbs for an aromatic pop. To tie it all together, I douse it in my homemade Italian dressing. It’s a perfect recipe for summer gatherings because, like many pasta salads, you can…

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Baba Ganoush

This easy baba ganoush recipe is smoky, savory, and creamy. Made with eggplant, tahini, garlic, and lemon, it's a delicious dip for pita and veggies.

Have you tried baba ganoush? If you like hummus, I have a feeling you’ll love this Mediterranean eggplant dip too. Made with grilled or roasted eggplant, tahini, garlic, and lemon, it’s creamy, smoky, nutty, and bright. I’m sharing my easy baba ganoush recipe below. It pairs perfectly with crisp veggies and pita bread, but I love it so much that I’ve also been known to eat it straight off a spoon. I hope you enjoy it too! How to Make Baba Ganoush This baba ganoush recipe is simple to make. It starts with 6 basic ingredients: Baba Ganoush Ingredients Eggplant…

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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.