Healthy Breakfast Casserole

This healthy breakfast casserole is my go-to dish to serve for brunch. It's full of veggies with a secret layer of roasted sweet potatoes on the bottom!

This healthy breakfast casserole would be perfect for an Easter or Mother’s Day get-together! It’s easy to make, it serves a crowd, and it’s packed with fresh veggies. I love making it when we host friends and family for brunch in the spring. My Mom’s Healthy Breakfast Casserole Speaking of Mother’s Day, my mom actually gave me the inspiration for this vegetarian breakfast casserole recipe! She’s been making breakfast casseroles for years, but she started using sweet potatoes in hers just recently. I LOVED that idea, and the hearty layer of roasted sweet potatoes on the bottom of this casserole…

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Strawberry Tart

You won't find any dairy or gluten in this delicious strawberry tart recipe! Instead, it has a bright coconut cream filling and a nutty almond crust.

This strawberry tart recipe comes from the Sweet Laurel cookbook by Laurel Gallucci and Claire Thomas. I know you will absolutely love this book – there are SO many amazing allergen-free baking recipes (many are vegan as well). In addition to this simple strawberry tart, there are cakes, cookies, bars, pies, muffins, quick breads, and pop tarts. Each recipe is more decadent than the one before it, yet they all have short ingredient lists and simple instructions. I can’t wait to try the Apple Pie Bars and Double Chocolate Muffins in the fall, but right now, I’m obsessed with this…

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Cashew Broccoli Soba Noodles

I love these easy sesame-orange-cashew soba noodles for many reasons, but especially because they use a whole head of broccoli - stalk and all!

Happy Wednesday! Currently, we’re en route from Japan where we ate a lot of soba noodles. Of course, we didn’t eat them quite like this – in Japan, soba would never be tossed with vegetables and doused with a bright, creamy, sesame-orange-cashew sauce… but we’re not in Japan any more, so here goes! 🙂 For this recipe, I use the whole head of broccoli, stalk and all. I don’t know why we ever started tossing the stalk – it’s every bit as edible as the florets (find other ideas to use the whole head here and here). To help the…

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Turmeric Cauliflower Fried Rice

I'm a huge fan of cauliflower rice, and this delicious turmeric cauliflower fried rice may be my favorite version yet. A great weeknight dinner!

Hello from Kyoto, Japan, where we’re currently on vacation and awake way too early and embracing the jet lag that has now made us morning people. I have to say, it’s kind of nice to start the day super early. Who knew one could accomplish so much in a day when you wake up at 5am?! While I’m not giving up actual rice anytime soon, and certainly not while we’re in Japan, I love my cauliflower rice, and I especially love this turmeric-spiced cauliflower fried rice with creamy cardamom yogurt sauce. It checks all of those necessary weeknight-friendly recipe boxes:…

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Curried Cauliflower Soup

This curried cauliflower soup is made with just 9 ingredients and comes together in a few simple steps. It's destined for your regular meal rotation!

Today is the last day of my 5-part meal plan, and it’s a good one! I love this curried cauliflower soup! It’s so darn simple to make and it’s so delicious with the curry spices. There’s a little kick from the cayenne and some brightness from the lemon. The ingredient list is short, so this is definitely a recipe that’s bound for the regular meal rotation… and it came about so unexpectedly. See, I started the this meal plan series last week with a set amount of groceries and ideas for 5 meals, each meal using the ingredients from the…

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Kale Quinoa Salad with Pesto

Use your favorite roasted veggies & grains in this easy kale quinoa salad, or make it as Day 2 of our 5-day meal plan with leftovers from Day 1!

Hi, and welcome to my week of meal planning: Day 2! In case you missed yesterday’s post, here’s what’s happening: I started with one base meal – yesterday’s Mean Green Grain Bowls. For 5 days I’ll be making a new meal each day using those base ingredients and components. So you’re basically seeing our real-life dinner, day to day. These recipes are very simple, but this is how we eat in real life – and I thought it would be fun to share that! So here’s today’s: an easy Big Green Kale Quinoa Salad! Something I love to do with leftovers…

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Roasted Veggie Grain Bowl

This grain bowl recipe checks all the boxes: it has plant-based protein, lots of veggies, a vibrant sauce, and a scoop of sauerkraut for pop!

This grain bowl is one of my favorite recipes to meal prep for a healthy lunch or dinner. It starts with a base of hearty quinoa, which I top with nutrient-rich ingredients like colorful roasted veggies and chickpeas for fiber and plant-based protein. A vibrant kale-pepita pesto and a scoop of tangy sauerkraut take it over the top! Follow this recipe as written, or use it as a template to come up with your own delicious grain bowls! I’ve riffed on it countless ways over the years, and I’m sharing some of my favorite variations below. You’ll also find meal prep…

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Kale Pesto Mushroom Pistachio Bowls

Tangy balsamic mushrooms, quinoa, chickpeas & a bright kale pesto top these yummy bowls. Easy & healthy, they're weeknight dinner perfection.

Last August, we decided to move to Chicago. When we first walked around what would become our new neighborhood, it was sunny, warm, children were playing, and the birds were singing. It was pretty hard to picture the snowy cold weather that would only be a few months away. I grew up in Chicago, but the dreamer in me still thought “maybe this year it won’t be cold.” As the fall weather started to become winter weather, the realist in me spoke up and said, “It’s Chicago. We’re going to hole up in this house, cook all winter, and order…

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Cauliflower Rice Kimchi Bowls

Bowls of cauliflower rice topped with tofu, veggies, kimchi, and creamy coconut sauce make a fun, healthy weeknight dinner. Vegan & gluten free.

You probably already know about my love for cauliflower rice by now, but something I’ve never posted about are kimchi bowls… or kimchi anything for that matter because for awhile I thought it was an ingredient that would be difficult to find. But I see it everywhere now, so here we go, let’s bowl! Whenever I need a reset or just a well-rounded meal, I love bowls that are balanced with greens, veggies, a protein like tofu (or tempeh), avocado, and something fermented. When I’m building this type of bowl I often go for sauerkraut or pickled ginger in a…

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Harissa & Spinach Shakshuka

This spiced-up riff on shakshuka is a delicious breakfast or brunch! It features a harissa-seasoned sauce, fresh spinach, and creamy avocado.

Who else loves shakshuka?! I’m such a fan of this Middle Eastern and North African breakfast dish that if I see it on a restaurant menu, I’ll almost always order it. But more often, I make it at home. You can find a traditional shakshuka recipe elsewhere on the blog, but today’s recipe is more of an unconventional twist. I add harissa to the sauce for spiced depth of flavor, and I stir in spinach for a fresh veggie kick. To take it over the top, I pile on avocado slices before scooping it all up with pita. It’s such…

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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

Welcome to Love & Lemons!

I'm Jeanine Donofrio, a New York Times bestselling cookbook author and recipe developer. I share fresh, delicious vegetarian recipes that celebrate seasonal ingredients and flavors.

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