12 Vegan Sandwiches to Pack for Lunch

These easy vegan sandwiches are just as good as any made with meat or cheese. Perfect for lunch, they're all fresh, healthy, and delicious.

If you eat a mostly plant-based diet, there’s a good chance you’ve had some sad vegan sandwiches. I know I have! Soggy lettuce. Soggy bread. Zero flavor. Yeah…no thanks. But luckily for us, vegan sandwiches don’t have to be like that. Sure, they aren’t made with meat or cheese, but that doesn’t mean they have to skimp on flavor. Try making vegan sandwiches with different sauces and spreads, roasted or pickled veggies, and/or fresh herbs, and you’ll find that they’re just as tasty as their traditional counterparts. To get you started, I’m sharing 12 of my favorite vegan sandwich ideas…

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60 Healthy Meal Prep Ideas

Busy week? These meal prep ideas are here to help! With tips and recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, they make eating healthy, delicious meals easy.

Is anyone else trying to get in a new meal prep routine this fall? Jack and I took some time off last week for an end-of-summer trip to Michigan. It was so fun and relaxing, but when we got back, I realized just how busy the next few months are going to be. Thankfully, I have a full arsenal of healthy meal prep ideas to help us get through it. 🙂 In case you’re also having a busy fall, I’m sharing over 60 of my healthy meal prep ideas today. They include meal prep recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner,…

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28 Easy Summer Appetizers

These easy summer appetizers will be a hit at your next cookout or BBQ! They include creative crudité platters, delicious dips, and more.

When I sat down to write this summer appetizers post, I glanced over at the calendar I have hanging on my wall. September already? How did that happen?! We might be nearing the end of the season, but I hope you still have a BBQ, cookout, or casual get-together left in store. In my book, at least, there’s not much that beats catching up with family or friends on a warm afternoon or evening. And if it just so happens that there’s a plate of summer appetizers nearby, well, that’s even better. These easy summer appetizers include crudité platters, dips,…

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BLT Pasta Salad

This BLT pasta salad recipe is a fun twist on the classic sandwich. Packed with fresh veggies and avocado, it's a flavorful side dish or light lunch.

BLT pasta salad! Ok, more like TAT pasta salad, but this recipe has some serious BLT flavors going on, so we’re sticking with that. As you might have guessed, there’s no actual bacon here, just my trusty tempeh bacon plus sun-dried tomatoes for an extra savory kick. This BLT pasta salad recipe would be a great dish to pass at a Labor Day gathering this weekend, but it’s also hearty enough to be a vegetarian main dish. Pack it up for a weekday lunch, or serve it for a light dinner. Whichever way you pick, I think you’re going to love…

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Summer Fruit Tart

This no-bake fruit tart recipe is a delicious summer dessert! It's made with a creamy filling, fresh peaches and berries, and an easy graham cracker crust.

This fruit tart recipe could not be more delicious. Seriously! I’m in love with the creamy, tangy filling, the sweet and salty crust, and the jumble of fresh fruit on top. I tested it a number of times this summer to get the recipe just right, and each time, I looked forward to eating it. Its mix of juicy, creamy, crunchy, salty, tart, and sweet elements is just too good to beat. Another great thing about this fruit tart recipe is that it doesn’t require any baking. I love a good peach cobbler or peach crisp, but when it’s hot…

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Summer Grain Salad

This easy grain salad recipe is the ideal make-ahead lunch! Loaded up with grilled corn, fresh herbs, and pickled onions, it's hearty, flavorful, and fresh.

This post is in partnership with Jewel-Osco®. Has anyone else been super busy lately? Between writing and recipe testing, working on projects around the house, and squeezing in fun summer activities, I feel like we’ve barely had a minute to rest, let alone do chores and errands like going to the grocery store. Don’t get me wrong – it’s a good problem to have. I love being busy with work and getting outside to enjoy the warm weather. But when something comes along that makes humdrum, everyday tasks a little more convenient, I’m pretty darn happy about it. Lately, the…

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Fresh Tomato Sauce

Learn how to make tomato sauce at home! Made with fresh tomatoes, this simple, flavorful recipe is perfect for serving on pasta, pizza, and more.

For me, making this homemade tomato sauce recipe is one of the highlights of late summer. Like bruschetta or a good Caprese salad, it’s something I only make at this time of year, when fresh tomatoes are sweet, juicy, and abundant. This tomato sauce has a slightly looser, chunkier texture than my traditional marinara sauce, and its flavor is sweeter and fresher. If you have a garden full of tomatoes, it’s a great way to use them up, but even if you don’t, I hope you’ll try it. You can toss it with pasta or zucchini noodles, spread it on…

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Blistered Shishito Peppers

Looking for a fun summer appetizer or snack? Make these blistered shishito peppers! Tender, charred, and topped with sesame oil, they're always a hit.

I love the simplicity of this blistered shishito peppers recipe. It relies on just 3 main ingredients – shishito peppers, salt, and sesame oil – but it’s still flavorful, satisfying, and totally addictive. You might think you’re going to eat one pepper, maybe two, but before you know it, you’ll have devoured half the pan! Um…yes, I’m speaking from experience. If you’re not familiar with shishito peppers, they’re small, thin-walled peppers that are traditionally used in Japanese and Korean cooking. These days, you can often find them at farmers markets in the US and at major grocery stores like Whole Foods…

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Balsamic Reduction (Balsamic Glaze)

Want to add sweet and tangy flavor to a salad, appetizer, or side dish? Make this balsamic reduction! You just need 10 minutes and 1 basic ingredient.

Since it’s the season for all things Caprese (find my salad recipe here and my skewer recipe here!), I thought I’d go ahead and share a simple balsamic glaze recipe too. This punchy reduction couldn’t be easier to make, and its sweet and tangy flavor is the perfect accent for seasonal ingredients like basil and tomatoes. That being said, this balsamic glaze recipe can come in handy at other times of year, too. You can toss it with Brussels sprouts in the fall, drizzle it over roasted acorn squash in the winter, and serve it with ruby red strawberries in…

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20 Easy Peach Recipes

Make the most of peach season with these fresh peach recipes! They include drinks, desserts, and more to help you celebrate this sweet summer fruit.

It’s peach season! For the next few weeks, I’ll come home with a bag of peaches after every trip to the farmers market or store. The season is just so short, so while it’s here, and fresh peaches are juicy, sweet, and abundant, I make it my goal to eat as many of them as I can. Some I devour plain, their sticky juice dripping down my chin. But I use even more in my favorite peach recipes. As you might expect, these peach recipes include desserts like crisps and cobblers. But they go way beyond that, too. Have you…

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Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies

These peanut butter no-bake cookies are sweet, nutty, chewy, and delicious. Made with just 7 ingredients, they're an easy dessert or anytime treat!

Over the last few weeks, Jack and I have eaten more of these peanut butter no-bake cookies than we’d like to admit. They’re sweet and nutty, with an addictive chewy texture that comes from lots of peanut butter and whole rolled oats. We’ve pretty much had a constant supply of them on hand, because as soon as you finish one batch, it only takes a few minutes to whip up another and pop it in the fridge to chill. I recommend you enjoy these peanut butter no-bake cookies for dessert or an afternoon treat, but if I’m being totally honest,…

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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.