Summer Fruit Salad

This easy fruit salad recipe will be the star of your next picnic! Berries, peaches, and a zingy ginger dressing make it refreshing and delicious.

Over the years, I’ve posted all sorts of salads with fruit (see here, here, or here), but I’ve never posted a classic fruit salad recipe. I don’t know why, but I’m more likely to add summer fruits to savory dishes than to eat them on their own. Peaches on pizza? I’ve tried it. Cherries with cheese? Done. But lately, Jack and I have been getting gorgeous berries from our CSA. They’ve been so sweet, juicy, and flavorful that I’ve had a hard time not devouring them all straight from the box. I wanted to find a really simple, fresh way to show…

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Coleslaw Dressing

This homemade coleslaw dressing recipe will take any coleslaw to a whole new level! Made with just 5 ingredients, it's creamy, tangy, and delicious.

Once you learn how to make coleslaw dressing at home, you’ll never buy it at the store again! Here’s why: It’s super easy. This creamy coleslaw dressing recipe calls for 5 basic ingredients, and it only takes a few minutes to whisk together. It’s made with good-quality whole foods ingredients. When you make homemade coleslaw dressing, you know exactly what’s in it. There aren’t any additives or stabilizers here, and it’s sweetened naturally with maple syrup instead of processed sugar. And last but not least, it’s delicious! This creamy, tangy dressing makes fantastic coleslaw, but it’s darn good on other salads…

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Socca Recipe

Have you ever tried socca? This gluten-free chickpea flatbread hails from Nice, France, and it makes a delicious appetizer, side dish, or light meal.

When Jack and I visited Nice, France, I ate two things as much as I could: Niçoise salad and socca. If you’re not familiar with socca, it’s a savory chickpea pancake with crisp, golden brown edges and a moist interior. It’s popular throughout southern France and northern Italy, and once you try it, you’ll see why. Chickpea flour and olive oil give it a rich, nutty flavor, and its crispy edges are so tasty that you won’t be able to help reaching for a second slice. Served plain, it makes a delicious appetizer, side dish, or snack, but with the…

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Green Goddess Dressing

Looking for a way to use up the herbs in your fridge? Make this green goddess dressing recipe! It's creamy, bright, and brimming with fresh flavor.

At this time of year, I make this green goddess dressing recipe almost every week. Jack and I have just planted our little garden on our back deck, and we have loads of fresh herbs. Straight off the plant, they’re fragrant and tender, ready to add a punch of fresh flavor to almost any dish. I often grab a handful of parsley for a weeknight pasta, a sprig of mint to finish a salad, or a bunch of basil to sprinkle over pizza. Chances are, I end up picking extra, so little by little, the fridge fills up with leafy…

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Vegan Mayo

You only need 6 ingredients to make this easy vegan mayo recipe! Thick, creamy, and ready in under 5 minutes, it's just as good as the real thing.

This vegan mayo recipe is the stuff that dreams are made of. It calls for 6 simple ingredients, it comes together in under 5 minutes, and it tastes just as good as the real thing. It’s thick, creamy, and rich, with a lightly sweet and tangy flavor. For the last few months, I’ve been adding it to salad dressings, stirring it into sauces, and slathering it on just about everything. I’m obsessed with it, and I think you will be too! Vegan Mayo Recipe Ingredients So, what makes this vegan mayonnaise so thick and creamy anyway? Soy milk? Cashews? Tofu?…

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Grilled Asparagus

This grilled asparagus recipe is our favorite summer side dish. The asparagus is tender, juicy, and full of smoky flavor. It cooks in minutes, too!

Grilled asparagus is the best summer side dish! It’s tender, juicy, and lightly charred, and it cooks in minutes on the grill. Seasoned simply with olive oil, salt, pepper, and maybe a squeeze of lemon juice, it pairs perfectly with almost any meal. Below, you’ll find my easy method for how to grill asparagus, along with my favorite ways to serve it. Even if you’re an asparagus skeptic, I hope you’ll try this recipe. My husband Jack used to claim he hated asparagus, but once he tried it grilled, he became a convert. Who knows? You might love it too!…

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51 Easy Picnic Food Ideas

Looking for new picnic food ideas? You're in the right place. With recipes for sandwiches, wraps, salads, and more, we've got something for everyone!

It’s picnic season! Your blanket’s ready, your cooler’s out, and you can’t wait to get outside. Now, all you need is good picnic food to take with you. In my experience, the best picnic food ideas aren’t just delicious – they’re simple, too. They’re dishes that you can make ahead knowing that they’ll still taste great when you’re ready to eat. They’re easy to pack in a cooler or a bag, and you only need a few utensils to serve them. No utensils? Even better! Jack and I don’t have any big travel plans this summer, but we are anticipating…

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Watermelon Margarita

This watermelon margarita recipe is the best drink you'll make all summer! Naturally sweetened with watermelon, it's easy, refreshing, and delicious.

I can’t think of a better way to kick off the weekend than with this watermelon margarita recipe! It’s super easy to make (no cocktail shaker required!), and its vibrant color just screams summer. Thanks to the watermelon, it’s naturally sweet, and fresh lime juice gives it a delicious tart finish. This watermelon margarita recipe is perfect for parties, happy hours, or any summer evening. Sip it on its own, or enjoy it alongside tortilla chips, salsa, and/or guacamole. Cheers, friends, and happy summer! Watermelon Margarita Ingredients A classic margarita is made with tequila, fresh lime juice, an orange liqueur like…

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Vegan Pesto

No Parmesan? No problem. This easy vegan pesto recipe is a breeze to make, and it's every bit as bright, nutty, and delicious as the traditional version.

When I make pesto, I almost always make this vegan pesto recipe. Don’t get me wrong, I love traditional basil pesto, but this vegan version is just as good. Classic pesto is made with fresh basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese. But my recipe calls for one extra ingredient: lemon juice. The lemon’s bright flavor perfectly balances the richness of the olive oil and elevates the fresh, garlicky, and nutty flavors of the other ingredients. Once you add it, the pesto has enough complexity to make the Parmesan cheese optional, and more often than not,…

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Radish Salad

If you like radishes, you'll LOVE this radish salad recipe! It uses them two ways - roasted and raw - and has a bright radish green pesto on top.

I immediately thought, “Radish salad!”, when I opened our CSA box a few weeks ago and found a heap of gorgeous radishes inside. Often, radishes play second fiddle in green salads and noodle bowls, but at this time of year, when they’re extra-crisp, piquant, and even a little sweet, they deserve to be the star of the show. This radish salad recipe puts them front and center. I use the roots two ways – roasted and raw – and dollop a bright, nutty radish green pesto on top. Instead of adding a bed of greens, I bulk this salad up…

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Lemon Vinaigrette

This lemon vinaigrette recipe is SO easy to make! With its zingy, bright lemon flavor, it'll blow any store bought dressing out of the water.

How is it possible that in 8+ years of writing Love and Lemons, I haven’t shared a basic lemon vinaigrette recipe until now?! Often, I post salad recipes with a dressing included – a kale salad with carrot ginger dressing, a watermelon salad tossed with lime juice. But a few weeks ago, as I was whisking together this lemon vinaigrette, I realized that tying a dressing to a specific salad recipe can sometimes sell it short. This lemon vinaigrette is one of my favorite salad dressings. It’s zippy, fresh, and bright, it comes together in minutes, and it keeps well…

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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.