Zucchini Noodles & Lemon “Ricotta”

In a few weeks, Jack and I are headed to Rome where we will unapologetically eat gelato and pasta every day. We’ll tell ourselves we’re “walking it off,” and that “walk” will most definitely be on our way to the next meal. Until then, I’m making an effort to lighten things up. Conveniently, zucchini is in season so “zoodles” make for a fun vegetable-focused spin on regular pasta… First off – you don’t need to go out and buy a spiralizer to make these. If you’re going to invest in a gadget, I highly recommend the julienne peeler because it’s inexpensive, works great, and is small enough…

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3 Healthy Green Juice Recipes

3 healthy ways to get more greens into your day - Sweet Green Lemon Pesto, Green Rice with Lime, and a Green Ginger Peach smoothie.

Summer has officially begun, and I don’t know about you – but I’m already eating more ice cream, popsicles and other “fun” summery foods. Not that I see anything wrong with an occasional indulgence – but I like to balance things out by adding a little more green wherever I can. Today I’ve partnered with Evolution Fresh to come up with 3 healthy recipes to help you get more greens into your day. Their cold-pressed green juices are packed with kale, spinach, cucumber, lettuces and herbs, among other flavorful ingredients. Obviously the easiest way to get more green is to just…

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Strawberry Basil Avocado Toast

My favorite avocado toast recipe! Creamy avocado, balsamic strawberries, and fresh basil make the perfect fresh toppings for this light spring lunch.

There are some food trends that I wish would end (sorry, oatmeal). There are others that I hope never end – like avocado toast. In my opinion, this one’s not going anywhere simply because avocados are awesome. And I’m totally fine with that. A few months ago, I posted a fall/winter version of my favorite smushed green snack and now here’s my spring take on the classic. I love the sweet/salty/creamy combination of avocado, coarse sea salt and strawberries. These are delightful little appetizer bites (or, for me, lunch), that take 2 minutes to put together. Don’t forget the fresh basil! My Best Tips for Perfect Avocado…

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Healthy Breakfast Smoothies

Learn how to make 5 different fun and healthy breakfast smoothies! These cool, refreshing smoothies are my go-to start to a summer day.

Let’s eat the rainbow! Or, with these healthy breakfast smoothies, drink the rainbow through a straw (or scoop it up with a spoon… how you like to enjoy your smoothie is really up to you). How to Meal Prep Healthy Breakfast Smoothies Today we’re continuing our “grab & go” series with Almond Breeze, (see parts 1, 2 and 3). The idea with these breakfast smoothies is that you assemble all of your fruits & vegetables ahead of time so that your morning smoothie is fast and easy to make. Chop up your fruit (and veggies if you want a green…

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Green Bean & Purple Potato Salad

If you’re at a picnic, do you go for the potato salad or the cole slaw? I’m a cole slaw person always – the really sweet mayonnaise-y kind. But potatoes smothered in mayo? No thanks. Why is cabbage in mayo better than potatoes in mayo? No clue. But while I don’t go for “potato salad,” I do like a potato salad. Of course, what I mean is that this is a salad… with potatoes (and green beans and yellow wax beans and some other things). Instead of mayo, it’s dressed with everything that I think goes best with potatoes: olive oil, good dijon…

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Waffles with Strawberries & Cacao Nibs

Nothing beats crisp homemade waffles on a weekend morning, and this waffle recipe is the best one I know. Freeze extras for busy mornings!

It’s national doughnut day, so obviously, I have a waffle recipe. The thing about doughnuts is that I like them best when other people make them. But homemade waffles – I like them, well, right at home, piping hot off of the waffle maker. (Or the next day out of the toaster). These are vegan, because I actually like how they get crispier around the edges without any eggs in the batter. Though this recipe calls for spelt flour, these will turn out equally well with all-purpose flour or a white/wheat mix. How to Make Waffles Never made waffles? It’s super easy,…

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Sara’s Strawberry Tabbouleh

A beautiful strawberry tabbouleh recipe adapted from The Sprouted Kitchen Bowl + Spoon by Sara and Hugh Forte. With vegan & gluten-free options, it's great for a picnic.

After I posted my list of favorite spring cookbooks, I could tell that this is the book you’ve all been waiting for – and I’m here to tell you that Sara & Hugh Forte’s new book, Sprouted Kitchen Bowl + Spoon, doesn’t disappoint. The photos are of course gorgeous, and the food… well it makes you want to dig in with a spoon because all of it, like this tabbouleh recipe, looks so incredibly vibrant and delicious! The book has been sitting on my desk for a little while now, among a slew of papers, books, and other messy-desk things – which is how this tabbouleh recipe…

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Avocado & Lemon Zest Spaghetti

A quick and easy weeknight dinner - especially great for avocado-lovers. Use brown rice spaghetti to make it gluten free.

As I’m putting the finishing touches on our book, (T minus 3 days!) I thought now would be a good time to start making recipes from other peoples’ books… Last week, I briefly talked about Anna’s book, A Modern Way To Eat. While it’s been out for awhile now, it’s only recently been released in the US and I finally got my hands on a copy. What I love about it is that it’s more than just a book full of recipes (although there are over 200 of them!)… she offers tons of delicious ideas for how to mix flavors and textures together in creative but not-fussy ways.…

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Matcha Milkshakes

In case you haven’t noticed, I sort of have a thing for matcha. I know it’s SO trendy… but I personally think it’s exciting to see really great healthy foods become insanely popular. Everyone’s drinking matcha lattes and matcha mochas these days – but now that it’s almost summer, here’s a really simple ice cream treat. This one’s really more of an idea than a “recipe.” I didn’t even bother breaking out the blender to make these milkshakes because in the spirit of our “grab and go” monthly series with Almond Breeze, I wanted to make these simple enough to…

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Vegan Spinach Mac & Cheese

A creamy vegan mac & cheese made with cashews, nutritional yeast, smoked paprika, balsamic, and cayenne. A healthy & delicious weeknight dinner.

Jack here, writing for the blog today while Jeanine writes for the book… I have something to admit that I’m having a hard time with. I’m starting to prefer vegan “mac and cheese” to actual mac and cheese. Now, this is a hard one for me. You see, I love cheese. Almost every time we go to Whole Foods, I raid the “under $3 cheese” bin to find crazy new cheeses that I can barely pronounce. And a great grilled cheese is work of art. But these vegan “mac and cheese” recipes Jeanine comes up with pretty much hit everything I…

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Breakfast Bowl with Amaranth Granola

An easy, healthy breakfast bowl! Amaranth-oat granola, almond milk and fresh blueberries. Vegan & gluten free.

Let me start out by saying: I’m not a cereal person. I’ve told this story before – my sister and I used to BEG my mom for all of the artificially colored sugary cereals with fun cartoon characters… sometimes she’d give in but always with the disclaimer “only if you actually eat it this time.” We would excitedly make this promise only to go home, have one bowl and never touch it again. This granola, however – I’ll happily eat cereal-style. But with almond milk instead of regular milk because we all know that Almond Breeze is my go-to milk. Amaranth is a…

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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.