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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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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Roasted Artichoke Salad

If you can get your hands on fresh artichokes, make this bright artichoke salad right away. Topped with mint pesto, it's perfect for spring.

It’s spring… which means I can’t help but bring home artichokes from the farmers market. They’re just SO pretty, although they take a bit of effort to clean and cook. My first tip for fresh artichokes is to use them in a pretty simple way so you can really appreciate their delicate flavor after you’ve put in the time to prep them. Save your artichoke dip recipe for canned or jarred artichokes. Tip number two: delegate artichoke-trimming to someone else in your family! The day I brought these home, my mom (who’s been staying with us lately), gave me a “what are you going to do with those” sort…

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Spicy Mango & Avocado Rice Bowl

It’s been feeling summery around here, so I say – let’s bring on the colorful food! Lately, I’ve been slightly obsessed with these black rice veggie sushi rolls that are new-ish at (our) Whole Foods. One in particular includes mango, avocado and cucumber and I find myself craving it all the time. I’ve had it on my list to recreate it for you for awhile now, but the idea of rolling sushi has felt too labor intensive. For us, at-home sushi making is “sometimes” food. It’s reserved for those special nights when the sake is flowing and we have nothing but extra time……

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Watercress Farro Salad with Tart Cherries

There's no spring lunch I love more than this simple watercress salad. With a delicious blend of textures and flavors, it's a light, yet satisfying meal.

I have a confession to make – I am not only a terrible gardener, but I’m also a terrible herb gardener. They’re so easy to grow, but they’re oh-so-hard to remember to water. Lucky for me, my mom recently came to visit and planted tons of new herbs, including my favorites – basil and mint – just in time to include them in this salad. What would spring be without an herby grain salad, right? This one is packed with chewy farro, peppery watercress, and dried tart cherries, which add a necessary pop of sweetness to balance it all out. I’ve talked about the…

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Kale Salad w/ Avocado Tahini Sauce

This green-on-green salad was inspired by St. Patrick's Day, but its fresh flavor & creamy dressing have made it one of my year-round lunch favorites.

I have a very green, yet not very St. Patrick’s Day-themed recipe today. Maybe next year will be the year that I finally decide to revamp the shamrock shake (why don’t I think of these things earlier?). But for now, I’ve got green-on-green-on-green. Kale, brussels sprouts and avocado…. with some other veggies tossed in for crunch and a pop of color. The trick to raw kale salads is usually to massage the kale – this time I just chopped the leaves really small, mixed them with shaved brussels sprouts, and tossed it all with a creamy avocado tahini dressing to help wilt…

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Oscar Party Appetizers & Wine Pairings

Vegetarian appetizer recipes and wine pairings for your Oscar party! Red Pepper Soup Shooters, Best Dressed Endive Spears, and Mini Pizzas.

The Academy Awards are this weekend – have you seen all of the movies? We’ve binge-watched only a few of them, but so far my favorite is the Grand Budapest Hotel. Does anyone know where I can get Jack a hat that says “Lobby Boy?” Whether or not you’re into the glitz and glam of it all, we love any excuse to gather over food and wine. We’ve partnered with Dark Horse Wine to create 3 fun Oscar-themed appetizers along with some unexpected wine pairings. To make things easy, most of this menu can be prepared in advance, and all of these Dark Horse wines are under $10…

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Pear & Arugula Chickpea Salad

Meet this salad: your new favorite winter lunch. Just 7 ingredients, sweet, tangy, fresh, and hearty, yet healthy. You'll love this one.

I realize this post might not be the most timely. If you’re snowed in, chances are you’re not reaching for a cold salad – BUT it’s not snowing here and nothing will ever stop me from craving big bright salads for lunch. (If you need something hot today, click here, here, or here). My lunch salads are what I would call “kitchen sink” style. I toss whatever veggies I happen to have into a bowl… often with chickpeas and a bit of feta cheese or a scoop of hummus. For crunch, I add toasted nuts and/or hemp seeds. And to bring it all together…

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Roasted Cauliflower Kale Salad

When I want a fast, healthy meal, this salad is my go-to recipe. I dress it up with fresh citrus juices, seasonal veggies, and my favorite nuts & cheese.

When I’m not in the mood to cook (and yes, that happens), our dinner often looks something like this roasted cauliflower salad. While there are a lot of salads on this blog, I probably don’t post as many kale salads as I actually consume. I love them because they’re hearty and filling and are pretty much a blank canvas for any seasonal vegetable. Plus, they’re great to pack away for lunch the next day. Kale might be “so last year,” but it’ll always have a special place in my heart. How to Make This Roasted Cauliflower Salad This is a…

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Minty Millet & Pomegranate Salad

I’m calling this my “Merry Christmas Millet Salad”… because why wait until January to eat a little lighter and brighter? This salad is full of everything I love – pretty pomegranates, pistachios, fennel, & mint… and it’s tossed in a light but tangy tahini dressing that’s sweetened with big squeezes of orange. If you don’t have millet, you could just as easily sub quinoa. I use the two pretty interchangeably (especially when I forget to label my bulk bin bags). What I love about millet is that it almost tastes like semolina couscous, but it’s entirely gluten free and a healthy whole…

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Autumn Farmhouse Salad

Sweet potatoes, apples & greens fill out this hearty autumn salad. With sweet, salty, crunchy & nutty elements, it's a perfect side dish or meal on its own.

I have a love/hate relationship with farro. It takes forever to make, and quinoa is quicker, but the chewy, nutty grains bring a real heartiness to this not-wimpy fall salad. The catch is that you have to pre-plan for farro – it’s easiest to make a big batch and keep it around all week. I’m not usually that organized, but I happened to have made farro the day before my Farmhouse vegetables arrived, so here we are… a farro salad with more veggies than could fit onto the subject line of this post. Fall Salad Recipe Ingredients This delicious salad recipe is sweet, salty, crunchy, nutty… Here’s what…

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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.