Pickled Red Onions

Want to jazz up your next salad or bowl? Add pickled red onions! Tangy & sweet, they're the best way to give almost any dish a bright pop of flavor!

Pickled red onions have been an indispensable ingredient in my kitchen for years. Not only are they a gorgeous, vibrant pink, but they’re tangy, sweet, and a little crunchy. I like to say that they give sandwiches, salads, bowls, and more a “bright pop of flavor,” and though Jack makes fun of me for how often I use that phrase, I can’t think of a better way to describe them. Try making a batch of quick pickled red onions, and you’ll see what I mean. Top a few onto an otherwise good sandwich or salad, and it’ll become great. Their…

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How to Cook Fluffy Quinoa

Learn how to cook perfect quinoa every time with my tried & true method. Then, use it in bowls, salads, or one of my 17 favorite quinoa recipes below!

For a lot of you, back-to-school season is meal prep season. As you get into a new routine at work, at home, or at school, having meals ready to grab & go in the fridge can be a lifesaver. One of my go-to meal prep tips is having a cooked grain on hand to bulk up salads or add to bowls. Quinoa is one of my all-time favorites: it’s SUPER healthy, it pairs well with a wide range of flavors, and it cooks in under 30 minutes! Everyone has their own method for how to cook quinoa, but I’ve been…

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White Bean Dip

You only need 4 ingredients and 5 minutes to make this creamy white bean dip! Served with pita chips and veggies, it's a delicious snack or appetizer.

If you have cannellini beans, olive oil, and a lemon in your kitchen, you’re well on your way to making this white bean dip recipe. My advice? Go for it! It comes together in seconds in the bowl of a food processor, and it’s absolutely delicious. Lemon juice and zest fill it with bright flavor, olive oil adds richness, and the white beans blend into smooth and creamy perfection. Once you have it on hand, you’ll find yourself scooping it up with carrot sticks and pita chips, slathering it onto sandwiches, dolloping it onto bowls, or (like me) eating it…

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Gourmet Grilled Cheese

A gourmet grilled cheese sandwich is only as good as what's inside it! Melty havarti cheese and spicy green harissa make this one something special.

This green harissa gourmet grilled cheese recipe is what I make when nothing but a grilled cheese will do. It has all the essentials of a good grilled cheese sandwich – crunchy, toasty bread and gooey cheese – but a handful of spinach and a slather of green harissa add an extra dimension of freshness and flavor. It’s lightly spicy and totally delicious – hands down the best grilled cheese I’ve had! The green harissa is really the star of the show here. Made with charred peppers, garlic, lemon, spices, cilantro, pepitas, and olive oil, it has a similar texture…

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Tzatziki

This fresh tzatziki recipe will liven up any summer meal! Rich, creamy & full of fresh herbs, it's delicious on pita, grilled veggies, sandwiches, and more!

Break out the pita, it’s tzatziki time! On Monday, I posted my favorite Greek salad, and now I’m following it up with another Greek essential: this cool, refreshing cucumber tzatziki sauce. One of the best parts of summer is that dinner suddenly becomes easy. My favorite ingredients – fresh fruits and veggies – are at their peak. Tomatoes are sweeter and juicier, berries are plumper, peppers are snappier, and our backyard herbs are at their most potent.  Sometimes, when I want to put these peak-season veggies front and center, making dinner just means prepping a sauce to dress them up. This tzatziki…

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Greek Salad Dressing

Say goodbye to sad salads forever! This Greek salad dressing recipe is zingy and bright, and you likely have all the ingredients in your pantry already.

I first made this Greek salad dressing recipe to toss with a traditional Greek Salad, but once I had it on hand, I discovered that it tastes fantastic on so much more! It’s zingy, tangy, and bright – perfect for livening up side salads or making roasted veggies more exciting. The recipe calls for a handful of simple ingredients, so it’s easy to whip up at a moment’s notice. And once you’ve made it, it keeps for up to 5 days in the fridge! If you ask me, everyone should have this Greek salad dressing recipe in their back pocket.…

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Basil Pesto Recipe

Pesto is one of my favorite condiments to keep on hand. Try these easy, fun pesto recipe variations to brighten pasta, salads, roasted veggies & more!

One of my favorite things about summer is the bounty of fresh herbs that are just outside my doorstep. Fresh herbs make any meal instantly more flavorful and beautiful. My favorite thing to do with all of those fresh herbs (aside from sprinkle them on everything) is to make pesto! It’s especially great for lazy summertime cooking. I like to dollop it on grilled vegetables, pasta, spaghetti squash, salads, eggs, toasted bread, pizza, sandwiches… you get the idea. With just a few easy steps, it makes anything an instant tasty meal, whether you feel like cooking or not. What is…

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Vegan Tacos

Jerk-spiced jackfruit and mango avocado salsa pack these vegan tacos with a big punch of flavor! They're bright, fresh, and fun to eat.

When I flipped through the Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook by Nisha Vora, these jerk-spiced vegan tacos caught my attention right away. Combining jerk seasoning with ginger, tamari, and meaty jackfruit isn’t something I would have thought of myself. But wow, wow, wow, were these delicious! In the past, I’ve made vegan taco recipes with roasted sweet potato, black beans, a ground beef-like mushroom taco “meat,” and more, but this jackfruit filling is one of my new favorites. It has a fantastic hearty texture and bold, spicy flavor that’s perfectly accented by a sweet and juicy mango avocado salsa. I’m obsessed with…

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Perfect Oatmeal Cookies

I don't often call recipes perfect, but these oatmeal cookies are soft, chewy, and warmly spiced—everything a good oatmeal raisin cookie should be.

These oatmeal cookies are truly the best! From Sarah Copeland’s cookbook Every Day Is Saturday, they’re soft and chewy, warmly spiced, and flecked with raisins and nuts. Perfect, if you ask me. A few weeks ago, I got an intense craving for good oatmeal raisin cookies and hastily threw together ingredients that I had on hand. I ended up with oat-ball-type cookies that were…just ok, and my craving continued. So when I flipped through Every Day Is Saturday this week, Sarah’s oatmeal cookie recipe grabbed my attention. She writes, “these [oatmeal cookies are] little nuggets of joy you can’t stop…

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How to Cook Corn on the Cob

Learn how to cook corn on the cob with this easy recipe! Hot, sweet, and juicy, it's the best summer side dish. Seasoning variations included!

It finally feels like summer around here, and for me there’s nothing more summery than corn on the cob! When I was a little kid, I remember my mom covering the stoop on the back patio with ripped-open paper bags, and my sister and I would spend hours removing the husks. I love sweet corn so many ways – I top it onto pizza, mix it into cornbread and cornbread stuffing, stuff it into tacos, blend it into hummus, add it to soups, chowder, and chili, or top it onto salad. You get the picture: I’m a corn addict! But my favorite…

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Strawberry Salad with Balsamic

My sweeter take on a classic Caprese salad, this strawberry salad recipe is bursting with flavor from cherry tomatoes, basil, and tangy balsamic.

This strawberry salad recipe comes from our first cookbook, and it’s gotten rave reviews time and time again. Like so many spring and summer salads, it’s a perfect example of how fresh, in-season ingredients can combine to make a delicious dish in no time. This strawberry salad uses under 10 ingredients, but it still has an incredible mix of textures and flavors. The peak-season berries are sweet and juicy, and a handful of soft summer basil adds a surprising fresh accent. Toss in a little cheese and diced avocado for richness, pecans for crunch, and a drizzle of tangy balsamic,…

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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.