Blueberry Banana Pancakes

Vegan banana pancakes - perfect for a light, healthy breakfast or brunch.

This is my very first pancake post. I either feel late to the game, or like I’m earning some right of blog passage. The truth is, I’d gone the last few years not eating pancakes. Let me back up. I spent a lot of years eating a LOT of pancakes… pancakes for dinner, late nights at Denny’s, the whole bit. This all added up to a number of post-college pancake pounds, and the easiest thing for me to do was cut out the temptation altogether. But that’s all behind us now. I mean, you won’t find me eating pancakes at…

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Best Summer Salad Pinboard

to-make summer salads!

Our Saturday morning farmers market walks have become few and far between lately. This morning felt a little cooler normal (86 vs. 103), so off we went. But after a sweat-drenching walk back, I have just one thing on my mind: big cold summer salads. I made a pinboard full of them… Click here to go see the full board. Happy weekend & stay cool… image credits: southern living / saveur / kwestia smaku my darling lemon thyme / cooking light / she wears many hats cooksmarts / sweet sugar bean / the first mess

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Grilled Potato & Arugula Salad

I might be from the land of meat and potatoes, but you all know how that my heart lies with the green stuff. I rarely eat potatoes, but I just couldn’t pass up these little cuties. And since it’s summer, I felt I needed to share a true picnic/cookout side dish. These little ones grill up so well – they cook through without having to boil them first, and they get that nice charred edge. Off the grill, I drizzled them with a lemony dijon dressing. I let that soak in for a bit and then tossed them peppery arugula,…

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Zucchini Coconut Noodles

This is my perfect cooking scenario: I walk into the farmers market with an open mind and no preconceived recipe idea. I take a quick scan and an idea instantly pops into my mind. I grab zucchini, tomatoes, cilantro, basil, these gorgeous amaranth greens, and we head home. (Ok, we stop at the doughnut stand, and then head home). Later that night, I start chopping, mincing and simmering. Jack works on the computer upstairs and instead of being mad that he’s working yet another weekend, I go to my zen place of carefully balancing flavors over the stove. Lemongrass, coconut and lime zest…

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Tequila Lime Fish Tacos

We’re switching things up today – this one is all about love for limes. (our alter-ego blog). The great thing about this recipe is that once you gather all the ingredients for the tacos, you’ll conveniently have everything you need to make margaritas to go with them. It’s like one of those “cook once, eat twice meals.” Only with drinking. Which is even better, right? Just be sure to get tons of extra limes. Cheers to a happy weekend!

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Roasted Shishito Peppers

I’ve posted these little guys before, but they’re one of my favorite summertime snacks, so I couldn’t help myself from sharing them again this year. Nearly every weekend I pick them up from JBG at the farmers market. If you’ve never had shishitos (or padrones), they’re mild… but they say 1 out of every 10 is a spicy one. Sometimes I roast them simply – with just some soy sauce and sesame oil. This time I made a few dipping sauce options. These sauce recipes will make more than you will need for the peppers. The leftover basil yogurt was…

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Berries & Coconut Cream

A simple spring & summer dessert when berries are in peak season! Made with vegan coconut cream.

Our 4th of July ended up being a quiet day, just the two of us. Jack grilled up some stuffed mushrooms & poblanos and then whipped together this juicy little dessert. We have a new annual tradition – which is not the 4th of July – but rather the annual “Jack cooks because Jeanine’s hand is all busted up from trying to break up yet another dog fight.” Yes, this has happened before, and no, I’ll never learn. Everyone’s fine, by the way, but lets just say our little Annie is looking much more disheveled than this guy. But back…

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Chile-lime Grilled Veggie Skewers

Chile-lime Grilled Veggie Skewers - mango, zucchini and red pepper are SO good on the grill. Serve them on skewers or wrap them in tortillas with tomatillo salsa. Perfect for memorial day or 4th of July cookouts.

Cookouts are not always a vegetarian’s best friend. Over the years, I’ve eaten more dry cardboard-flavored Boca burgers than I care to remember. And for no good reason other than I suppose most of the parties we used to go to were single-dude cookouts. You know the kind: burgers, buns, and beer. Done. Since my younger veggie days, I’ve learned a few things: #1: Veggies are (of course) amazing on the grill. and #2: Make foodie friends and life will be a lot tastier. Vegetarian or not, these would make a delicious addition to any summer bbq.

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Red, White, Blue & some Green

Happy weekend everyone! For those of you starting to plan your 4th of July celebrations, I’ve rounded up some of my favorite summer veggie recipes. From left to right & top to bottom: Grilled Panzanella  /  BBQ Portobello Sliders Seared Okra  /  Stuffed Red Peppers Veggie Ceviche Tacos  /  Edamame Succotash Also, as many of you know, Google Reader shuts down tomorrow, so don’t forget to import your list of regular reads over to another service. And/or click one of the options below to ensure you never miss a post: follow Love & Lemons on Feedly subscribe via email (you…

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Grilled Peach & Walnut Crumble

It’s going to be 106 degrees here today, so needless to say, summer is on. If you’re cooking out this weekend, I have the perfect simple dessert for you. No baking is required, just toss some peaches onto your already-hot grill and you’re nearly done. I, myself, will be having a “cook-in,” making this on my grill pan in my temperature controlled kitchen. A note about this walnut crumble topping – it’s become my go-to lately for quick desserts. Top it on any kind of fruit, add a scoop of ice cream & dig in.

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Cherry Tomato Basil Salad

A simple summer salad - perfect for picnics and BBQ's when tomatoes are in season!

I realize… this hardly counts as a recipe. In fact, I can list a whole slew of “recipes” I’ve posted that don’t reinvent any wheel or involve genius ingredient combinations. But it’s summer, and I’m of the opinion that when summer produce is at it’s peak, you should do little with it. That, or I’m starting to get lazy, I’m not sure which. Either way, this not-rocket-science salad was dinner last Sunday night. A simple & pretty way to welcome the first official weekend of summer. It’s a glorified caprese salad, with sweet basil oil and some crunchy raw corn.…

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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.