Grilled Panzanella with Poached Egg

Crispy bread cubes tossed with tomatoes, basil, and ricotta make an easy, healthy, and elegant summer dinner or side. Add a poached egg for extra protein!

I love charred bread, but I haven’t always. When I was younger, my dad ate all the family reject burnt food. Overdone toast, accidentally burnt pancakes, cookies we left in the oven too long… my sister and I had a preference toward underdone and doughy food, so whatever we messed up and overcooked, we’d pile on a plate for my dad. And he’d always say “this is the best kind.” The first time I put burnt toast on a plate for Jack, he looked at me and said “what’s this, am I your dad now?” I had just always assumed…

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Quinoa Taco Salad

Enjoy this salad for a summer lunch or weeknight dinner. Corn, poblanos, cilantro, and plenty of lime give this hearty vegan salad crunch and zest.

I eat a lot of tacos. Here in Austin, you can’t walk 10 feet without tripping over another taco truck or Mexican restaurant. But my favorite thing is actually the taco in its deconstructed form: the taco salad. You can take this in as many different directions as there are taco fillings, but I especially like this with red quinoa (although if you had non-red quinoa it would taste pretty much the same). The chewy little red kernels sort of take on the essence of taco meat. The rest of the ingredients came together from what I happened to have on…

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Fettuccine & Sweet Corn Cream

Fettuccine tossed in almond & corn cream sauce with greens makes a perfect summer dinner. Lighter than a dairy cream sauce but no less delicious. Vegan.

Oh, corn… if you’re not from the midwest, you don’t really know corn… in the same way that if you’ve never been to southern Italy, you’ve never truly experienced a tomato. Jack doesn’t “get” corn. But he’s from Florida, so he never grew up with late-July anticipation of the sweet, crunchy, juicy goodness that is Illinois bi-color corn. (And truthfully, I think the closest he got to “corn” as a child was via Frito-Lay). If I had peak-season Illinois corn, I wouldn’t even be cooking it this much. This is a summery dish you make when you live somewhere that…

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A Little Spicy Roundup

It's a hot Texas summer, and I have a ton of chiles in my garden, I found some other bloggers with great spicy food recipes to use them up!

It’s been a hot summer, and it’s going to continue to be around here… in more ways than the temperature (sorry that was corny). I have so many of these little thai chile peppers growing in my garden (as well as a pile of jalapeños to use up). While I was perusing the internet for ideas, these hot pepper recipes caught my attention: Curry Cauliflower Pickles from White on Rice Couple Quick Refrigerator Dill Pickles from A Couple Cooks Jalapeño Corn Bread Muffins (gluten & dairy free) from Tasty Yummies Green Curry Fried Rice from Rachel Cooks Thai Curried Pea Sandwiches with Coconut-Cilantro…

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Strawberry Quinoa & Feta Salad

Strawberries, feta, greens, and mint make a bright, sweet, and salty spring or summer salad. A healthy gluten free & vegetarian weekday lunch or dinner!

I’m excited to be guest posting at Anthology Magazine this month with a 4-part summer salad series! If you can’t tell by now, I live on salads all summer long, so I’m excited to share some of my favorites. First up, today, is this savory-with-a punch-of-sweet strawberry & feta quinoa salad.  

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Green Bean, Potato & Corn Salad

This Mediterranean summer salad is brightened with a lemon-Dijon vinaigrette & fresh herbs. Serve as a vegan main dish or as a side for your next cookout.

These kinds of salads have been on our table a lot lately. I’ve been craving vegetables with Dijon dressing and capers… mediterranean sorts of flavors with vegetables I happen to have around. Bonus points if I don’t have to go to the store! That’s the kind of lazy summer we’ve been having. So I’m going to keep this short. Get off the internet, go do something fun outside (or not if you live where I do and it’s way too hot). And make salad.

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Peach Salsa with Mint

Make this sweet, tangy, and spicy peach & mint salsa as an appetizer for your summer party! Also delicious on tacos, grilled fish, or in a summer salad.

I’ve been binge eating peaches lately. Usually I’m pretty disciplined about buying only a few peaches at a time. I’ll even stagger my peach buying… 2 one day, 2 a few days later, so that every few days (during peach season) I have a manageable amount of peaches to consume on that one day when they’re perfectly ripe. So when my bi-weekly Farmhouse Delivery started sending me 12 peaches at a time (for the last 3 bushels in a row) my summer “peach system” was, needless to say, wrecked. (I know, it’s rough… my life… they’re really awesome peaches too).…

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Thai Coconut Cucumber Salad

Chilled crunchy summer veggies are tossed with herbs and a spicy, tangy curry coconut dressing. Serve it for a vegan weeknight dinner as a main or side.

I could eat coconut all day in the summertime. Cold, crunchy, spicy salads like this one with a side of coconut iced tea, followed by coconut ice cream for dessert. I ask you, who needs so much dairy when the coconut exists? (Ok, don’t answer that, I know you cheese-lovers are a passionate bunch). I’m calling this one a “Thai-inspired” dish. Jack and I are talking about taking a trip to Thailand next spring (!)… so until then, I bring you “Thai-ish.” Coconut milk, lime, and red curry are flavors that I am crazy about… and here they create a delicious…

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Romesco Grilled Veggie Sandwich

Slather homemade romesco sauce on a roll and top with your favorite grilled veggies & arugula for a delicious & healthy summer lunch or dinner. Vegan!

So this isn’t really a new recipe, but I just couldn’t resist snapping a photo of this sandwich the day after we grilled these veggies with romesco sauce. They were just as good (maybe better) the next day. Jack has to work this afternoon, so I’m thinking of attempting to make that lemon-thyme cake that was on my mind the other day. I’m not much of a baker, so we’ll see how it goes… (no promises of it being photo-worthy). If you have a recipe or a suggestion, please let me know! So far I’m thinking olive oil cake. I want to get…

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Roasted Carrots & Cilantro

Sweet roasted carrots served with a creamy, tangy cilantro yogurt sauce make a healthy weeknight side or appetizer for spring or summer.

We don’t really like carrots. Ok, I take that back, we like cake made out of carrots, and we like raw carrots, but both Jack and I grew up with a disdain for cooked carrots. Of course, we only knew them as the mushy baby carrot version. Or worse yet, the mushy baby carrots in the pot roast version. We both have memories of our moms smasing the carrots and boiled potatoes together and pouring gravy on top. “But it’s so good this way”, my mom would say… each and every time… as if one day this mush would miraculously…

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Orzo & Arugula Lemon Thyme Salad

This 30-minute salad filled with veggies, mozzarella & orzo and tossed with a bright lemon vinaigrette is perfect for a spring or summer weeknight dinner.

In case it isn’t obvious… I love lemons. Ending a dish with a squeeze of lemon or a bit of zest, to me, makes the whole world seem just bit brighter. And now I’m revealing my newest lemon-y obsession… lemon thyme. I have a bunch of it growing in my garden, and it just smells so amazing. Sweet, bright, fragrant… move over basil. (Ok, not really). My first thought was that this lemon thyme needs to be in a cake. But I’m not exactly Jeanine the baker, so my second thought was to make a bright summery salad with lots of…

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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.