Miso Sesame Squash Salad

Does anyone else have a fascination with grocery stores in other countries? In Japan, we spent lots of time at food markets, but we spent countless hours wandering the aisles of grocery stores. It was so fun just trying to figure out what everything was. I collected non-perishable(ish) items to bring back – miso pastes, spice mixtures, etc… We also had a short list of items to get for a very good Japanese friend back home. A few of them were a little hard to find – buttered peanuts, and a specific brand of salad dressing. She eventually sent us some photos so…

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Grilled Veggies with Basil Miso

vegan / gluten free / summer

The “summer’s not over yet” recipe theme continues. Right now Jack and I are in Seattle for a few days before we head to Japan. I feel inclined to write about how we spent the last few weekends at home savoring the last of our local late-summer produce… But seriously, it was 104 degrees when we left so I’m sure there will be plenty of summer (and it’s veggies) waiting for us when we get back. With Japan on the brain, I’ve been in the mood for miso. Although, I realize nothing else about this recipe is remotely Japanese… the…

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Heirloom Tomato & Avocado Salad

summer / salads / vegan

This is the part where I get sad about the inevitable end of summer. Granted, my back-to-school days are long gone, and it’ll be another four months before I’ll have to so much as think about a sweater. The part I’m not ready to let go of is the bright colorful food. My eyes are not ready to adjust to the shade of pumpkin (as much as I love it)… just yet. Lately, I’ve been consuming these gorgeous Whole Foods heirloom tomatoes by the basket-full. They work well in this particular salad because each type is a little bit different. Some…

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Grilled Potato & Arugula Salad

summer / vegan / gluten free

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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Cherry Tomato Basil Salad

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

summer / salads / gluten free

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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Mexican Street Corn Salad

This Mexican street corn salad is one of my all-time favorite summer sides. Fresh, bright, lightly creamy & spicy, it's easy to make and sure to please.

summer / salads

This Mexican street corn salad is my at-home version of all the elotes we ate in Austin. Creamy, tangy, and a bit spicy, it’s one of my favorite ways to showcase summer sweet corn. If you’ve been reading the blog for a while, you know that fresh corn is one of my all-time favorite foods. Crisp, juicy, and sweet, you just can’t beat it. Of course, I’ll always love it straight off the cob, but this Mexican corn salad takes it to a whole new level. Mexican Street Corn Salad Recipe Ingredients If you’re not familiar with them, elotes are…

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Green Bean & Avocado Quinoa Salad

spring / salads / gluten free

It’s been so inspired by the bounties of spring veggies that have been available lately. I think I’m the only person on the internet that has not gotten my hands on any ramps this season (do they even grow in texas?), but I really can’t complain because I still have tons of amazing options. They key to any great salad is a variety of tastes, textures and colors. Although I find that sometimes it’s easier to come up with new ideas if I set some kind of limitation. This particular day I had leeks, green beans, and dandelion greens I wanted to use.…

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Spring Salad & Arugula Hummus

spring / salads / gluten free

Lately, we’ve been getting back into our ritual saturday morning walks to the farmers market. In the cooler months, we struggle to leave the house by noon. But the summer heat is starting to set in so we have some added incentive to get up and out a little bit earlier. (That and the vegan Red Rabbit doughnuts waiting for us when we get there). After we’ve had out fill of doughnuts, breakfast tacos, and coffee, I pick up whatever veggies look the best that day and we head home. A few weekends ago, I came back with this assortment……

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Spiced Carrot & Chickpea Salad

spring / salads / vegan

This salad is loosely inspired by a carrot salad I ate during a trip to Morocco a couple of years ago. It was part of our first night’s dinner… a hot night (114 degrees!) on the rooftop of our Riad at sunset. There were marinated vegetable salads, flatbreads, tagines, and a bottle of moroccan rose… all while the evening prayer chanted over a loudspeaker in the distance. We might as well have been on another planet, it felt so surreal. Yet, one of the things I remember most about that night was the carrot salad. Recently, J.R. Watkins asked me to create a dish…

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Spring Kale Panzanella

spring / kale / salads

This very green salad couldn’t be more timely. Jack and I spent all weekend tasting inhaling food at the Austin Food & Wine fest. And then we spent last night in some sort of food coma. Overall, I think we showed pretty good restraint… That is until Saturday night’s “Rock your Taco” event. We rocked tacos alright… And then a few tacos rocked us. But no regrets… kale to the rescue. A big bowl of it. This salad is part marinated kale and part and panzanella. Two of my favorite salads, together as one. Kale, fennel slices, peas and feta…

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Cinco de Mango

Mango recipes! mango salsa, mango margarita spritzer, mango black bean tacos, and a mango avocado salad.

spring / summer / entertaining

We celebrated Cinco de Mayo a little early this year with a mango fiesta. You should too because mangoes are on sale (like, $1 something) at Whole Foods until the end of April. I brought home muchos mangoes last weekend and mixed up this sweet & spicy salsa. Then (from the same salsa recipe), I made black bean tacos and an avocado-mango salad. And, of course, no fiesta is complete without tequila. I made a lighter version of a margarita – a mango margarita spritzer. Cheers!

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Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.