Panzanella

Filled with ripe, juicy tomatoes and crusty bread, this panzanella salad is a delicious summer meal. A shower of fresh basil takes it over the top.

It’s official: I can’t make it through a summer without sharing a new panzanella recipe. To me, this Italian bread salad is the perfect template for turning whatever produce I happen to have on hand into a fresh-yet-satisfying meal. Sweet corn? Peaches? Peppers? Yep, I’ve panzanella-ed them all. Of course, traditionally, panzanella isn’t an any-vegetable-goes kind of salad. It originated in Tuscany as a way to use up stale bread, and tomatoes were always a key ingredient. Their juices soak into the bread, softening it and giving it flavor. Onions, basil, and a tangy vinaigrette round out the dish. Earlier…

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Easy Vegan Coleslaw

This vegan coleslaw is the perfect summer side dish. A creamy, sweet, and tangy dressing coats lots of crunchy veggies - no one'll guess that it's vegan!

This easy vegan coleslaw is the perfect side dish for a summer cookout, picnic, or BBQ. It tastes just like classic coleslaw, but the ingredients all happen to be 100% plant-based. A creamy, sweet, and tangy dressing coats crunchy cabbage, carrots, and scallions. Set it out at your next gathering with whatever you’re grilling, and I promise, it’ll be a hit! No one will guess that this coleslaw is vegan. Vegan Coleslaw Recipe Ingredients This vegan coleslaw recipe calls for 10 simple ingredients: Cabbage – I love using a mix of red cabbage and green cabbage to create a blend…

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Pickle Relish

This homemade pickle relish takes veggie burgers and hot dogs to a whole new level! It's crunchy, sweet, and tangy - the perfect summer condiment.

It’s official: I’m never buying pickle relish at the store again. This homemade version is tangier, crunchier, and more savory and complex. The recipe also makes a very reasonable amount – right around a cup – so it’s actually possible to polish it off within a couple of weeks. (Looking at you, every massive jar of store-bought relish I’ve never managed to finish.) The next time you want to jazz up a veggie burger, hot dog, or whatever you’re grilling, I highly recommend you give it a try! Pickle Relish Recipe Ingredients Here’s what you’ll need to make this sweet pickle…

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Tomato Salad

This tomato salad recipe is the ULTIMATE summer side dish! Full of juicy, ripe tomatoes and fresh herbs, it's simple, flavorful, and refreshing.

You can’t beat this tomato salad recipe in the summertime. It’s super simple—it calls for 8 ingredients and comes together in under 10 minutes—but it’ll still impress anyone you serve it to. Thick wedges of heirloom tomatoes mingle with crisp red onion, fruity olive oil, tangy red wine vinegar, and fresh herbs. It’s light, refreshing, and incredibly flavorful, largely because summer tomatoes are just so good. Enjoy this tomato salad with crisp white wine and crusty bread for sopping up any tomatoey juices left on your plate. Happy summer, friends! Tomato Salad Recipe Ingredients Here’s what you’ll need to make…

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Grilled Mushrooms

These grilled mushrooms are an easy, delicious summer side dish! Seasoned with tamari and balsamic vinegar, they're meaty, juicy, and SO flavorful.

If you have a grill or grill pan, this grilled mushrooms recipe is one that you need in your back pocket. And if you don’t have a grill or grill pan, well, it might be worth getting one just to try this recipe. It’s insanely easy to make (we’re talking 6 ingredients and 15 minutes), and the flavor is out of this world. As the mushrooms cook on the grill, they become charred on the outside and juicy in the middle, and their savory, umami flavor intensifies. You can serve them as a knockout side dish with almost any summer…

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Avocado Salsa

This avocado salsa recipe is fresh, flavorful, and SO easy to make! Serve it with tortilla chips for a zesty summer appetizer, or add it to tacos and more.

This avocado salsa recipe is kinda like a mashup of two of my favorite things: mango salsa and guac. So naturally, I’m obsessed with it. It’s a super simple recipe – you can make it in all of 10 minutes! – but it still packs in a ton of contrasting textures and flavors. Creamy avocado plays off sweet, juicy mango, which in turn accents spicy chiles, crisp red onion, and cilantro. A big squeeze of lime juice adds the perfect zesty pop. I love to serve it as a fun, fresh appetizer with tortilla chips, but this avocado salsa is…

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Grilled Tofu

Looking for an easy plant-based main dish to throw on the grill? Try this grilled tofu recipe! It's satisfying, flavorful, and simple to make.

Have you tried grilled tofu yet? If not, you have to bookmark this recipe! I’ll give you two reasons why: It’s SUPER simple. Ever made homemade veggie burgers? They’re delicious, but they can be fairly involved to make. This grilled tofu is also very tasty (see #2 below), but the prep is way simpler. Press it, season it, and toss it on the grill. It’s the easiest plant-based main dish for a summer cookout. It’s delicious! On the outside, this grilled tofu is lightly crisp and perfectly charred, while on the inside, it stays tender and juicy. Seasonings like chili powder, curry…

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Coconut Rice Stuffed Peppers

These stuffed peppers are such a fun summer meal! Filled with coconut rice, mango, and tons of fresh herbs, they're bright, vibrant, and delicious.

This post is in partnership with Lundberg Family Farms. Here’s how I make dinner in the summer: First, I open the fridge to see what produce I have. (We also have fresh herbs growing on our back deck, and I love to use those as much as possible, too.) Next, I take stock of what I have in my pantry. Sometimes, there’s a can of coconut milk or tomatoes. Often, there are legumes like chickpeas or lentils, and always, there are grains like Lundberg Family Farms rice and quinoa. I love to use Lundberg’s products because the company has a longstanding…

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Coconut Rice

Learn how to make coconut rice with 2 simple ingredients! It's rich, fragrant, and filled with buttery coconut flavor. A delicious side dish for any meal!

In my first cookbook, I shared a recipe for Coconut Rice with Brussels Sprouts. It was an instant hit after the book came out, and it’s remained a reader-favorite recipe to this day. As much as people love Brussels sprouts, I suspect that the recipe’s popularity isn’t really because of the veggies. It’s because of the coconut rice. I mean, how could it not be? Coconut rice is rich and fragrant, with a sweet, buttery coconut flavor. It’s fantastic in bowls and as a side dish, but it tastes so good that I could eat forkful after forkful straight from…

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Tortellini Salad

Looking for a dish to pass at a cookout or picnic? This tortellini salad would be perfect! It's filled with fresh basil, juicy tomatoes, and a zingy dressing.

What’s more fun than regular pasta salad? Tortellini pasta salad! The tortellini are chewy and cheesy, not to mention adorable, and they make this summer salad such a blast to eat. Their nooks and crannies catch the zingy Italian dressing, and their pillowy texture contrasts beautifully with the juicy cherry tomatoes and creamy white beans. If you’re looking for a fresh dish to pass at a cookout this weekend (or a yummy idea for lunch next week), this tortellini salad recipe would be perfect. Oh, and if you’re vegan or dairy-free, you can still make this recipe! We’ve tried making…

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Three Bean Salad

This 3 bean salad recipe is a fresh, fun twist on the American classic! I toss fresh green beans, kidney beans, and chickpeas in a bold, tangy dressing.

Like macaroni salad and potato salad, three bean salad takes me right back to my childhood. It was something I ate at potlucks, picnics, and even the occasional school lunch. I remember liking the sweet and tangy dressing, but the mushy canned green beans? Not so much. So, to kick off picnic salad season this year, I’ve got a new three bean salad recipe to share with you. In many ways, it’s just like the one I ate as a kid. It features dark red kidney beans and hearty garbanzos, and it’s tossed in a punchy (though considerably less sweet)…

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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.