Portobello Mushroom Burger

This portobello mushroom burger recipe will be a hit with vegetarians and meat eaters alike! It's juicy, meaty, and filled with rich, savory flavor.

The next time you need a quick and easy summer dinner, make this grilled portobello mushroom burger recipe! You only need 6 ingredients and 20 minutes to make it, but the payoff is huge. The grilled portobello mushrooms are juicy and meaty, and a simple balsamic marinade deepens their tangy, savory flavor. We often cook them on weeknights, when we’re craving something tasty but don’t really feel like cooking. But like regular homemade veggie burgers, they’re a great choice for summer cookouts, too. Served on a toasted bun with all the fixings, they’re hearty, satisfying, and absolutely delicious. Even meat…

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Broccoli Slaw

Creamy and colorful, this easy broccoli slaw recipe is a delicious side dish. Pack it up for a picnic, or serve it for dinner with whatever you're grilling!

Jack is obsessed with this broccoli slaw recipe. Don’t get me wrong, I love it too, but I haven’t heard him rave about a salad this much since…I don’t know when. His favorite part is the dried cranberries, and how their sweet-tart flavor contrasts with the crisp veggies and creamy, tangy dressing. I made it as a side dish with dinner the other night, and he hasn’t stopped talking about it since! Luckily for him, this broccoli slaw recipe is exactly the sort of thing I like to make in the summer. It’s light and refreshing, and it keeps well…

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44 Best Cookout Food Ideas

These easy cookout food ideas include main dishes, grilling sides, salads, desserts, and more! Perfect for BBQs, picnics, or any summer gathering.

I never thought I’d be so excited to share these cookout food ideas with all of you. But after spending last summer picnicking on our own, the prospect of inviting family and friends over and gathering around the grill sounds amazing. Warm weather, good food, and great company? Life doesn’t get much better than that. You’ll find my best cookout food ideas below. They include 44+ recipes for veggie burgers and sandwiches, grilling side dishes, salads, snacks, desserts, and more. Some of them are out-of-the-box and inventive, like Chickpea Harissa Veggie Burgers or Grilled Watermelon with a crispy corn topping.…

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Chia Seed Pudding

This easy chia seed pudding recipe is a perfect healthy breakfast or snack! It tastes like dessert, but it's filled with fiber, protein, and healthy fats.

Now that the weather’s warming up, this chia seed pudding recipe has become my go-to breakfast/afternoon snack. It’s cool, creamy, and lightly sweet, with warm depth of flavor from a pinch of cinnamon. Topped off with fresh fruit, homemade granola, and a drizzle of maple syrup, it tastes like dessert, but it’s packed with fiber, protein, and healthy fats. Another reason I love this chia pudding? It’s super easy to make, and it keeps in the fridge for about 5 days. So if you’re a big fan of meal prepping, this recipe is for you. Make a batch of chia…

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How to Make Almond Butter

Learn how to make almond butter at home! Made with just 3 ingredients, it's smooth, creamy, and nutritious. You'll love it on toast, oatmeal, and more.

I started making this homemade almond butter recipe in an effort to clear out my pantry. It sounds silly, I know, but partway through last winter, I ended up with jars and jars of different nuts in the cupboard. Pistachios left from this carrot salad, hazelnuts left from this kohlrabi slaw, and so forth. I had one big canister of almonds that was begging to be eaten, and since Jack and I had a great time making homemade peanut butter last spring, I decided to try blending them into homemade almond butter. Let me tell you, I am so glad…

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Creamy Asparagus Soup

This lightly creamy asparagus soup is bright with lemon and packed with herbs and veggies. It's the perfect fresh meal for a cool spring night.

On rainy spring afternoons, I hole up in the kitchen and make this asparagus soup recipe. It’s my spring substitute for the butternut squash soup I love making in the fall. When it’s too wet to be outside, I find it soothing and meditative to simmer a pot of asparagus soup on the stove and listen to the rain pattering on the roof. To me, it’s the perfect spring soup. Fresh basil makes it aromatic and refreshing, peas lend it a subtle sweetness, and blended potato makes it lightly creamy without any heavy cream. Serve it as a starter with…

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Roasted Artichokes

This roasted artichoke recipe is my favorite way to cook baby artichokes. Tender and flavorful, they're a delicious appetizer or side dish.

I make this roasted artichoke recipe whenever I see baby artichokes at the farmers market or grocery store. I have a soft spot for anything mini – from cherry tomatoes and peppers to skillets and spoons – so whenever the little, purple-streaked artichokes catch my eye, I can’t resist buying them. They’re super cute, of course, but they have other advantages too. If you’ve ever cooked full-sized globe artichokes, you know that you need to scoop out the fuzzy choke inside the artichoke heart. That’s not the case here: once you peel off a baby artichoke’s outer leaves, you can…

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Easy Mango Salsa

Change up your salsa game with this sweet and spicy mango salsa recipe! Scoop it up with tortilla chips, or top it onto tacos, burritos, and more.

With Cinco de Mayo coming up tomorrow, I thought I’d pop in to share this mango salsa. It’s one of my favorite recipes to make throughout the spring and summer because it’s refreshing, fun, and so darn simple. Follow the recipe once or twice, and you’ll be able to leave the measuring cups in the drawer and just eyeball the ingredients. After that, you can change it up in all sorts of ways. Mix in avocado, or add some black beans. You could even toss in pickled jalapeños! Because this is such an easy, flexible recipe, it lends itself well…

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Mango Margarita

This frozen mango margarita recipe is my ideal warm weather drink. It's tangy, frosty, sweet, and refreshing. Pass the chips and salsa, please!

It’s finally warming up in Chicago, so we’re cooling off with this mango margarita! To me, it’s the perfect warm weather drink – frosty, refreshing, and blissfully easy to make. Just toss 5 ingredients into the blender, puree until smooth, and enjoy! Yep, making this frozen mango margarita recipe is as simple as that. Another great thing about this recipe? It’s all about the mango. Instead of using mango juice or added sweeteners, I blend up frozen mango to create its thick texture and sweet, tangy flavor. Once you try it, you’ll never make a mango margarita any other way. It’s smooth,…

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How to Cut a Mango

Learn how to cut a mango with this step-by-step guide! Then, enjoy the sweet, juicy fruit as a snack, or add it to your favorite mango recipes.

Welcome to How to Cut a Mango 101! Here on Love & Lemons, we have recipes for mango salsa, mango tacos, mango margaritas, and even mango sushi. Suffice it to say, a simple guide on how to cut a mango is way overdue. Cutting a mango isn’t difficult, but if you’re attempting it for the first time, it can be perplexing. Should you peel it first? What shape should the pieces be? And what on earth should you do about that pit? If you’re asking these questions, you’re in the right place! Below, you’ll find my method for how to…

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Pinto Beans

Once you learn how to cook pinto beans from scratch, the canned kind will never taste the same. Creamy and flavorful, they're a delicious side dish.

“I’m never buying pinto beans in a can again!” I told Jack last week, as I savored spoonful after spoonful of pinto beans straight from a pot on the stove. Maybe I was exaggerating (canned beans are darn convenient, after all), but I’ll certainly reach for them less often than I used to. If the last year has taught me anything, it’s that cooking pinto beans from scratch will yield creamier, more flavorful beans every time. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m arriving late to the dried beans party. A few years back, I did try cooking them, but without…

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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.