10 Vegetarian Memorial Day Recipes

Healthy, delicious recipes to serve at your Memorial Day picnic or BBQ!

Is it Friday yet? I’m SO ready for the long weekend. After a whirlwind 2 days in Toronto this week promoting the book, I’m ready to relax, sleep in, and of course eat some yummy food! If you’re hosting (or heading to) a picnic or BBQ this weekend – here are some very favorite Memorial Day veggie ideas: Pictured above: Portobello Tacos with Creamy Jalapeño Sauce First things first, get your guests a cocktail! Mix up a big batch of this ginger peach sangria. It’s light and refreshing – my favorite summer cocktail. Serve it along with chunky Avocado, Black…

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Broccoli Pasta Salad

This bright broccoli pasta salad recipe is chock full of fresh veggies and coated with a tangy no-mayo tahini dressing. Perfect for summer picnics!

This is not your regular pasta salad. In fact, Jack (who is not the biggest fan of traditional pasta salad) said “Omg, this is the best pasta salad!” It’s healthy and packed with lots of veggies, and unlike a lot of pasta salads, it’s light on the mayonnaise – in that it has none. With Memorial Day coming up, I figure you may need a packable potluck salad that won’t spoil if it sits out for a little while. This one, made with a creamy tahini dressing, is just right for that. How to Make Pasta Salad – the Healthy Way! Bring on the veggies! This broccoli pasta…

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Tart Cherry & Mint Sorbet

An easy refreshing summer dessert. Vegan & gluten free.

This is the dessert I’m going to make all summer. With just 5 ingredients, it’s so easy! The best part is that (if you have a decent blender) no ice cream maker is required here. Just blend and freeze. It’s tart, sweet, and so so lovely with the little unexpected hint of mint. Jack and I both love Montmorency tart cherries for many reasons (see all of these recipes that use them). They have some wonderful superfood qualities, they’re known to help soreness after a workout, and they’re a natural source of melatonin which helps regulate sleep. We love them most of all, of…

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Red Curry Lemongrass Soup

A healthy Thai red curry soup made with ginger, mushrooms, tomatoes, and bok choy. We love this healing vegan & gluten-free soup.

We’re nearing the end of soup season here, but I just had to get this one in before we break into summer recipes. Or at least, before we break into cold summer soup recipes and before I go ga ga for gazpacho (ugh, I’m so sorry). This is a warm and spicy soup for the soul. I first started making it a few months ago when my mom was in town visiting while I was sick. All I craved was soup, so we made tons of soups together. Well, cookies and soups, to be exact. I’m not calling this Thai, because…

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Avocado Cucumber Sushi Roll

Learn how to make sushi with this easy sushi recipe! Filled with mango, avocado & cucumber, it makes a healthy, delicious sushi roll.

We love sushi. We love it so much that we rarely make it at home, well, because Uchi is just down the street. But this homemade sushi recipe is a fun kitchen project to do with your significant other when you’re looking for something new to do together in a Friday night. Plus, making this sushi roll is way less expensive than ordering sushi at a restaurant. Sushi Roll-Making Tips! First things first – don’t be scared! The only thing required for “sushi date night” is a bamboo mat and a positive attitude. You need to be in the kind of…

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Berry Superfood Smoothie Bowl

Learn how to make a smoothie bowl with this delicious, antioxidant-packed recipe! Almond butter gives it protein and amazing PB & J flavor.

This scenario happens often: I get on a smoothie kick, and I make the same one again and again and again. Same time, same place, same smoothie. Tell me that this happens to you too? This berry-spinach smoothie bowl recipe is my new latest obsession. Why You’ll Love this Smoothie Bowl Recipe It tastes amazing. Instead of banana, I add a scoop of almond butter for creaminess (and a little protein). As a result, it has a hint of PB&J flavor – it’s SO delicious and also husband-approved. Which means that I’m pretty sure it would be kid-approved too. It’s easy to keep the…

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Spiralized Daikon “Rice Noodle” Bowl

Healthy daikon "noodles" are tossed with cucumber, carrots, herbs and avocado with tamari-lime and creamy cashew sauces. Vegan & gluten free.

I’ve made zucchini noodles a whole bunch of times (here and here, to name a few). Zoodles seem to be all the rage, but have you tried “doodles”? Doodles (that’s what I’m calling them) are noodles made out of daikon and they’re awesome. They’ve got a little bit more bite to them than zucchini noodles and I find them to be less watery. I love how they look like rice noodles, yet these noodles are all vegetable. To go along with the daikon noodles, I made these bowls with cucumber, carrots, radishes, tofu and fresh herbs. These are all bahn mi…

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Kiwi Avocado Salsa Verde

Change up your usual avocado salsa with a surprising sweet ingredient: kiwi! It's a vibrant, fresh & fun dip that's perfect for parties.

My husband Jack really loves kiwi. He grew up in Florida, so I always envisioned him growing up among kiwi trees. His grandfather had quite the green thumb, and Jack always tells stories of the fruits and vegetables they would pick and eat together. He talks about kiwi so much that I had just assumed that this tropical fruit was part of that picture as well. Last week when I was trying to dream up a unique salsa recipe, I thought kiwi would be fun and different, and most importantly – Jack would love it. It’s not a fruit I typically…

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Cauliflower Rice Burrito Bowl

This cauliflower rice burrito bowl is just as good as one from Chipotle, but it's totally different. Plant-based ingredients make it refreshing and fun!

This cauliflower rice burrito bowl delivers all the best parts of a Chipotle burrito bowl – fajita veggies, cilantro lime flavor, plenty of black beans and avocado – and skips the worst part (aka the food coma that comes when you’re done). To make it lighter, I swap seasoned cauliflower rice for regular rice. Then, instead of piling it with cheese or sour cream, I finish it with a creamy cashew green chile sauce. The combination is light, bright, and downright fun. I can’t get enough of it! Cauliflower Rice Burrito Bowl Components Here’s what’s you’ll need to make this…

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No Bake Energy Bites

I make these no bake energy balls just about every week. Nutty, sweet, and packed with good-for-you ingredients, they're the perfect healthy snack!

This no bake energy balls recipe resulted from a massive cookie flop. I was craving a cookie, but I didn’t have the exact ingredients for my oatmeal cookie recipe on hand. I messed around with it, swapping in what I did have, and I ended up with a sweet and nutty “dough” made from oats and almond butter. It was never going to bake into perfect oatmeal cookies, but it tasted so good that I immediately thought, “Energy bites!” A few tests later, and these oatmeal energy balls have become my favorite healthy snack. They’re rich, nutty, and chewy, and…

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Copper Vitamix Giveaway

We're giving away a copper Vitamix to celebrate the Love & Lemons Cookbook launch!

Today, we’re celebrating our cookbook launch with one last giveaway – and it’s a good one! You may have noticed that I have a thing for smoothies, blended soups and creamy sauces. I just love my Vitamix – but have you seen the new copper Vitamix!? It’s pretty, it’s powerful, and one of you will get one! pictured above: Carrot Gazpacho with Lemongrass and Creamy Miso Brussels Sprout Fettuccini from the Love & Lemons Cookbook. This giveaway is now closed, thanks for entering!   If you don’t have a book, click here to get one! A winner will be chosen at random. The giveaway…

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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.