Mango Sesame Avocado Salsa

This wasn’t originally going to be a post, but of course that’s how so many of these things start out. I was making dinner one night last week… the mango salsa I usually make, on top of seared tuna. (thanks to my Aunt Judi for the suggestion!). I started preparing my tuna the way I usually do – marinated in soy sauce and maybe some ginger… pressed in sesame seeds, with a drizzle of sesame oil at the very end. That’s when I had the “ah-ha moment” that those asian-inspired ingredients would make for a nice spin on the salsa itself. So…

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All About Heirloom Tomatoes

Ideas for serving and cooking with the many types of heirloom tomatoes.

I’m hoping you’re not tomato-ed out yet! Today, I want to share a little info & inspiration about a few heirloom tomato varieties. (These are the ones I used in last week’s salad). They have such fun names, don’t they?

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Heirloom Tomato & Avocado Salad

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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Creamy Roasted Tomato Gazpacho

A creamy summer soup that's made with roasted tomatoes, peppers, marcona almonds and thickened with bread.

There’s a soup for all seasons, and summer is no exception. Chilled gazpacho, along with a big salad is my perfect summer dinner. And summer lunch. And dinner again the next night if there happens to be any left. This is a bit of a twist on a Spanish style gazpacho. I make it numerous ways, always drawing on the memory of the one I had on this day. Sometimes I switch up the peppers, sometimes I make it raw. Sometimes I add a few spices. But I particularly love the subtle smoky flavor that happens when the ingredients are first…

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Caprese Sandwich with Olive Pesto

Layers of summer produce, fresh mozzarella, and savory olive pesto fill this fresh, satisfying loaded caprese sandwich. A must-try cookout meal!

I’m in the process of learning to like olives… little by little I’m getting closer. I figure there are so many tangy, briny foods that I love – capers, pickles, sun-dried tomatoes – it’s time for this olive hangup to end. So when the folks from Mezzetta contacted me to make a sandwich using any of their products, I went straight for the olives. Caprese Sandwich Recipe Ingredients I set out to make a tasty tapenade – similar to one Jack and I shared (and loved) at a bar in Rome. What I ended up with was a pesto. I…

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Blackberry Lemon Cake

Vegan lemon cake with sweet coconut cream and juicy blackberries!

I knew you were coming so I baked a cake. Wasn’t that nice of me? I don’t think that’s how the song goes, but as I write this post, I can’t get it out of my mind. All I can think about is that song… and cake. And how I wish the leftovers of this one were still around. Lemon cake is one of my favorite things (surprise, surprise). I’m usually too lazy to make cake and frosting, but I’ve been obsessed with coconut cream. This time I added a few drops of lemon oil into it, and I just have…

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Stuffed Peppers w/ Chipotle “Cream”

Hands down, our most popular post has been this enchilada recipe with creamy cashew poblano sauce. I posted it over a year ago and I’m still receiving emails about it. So today I’m really excited to share this new twist: cashew cream meets chipotles. A happy marriage, especially if you like spicy food. You could top it on just about anything. At the risk of posting too many taco recipes, we did stuffed peppers this time. I roasted mild poblanos and these cute little anaheims… stuffed them with a smoky quinoa & black bean filling and topped them with dollops…

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Serrano & Corn Salsa

This recipe started as an idea for a salad. My salad “testing” often happens during lunch – I experiment with a variety of veggies, usually a concoction of whatever I happen to have around. When I come across an especially good combo, I save the idea and make it again later to shoot for a post. The afternoon I sat down to eat the salad-version of this, I was sure it would be a winner. Corn, peppers, cucumber, tons of lime… an easy recipe to use up tons of late summer produce. Well it turned out to have a little…

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Slow Roasted Tomato Pasta

Your eyes aren’t tricking you, these are not zucchini noodles. As much as I love non-noodle noodles, some nights just call for a big bowl of pasta. Especially when I have more tomatoes than I know what to do with and a basil plant that is finally flourishing. Slow roasting tomatoes is, well, slow. But it’s entirely hands-off and you really can’t mess it up. I find roasting to be an easy fix for my tomatoes that aren’t so perfect – you know, the ones that are sadly not that sweet. Eight or so hours later, they’re shriveled up little…

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Blueberry Banana Pancakes

Vegan banana pancakes - perfect for a light, healthy breakfast or brunch.

This is my very first pancake post. I either feel late to the game, or like I’m earning some right of blog passage. The truth is, I’d gone the last few years not eating pancakes. Let me back up. I spent a lot of years eating a LOT of pancakes… pancakes for dinner, late nights at Denny’s, the whole bit. This all added up to a number of post-college pancake pounds, and the easiest thing for me to do was cut out the temptation altogether. But that’s all behind us now. I mean, you won’t find me eating pancakes at…

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Best Summer Salad Pinboard

to-make summer salads!

Our Saturday morning farmers market walks have become few and far between lately. This morning felt a little cooler normal (86 vs. 103), so off we went. But after a sweat-drenching walk back, I have just one thing on my mind: big cold summer salads. I made a pinboard full of them… Click here to go see the full board. Happy weekend & stay cool… image credits: southern living / saveur / kwestia smaku my darling lemon thyme / cooking light / she wears many hats cooksmarts / sweet sugar bean / the first mess

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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.