Watermelon Feta Salad with Kale & Avocado

Nothing beats this cooling watermelon feta salad in the summertime. With a bright dressing & lots of crisp veggies, it's a yummy, refreshing lunch.

I love kale, and I love summer… therefore this might be my perfect salad. The temps aren’t too high here just yet but with all of the crazy rain we’ve been having, the humidity makes it sweltering to say the least. This watermelon feta salad is as refreshing as it gets – cool, crisp watermelon, fennel, and cucumber are mixed with creamy avocado and feta cheese. It’s pretty much everything I love tossed into a bowl. This is a greener version of this spicy watermelon salad that I love. The kale idea came from a salad that I regularly get at Snap Kitchen, a…

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Simple Swiss Chard Pasta

Swiss chard brings two textures to this yummy 20-minute pasta. The stems add crunch, while the leaves gently wilt into the white bean & tomato sauce.

pasta / vegetarian / gluten free

It doesn’t get much easier than this one. I’ll admit, I often get very veggie-happy. While I don’t mind chopping up a rainbow of vegetables – sometimes it’s more than ok to keep it simple and let just one ingredient be the star. Last night, I chopped up this beautiful red chard and tossed it with a few simple pantry ingredients. Dinner was done in less than 20 minutes, and Jack and I were able to get right back to our House of Cards marathon. (Don’t tell me what happens, we’re only a few episodes in). Chard works especially well in a 1-vegetable meal because…

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Tart Cherry Grilled Cheese with Sage

Ultimate Tart Cherry (or Sour Cherry) white cheddar grilled cheese recipe with sage. Superfood meets comfort food!

winter / vegetarian

When it comes to grilled cheese sandwiches, I think more is more. I say, skip the white bread and American singles and instead opt for: 1. thick grainy bread 2. fancy sharp cheese 3. fresh herbs 4. something sweet or tart, to balance it all out In this case, component #4 – the tart cherries – are sweet and tart, making this my ultimate grilled cheese. Plus, I like to sneak in superfoods wherever I can. Tart cherries (also called sour cherries) have some unique super-fruit benefits. They’re a natural anti-inflammatory as well as a source of melatonin. Nutrition aside,…

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Oscar Party Appetizers & Wine Pairings

Vegetarian appetizer recipes and wine pairings for your Oscar party! Red Pepper Soup Shooters, Best Dressed Endive Spears, and Mini Pizzas.

entertaining / appetizers / vegetarian

The Academy Awards are this weekend – have you seen all of the movies? We’ve binge-watched only a few of them, but so far my favorite is the Grand Budapest Hotel. Does anyone know where I can get Jack a hat that says “Lobby Boy?” Whether or not you’re into the glitz and glam of it all, we love any excuse to gather over food and wine. We’ve partnered with Dark Horse Wine to create 3 fun Oscar-themed appetizers along with some unexpected wine pairings. To make things easy, most of this menu can be prepared in advance, and all of these Dark Horse wines are under $10…

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Rainbow Chard Bowls

These rainbow chard bowls are a delicious weeknight dinner! With 10 ingredients, they're easy to make, but they pack a punch of flavor.

winter / vegetarian / dinner

As a kid, I was obsessed with everything rainbow – my Rainbow Brite doll, a fresh new Crayola 64 pack (with built in sharpener!), and best of all – the rainbow-neon terminal at O’Hare airport. Pure magic. Nowadays, I have a new grownup rainbow obsession: rainbow chard. Cooking with Rainbow Chard If you’ve never cooked with rainbow chard before, it has a slightly bitter, earthy taste that I love to pair with sweet, tangy, and nutty accents. Aside from its gorgeous vibrant color, it has a special superpower: it’s kind of two vegetables in one! Not only can you use the chard leaves, but…

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Mini Sweet Potato Pizzas

our Mini Sweet Potato Pizzas are topped with brussels sprouts and kale. Customize the recipe with ingredients you happen to have on hand.

fall / winter / vegetarian

I feel like I missed the boat on the Thanksgiving leftover trend – sorry no mashed potato sandwiches happened here. (and um, eww). Instead, I turned a bunch of random veggie scraps and a chunk of red onion into fancy little veggie packed pizzas. In other words – it’s pretty much a non-recipe made on mini naan breads. You can customize these with whatever veggies you have on hand. Red onion and brussels sprouts are a tried & true combo (this recipe is still one of our favorites), and the sweet potatoes add a nice hearty bite. I slathered ricotta cheese…

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Forbidden Rice Pumpkin Salad

A delicious fall salad made with roasted pumpkin or butternut squash, pomegranate, pepitas, and blood orange vinaigrette. A great Thanksgiving side.

fall / vegetarian / gluten free

Are you sugared out yet? Since I already posted my one and only candy idea, I wasn’t quite sure what to make for today. I was going to skip this holiday post altogether until Jack came up with the genius thematic idea to make something with black forbidden rice. I had a pumpkin sitting on my countertop as well as some blood oranges… so naturally, I came up with the ultimate Halloween salad for this L&L Spook-tacular post. (That’s what Jack is calling it). I made a blood orange vinaigrette spiced with cumin, coriander, and a bit of cinnamon. I just love how the warm…

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Butternut Squash & Tart Cherry Quinoa

My #1 favorite healthy & hearty fall salad with butternut squash, tart cherries and a savory apple cider sage dressing. Gluten free.

fall / salads

My mom loves to clip articles. Newspaper clippings, magazine clippings, stories, recipes – sometimes they come in the mail, sometimes she saves them up for a visit. A couple of years ago she brought me a recipe for a couscous salad clipped from Edible Michiana that was similar to this one. We made it, loved it… then later I lost it. But I could never get this sweet & savory flavor combo out of my mind so I’ve been making versions of it ever since. The original recipe used couscous but I used quinoa here because it’s the grain I usually have on hand. I…

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Grilled Eggplant & Pesto Sandwiches

summer / vegetarian / vegan-option

You probably don’t need a recipe to make a sandwich but I couldn’t help but share this big juicy stack of late-summer grilled veggies. I rarely make sandwiches these days, (mostly because I live in the town of tacos)… but these simply grilled eggplant slices were just begging to be put between bread and slathered with arugula-walnut pesto. I piled on some roasted peppers and fresh mozzarella. Sub avocado for the cheese if you’re vegan. Then get out the napkins because things are gonna get messy! You can assemble your sandwich like I did, or put the ingredients on a platter so everyone…

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Fig & Ricotta Flatbread Pizza

gluten free / vegan-option / Pamela's

It’s possible that I’ve been going a little salad crazy around here lately. Jack has brought it to my attention that we may have one too many salad recipes on the site. So this week, I’m changing things up: first pasta and now pizza. Because sometimes we all need to live a little and just say yes to a few carbs. So last Sunday night when I announced “pizza night!,” I got a thumbs up from Jack. When I said “it’s gluten free pizza night!!!!” he gave me a look. I knew Pamela’s pizza crust would be good (like I mentioned…

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Lemony Summer Squash Orecchiette

Make this simple weeknight pasta when you have a bounty of summer squash. With just 10 ingredients, it's fresh, bright & satisfying.

summer / pasta / vegetarian

You still have tons of zucchini right? Ok, I thought so, just checking. This summer squash pasta recipe should be next on your to-make list. It’s a straight-forward, simple dish – perfect for highlighting a special seasonal ingredient like summer squash. My zucchini and yellow summer squash were on the small side, so I sliced them into thin little coins and paired them with orecchiette pasta. I like how the shape of the summer squash and the shape of the pasta are somewhat similar. It makes for a nice “easy-to-get-it-all-on-your-fork” sort of texture. How to Make This Summer Squash Pasta Recipe Making this pasta…

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Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.