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Green Garbanzo & Leek Soup

Herbs & leeks make a bright, zippy chilled soup for hot summer days. This easy vegan soup is filled with protein from garbanzos and a lemon yogurt sauce.

We really should have called this site The Basil Blog. I just realized that the last 7 of 8 savory recipes I’ve posted all include basil. And even as I was reflecting on that, the most prominent thought that came to mind was wondering how delicious a basil brownie might be. (Strawberry basil sauce – yes?) So I make no apologies… it’s one of my favorite things, especially when my basil plant is flourishing like it is. This is my attempt at contributing to The Food Matters project today. It’s white bean and asparagus soup day. However, it’s been in…

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Basil White Bean Puree

An easy creamy vegan spread made with pureed white beans and basil + a collection of vegetarian recipes for toasts topped with spring produce.

This is one of those things that we’ve been eating a lot lately and not writing about because it just seemed too simple for one whole post. But I get really excited when one recipe becomes a 2-fer, so I wanted to share… It started with the leftover basil-parsley dressing from this salad (about 1/4 cup). I tossed it in the food processor with a can of white beans, adjusted just a few seasonings (salt, pepper, squeeze of lemon), and served it on a crostini. I reserved just a bit of the original vinaigrette and drizzled it on top with some…

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Crab Cakes with Avocado-Wasabi Sauce

Healthy baked crab cakes made with Asian flavors: lime, ginger, and coconut. This 30-minute meal is served with a creamy vegan wasabi sauce. Dairy free.

appetizers / entertaining

I don’t post about it a lot, but seafood is actually a staple part of our diet. The only reason I haven’t featured more of it is that I can’t cook a good-looking piece of fish to save my life. I can make it taste good, but I’ve either poked the holy heck out of it, or it comes off the pan broken… and I just can’t get seem to get a picturesque sear when it counts. But crabcakes covered in panko and baked (my preferred foolproof method so they won’t fall apart), I can do. Now, this flavor combo could…

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Mini Grilled Cheeses

Mini grilled cheese sandwiches make a fun snack or appetizer. Topped with sun-dried tomatoes, pesto, fresh mozzarella, and sautéed mushrooms. Vegetarian.

vegetarian / snacks & dips / cheese

I finally caved… here’s my contribution for this silly thing called National Grilled Cheese month. Grilled cheese is probably Jack’s favorite food, so it was pretty mean of me to keep this “holiday” a secret until this close to the end. Now that I spilled the beans, it’s likely we might see a special contribution from him before the end of April. (although maybe don’t hold your breath for it). The ingredient list below seems really long, but it all comes together pretty quickly. Feel free to skip any of the components you don’t feel like making. And if you’re…

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Baked Tomato Cheese & Bread Soup

A grilled cheese and tomato soup all in one, this layered cheese and bread baked tomato soup is comfort food perfect for a cold winter day.

This isn’t a typical meal in our house. Cheese around here is a sometimes food because I just can’t have that much of it. But “sometimes” has to happen… sometime. When I was in Rome, I ate gelato twice a day (you can’t be lactose intolarant in Italy, right? wrong…) and when my mom was here last week cooking us this melty, cheesy, bread-y, crusty tomato soup I couldn’t stop myself at one bowl. The idea to make this came up after a discussion about the beet salad post. We were talking about foods (there aren’t many) that Jack doesn’t like. He and…

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Sweet Potato Hummus & Yogurt Flatbread

A simple Yogurt Flatbread is served alongside a spicy, sweet, and smoky Vegan Sweet Potato Hummus. Perfect for a fall or winter appetizer or snack.

This is the easiest flatbread recipe ever… a total go-to of mine for any meal or snack requiring dipping or wrapping. It involves just four ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen and just a few minutes to combine and roll out the dough. The longest part is letting the dough sit in the fridge for an hour, but I’ve gotten away with cutting that back to 20 or 30 minutes while I’m making the other components of my meal… Today the other “component” is this smoky sweet potato hummus, as my contribution to The Food Matters Project. Erin…

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Roasted Cauliflower, Raisins & Capers

This roasted cauliflower dish has to be one of my favorite vegetarian sides. It's sweet, salty, bright & tangy. Serve it over quinoa to make a full meal!

I’ve had cauliflower on the brain lately. Over the last few weeks while everyone was craving chocolate-covered Valentine’s treats, I couldn’t get enough of this salty, sweet roasted goodness. I first had a similar version alongside a salmon dish at Mulberry, a restaurant/wine bar that we frequent. However, since this has been on the menu, we’ve been “frequenting” a little too much. When you go back again and again for the same twenty-seven dollar dish, I figure it’s time to learn how to make it yourself. This is so simple and it makes for such an elegant side dish. I…

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Red Pepper White Bean Spread

This healthy riff on hummus takes under 10 minutes to make. Packed with flavor from red peppers, white beans, lemon, and basil, it's vegan & gluten free.

I added this spread to sandwiches as my contribution to The Food Matters Project this week. It’s a hummus-like spread that I slathered over little toasts and topped with arugula, cucumbers, and scallions. We ate these for lunch yesterday… and then the leftover spread, well, that just got eaten by the spoonful. I love pestos and spreads like this because they’re so versatile. If we didn’t devour the whole batch in one sitting (I made a half batch – big mistake) I would have kept the extra around all week to put on my eggs, spread over roasted veggies, or snack on…

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Vegan Nachos with Cashew “Cheese”

A hearty vegan & gluten free nacho recipe with TVP-based taco meat & cashew cheese. Topped with guacamole and pico, these are perfect for spring & summer.

This recipe is from the Native Foods cookbook. Jack and I first stumbled upon Native Foods one night in California on our way back from Disneyland. I typically don’t eat foods at theme parks (I know, I’m “fun” like that), so after the fireworks we set out to drive around and find a restaurant. This was years before iphones and yelp, so it was nothing short of a Disney miracle that we aimlessly found ourselves at this awesome vegan restaurant. If you are new to the idea of nut cheese, it’s really nothing like cheese… but more of a cheese-like…

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Ricotta & Fig Jam Bruschetta

This 30-minute vegetarian bruschetta is perfect for fall & winter entertaining. Its depth of flavor comes from caramelized onions, fig jam, thyme, & lemon.

winter / figs / entertaining

This was sort of an impromptu appetizer I served at my birthday party* the other night. I had some really nice quality fig jam which made me crave a salty-sweet-treat appetizer to go along with a bottle of prosecco. I’m familiar with the idea of fig and gorgonzola crostini, but since I’m not a fan of gorgonzola (I know, I just lost a few readers), I got stuck on the idea of creamy ricotta instead. I caramelized tiny onion slices with balsamic, assembled the little bites, and sprinkled fresh thyme leaves and lemon zest on top. This turned out to…

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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.

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