10 Healthy Soups and Stews

10 of my favorite soups and stews to keep you warm on cold winter evenings.

A few weeks ago, we flew out of Chicago just before the snow started falling and the temps dropped below zero. This year, unlike most winters, we got lucky. If you’re in the midwest (or another frigid location) – my heart goes out to you. I don’t know how you do it, but here are ten of of my favorite healthy soup recipes that will hopefully help warm & nourish the soul. I make these all the time, but I want to know – what are you favorite soups? Pictured above: Butternut Squash Soup Curried Red Lentil Sweet Potato Stew…

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Favorite Summer Salads

If I had to pick only one season and one category of food to blog about until the end of time, it would be this one. I’m pretty obsessed with salads all year round, but I just can’t get enough when tomatoes, peaches and zucchini are all at their best. It’s hard to go wrong with a salad by tossing peak-season summer veggies into a bowl with a simple, tasty dressing (that’s how many of these salads came to be). If you’d like some inspiration, though, here are some of my all time faves: pictured from left to right, top to bottom: Heirloom…

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Matcha Recipes

I love matcha, you love matcha, we all love matcha… if you haven’t tried it yet, here are a few ideas to get you started! Unlike steeped tea, matcha is made by grinding the entire tea leaf into a powder. Because you consume the whole leaf, it has approximately 10x more nutrients than regular green tea. We, of course, love it because it tastes good. pictured above: Matcha Mint Iced Tea / Matcha Coconut Ice Cream Matcha White Chocolate Almond Butter Cups / Matcha White Hot Chocolate Matcha Mango Smoothie / Matcha & Sweet Azuki Macarons and some deliciousness from around the web: Matcha…

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Roasted Cauliflower Kale Salad

When I want a fast, healthy meal, this salad is my go-to recipe. I dress it up with fresh citrus juices, seasonal veggies, and my favorite nuts & cheese.

When I’m not in the mood to cook (and yes, that happens), our dinner often looks something like this roasted cauliflower salad. While there are a lot of salads on this blog, I probably don’t post as many kale salads as I actually consume. I love them because they’re hearty and filling and are pretty much a blank canvas for any seasonal vegetable. Plus, they’re great to pack away for lunch the next day. Kale might be “so last year,” but it’ll always have a special place in my heart. How to Make This Roasted Cauliflower Salad This is a…

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Healthy Green Recipes

There’s no shortage of delicious green ideas on the internet right now, but I thought I’d pop in and share a few of my favorites. Whether you’re a resolution maker or not, I think we can all agree that a little extra kale around this time of year isn’t a bad idea. (Click right on the photos to go to each recipe, links are also at the bottom of the post). Oops, how did these get in here: pictured: Matcha Mango Smoothies / Coconut Matcha Latte Kale Stem Pesto / Mint & Matcha Iced Tea Ginger Citrus Soba / Spaghetti Squash with Chickpeas &…

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Minty Millet & Pomegranate Salad

I’m calling this my “Merry Christmas Millet Salad”… because why wait until January to eat a little lighter and brighter? This salad is full of everything I love – pretty pomegranates, pistachios, fennel, & mint… and it’s tossed in a light but tangy tahini dressing that’s sweetened with big squeezes of orange. If you don’t have millet, you could just as easily sub quinoa. I use the two pretty interchangeably (especially when I forget to label my bulk bin bags). What I love about millet is that it almost tastes like semolina couscous, but it’s entirely gluten free and a healthy whole…

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Healthy Loaded Sweet Potatoes

I’ve never loved baked potatoes. I know… that’s hardly the way to begin a baked potato post. In my world (growing up), they came 2 ways: On our dinner table – plain with just a bit of margarine (sorry mom!)… and at the Yorktown Mall food court – those giant sour-cream-piled ones that seemed like a heart attack on a plate. (Which, by the way, were considered the “healthy” option because they were baked not fried! Gotta love the midwest in the 90’s). The kind that wasn’t an option? This kind… baked sweet potatoes stuffed with black beans, a little bit of…

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Collard Wraps with Carrot Hummus

Sneak more veggies into your lunch with these addictive collard green wraps! The crisp leaves surround a creamy, bright spiced carrot hummus.

Put down those tortillas, this year is the year of collard green wraps! Ok, I’m totally kidding. I could never give up tortillas, and I wouldn’t expect you to either. But in the spirit of all things lighter and brighter, we’re wrapping things up in leafy greens… In order to make collard green wraps exciting, a punchy, flavorful filling is a must. I had these pretty red carrots, which made me think of this Harissa Carrot Hummus recipe I had recently seen from Aida Mollenkamp. I took a few liberties, (mostly because I was too lazy to go look up the actual recipe). Among other things, I pan-roasted…

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Tequila Lime Fish Tacos

We’re switching things up today – this one is all about love for limes. (our alter-ego blog). The great thing about this recipe is that once you gather all the ingredients for the tacos, you’ll conveniently have everything you need to make margaritas to go with them. It’s like one of those “cook once, eat twice meals.” Only with drinking. Which is even better, right? Just be sure to get tons of extra limes. Cheers to a happy weekend!

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Sesame & Orange Kale Salad

I’m a new believer to the raw kale salad movement. I know, I’m late to this party (especially given my love for kale). But better late than never. It was this salad from Snap Kitchen that convinced me a few weeks ago. Bright, tangy, citrusy… exactly what I’m craving during this part of the winter. I made an asian-inspired version by whisking together a dressing of miso paste, a few squeezes of orange juice and some sesame oil… and added in avocado, and toasted almonds, and pickled red onions. And speaking of late… I’ve gotta cut this short because I’m halfway…

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Chickpea Radicchio Wraps

Chickpea Radicchio Wraps - a healthy lunch or plant-based appetizer. These wraps are filled with chickpeas and drizzled with basil-oil. Vegan and Gluten Free.

Chickpea Radicchio Wraps / www.loveandlemons.com

I just can’t get enough of non-bread wrappy things lately, so I was very excited when this cute little radicchio head showed up in my vegetable delivery box last week. Not that there’s anything wrong with bread, (and I did eat cake for breakfast this morning), but I’m trying to eat a bit lighter overall. And I just love the crunch of these crisp radicchio leaves. Do you all get a CSA box? If you don’t, I highly recommend subscribing to one. I’m not going to lie, it can be a little overwhelming. You’ll ask “what the heck is kohlrabi…

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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.