When Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews started their plant-forward food blog in 2011, strolls through local farmers markets helped them find and cook the freshest, locally grown produce available.
Eight years and thousands of loyal fans later, the cooking and photographing duo have released their second cookbook, Love & Lemons Everyday: More Than 100 Bright, Plant-Forward Recipes for Every Meal. This time the focus is on new recipes and ingredients that their readers may not have considered. And while the book includes season-specific recipes from the super-quick to those requiring more time, it also reflects the authors’ recent move from sun-drenched Austin to Chicago. “When the ground is covered in three feet of snow, we still have to eat. And we still want something delicious or nutritious,” writes Donofrio.
Reminding readers that we live in “the era of the vegetable,” Donofrio puts plants at the center of every meal. Hearty favorites like sweet potatoes, cauliflower, squash, and mushrooms offer robust alternatives to meat, while leafy greens and overlooked vegetables (such as rutabagas, fennel, beets, and parsnips) also feature large. Her recipes, combined with the couple’s mouth-watering food photography, make the book a joy to read and use.
Especially useful are the book’s various charts and lists, which summarize the practical, how-to side of cooking healthy and efficient meals. These include:
- A seasonal produce guide
- A list of plant-based proteins
- Charts explaining how to ‘rice’ various vegetables and freeze grains
- Tips for using often-wasted vegetable bits (including carrot tops, cilantro stems, and corn cobs)
- A salad dressing recipe grid worthy of a permanent place on your fridge
“This is not a book about becoming vegetarian,” writes Donofrio. “It’s a book about loving vegetables because they’re versatile and fun to cook.” The recipes featured in Love & Lemons Everyday Cookbook are also delicious, nutritious, and worthy of your attention. Try two of our favorites below.
Grilled Radishes With Chick Peas and Radish-Green Goddess
If you think you don’t love radishes, think again! The grill gives them a nice char, sweetening their bitter flavor. If the grilled radishes aren’t enough to turn you into a radish fan on their own, try them with the fresh radish-green-herb sauce. It’s bright and creamy, playing with the grilled radishes and lemony marinated chickpeas to make a lovely spring side or light dinner.
Serves 4
Radish–Green Goddess
1 cup loose-packed radish greens
1 garlic clove
1/3 cup loose-packed basil, chopped
½ teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon honey or maple syrup
Heaping ½ teaspoon sea salt
¾ cup whole milk Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Radishes and Chickpeas
8 radishes
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 recipe Marinated Chickpeas (see below)
2 Persian cucumbers*, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
Note: Extra sauce can be stored in the fridge and used for dipping veggies or as a sandwich spread.
*Persian cucumbers are thin-skinned, crisp cucumbers that grow no more than 5 or 6 inches long.
Make the radish-green goddess: Bring a small pot of water to a boil and set a bowl of ice water nearby. Drop the greens and garlic into the boiling water to blanch. Remove the greens after about 10 seconds, or until just wilted, and transfer to the ice water. Remove the garlic 1 minute later and set aside. Drain the greens, pat dry, and chop.
In a food processor, place the radish greens, garlic, basil, lemon zest, lemon juice, honey, salt, and yogurt. Pulse until well combined. Drizzle in the olive oil and pulse again. Chill until ready to use.
Preheat a grill to medium-high. Thinly slice 2 radishes and set aside. Drizzle the remaining 6 whole radishes with olive oil, salt, and pepper and grill 3 minutes per side, or until charred around the edges. Slice any large radishes in quarters and small ones in half. Assemble the dish with the marinated chickpeas, cucumbers, sliced raw radishes, and parsley and toss gently. Add the grilled radishes, pine nuts, drizzles of olive oil, sprinkles of flaky sea salt, and dollops of yogurt sauce. Serve with remaining sauce on the side.
Marinated Chickpeas
1½ cups cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
½ tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
½ garlic clove, minced
¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs
In a medium bowl, combine the chickpeas, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, salt, and fresh herbs. Chill until ready to use. Makes 1 ½ cups.
Gem Salad With Creamy Dill Dressing
This salad is spring in a bowl. With blanched asparagus, peas, radishes, and fresh herbs dolloped with creamy dill dressing, it’s a great way to use your early farmers market veggies.
Serves 4 to 6
Creamy Dill Dressing (makes extra)
1 ripe avocado
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
½ garlic clove
¼ cup roughly chopped fresh dill, plus
more for garnish
½ cup water, plus more as needed
½ teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Salad
2 slices whole-grain bread, cubed
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
6 ounces asparagus, tender parts, chopped into 1-inch pieces
3 ounces gem or butterhead lettuce
¼ cup peas, thawed if frozen, blanched if fresh
1 watermelon radish or 2 red radishes, sliced paper-thin
2 Persian cucumbers, peeled into ribbons
¼ cup Pickled Red Onions (see below)
½ ripe avocado, diced
2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoons minced chives
¼ cup crumbled feta cheese
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Make the creamy dill dressing: In a blender, place the avocado, lemon juice, garlic, dill, water, salt, and a few grinds of pepper and blend until smooth. If the dressing is too thick, add a bit more water or olive oil, as desired.
Toss the bread cubes with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of flaky sea salt and bake until crispy, 10 to 15 minutes.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and set a bowl of ice water nearby. Drop the asparagus into the boiling water and blanch for 1 to 2 minutes, until tender but still bright green. Use a slotted spoon to scoop the asparagus out of the boiling water and into the ice water. Chill for 1 minute, then drain and transfer to a kitchen towel to dry.
Related:
- Fabulous Summer Recipes Made With Everyday Ingredients
- 3 Recipes That Will Make You Love Cooking With Lavender
To assemble the salad, place the gem lettuce on a platter and top with a few evenly spaced dollops of the dressing. Scatter on the asparagus, peas, croutons, radish, cucumbers, pickled red onions, avocado, mint, chives, and feta cheese. Top with more dill and more dollops of the dressing. Sprinkle generously with flaky sea salt and serve.
To make your own pickled red onions, combine 2 cups of white vinegar, 2 cups water, and 1/3 cup sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolves, then remove from heat and cool. Pour over 2 small red onions (sliced), 2 halved garlic cloves, and 1 teaspoon mixed peppercorns packed into 2 (16-ounce) jars and chill overnight.
Recipes excerpted from Love and Lemons Every Day: More than 100 Bright, Plant-Forward Recipes for Every Meal by Jeanine Donofrio. Copyright © 2019 Jeanine Donofrio. Photographs © 2019 by Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews. Published by Penguin Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
