Love and Lemons Every Day: More than 100 Bright, Plant-Forward Recipes for Every Meal

“A picture is worth a thousand words and that is what this cookbook offers: a multitude of photographs of food that tempt the reader to create recipes from Love and Lemons Every Day.”

Her name is Jeanine Donofrio. His name is Jack Mathews. They are the duo that created the Love and Lemons brand of cookbooks. One of the newest vegetarian cookbooks on the market is their Love and Lemons Every Day cookbook. This compilation of 100 recipes is a vegetarian but not a vegan collection of recipes. As such, there are new versions of recipes like Eggs Benedict and Portobello Reuben Sandwiches since eggs and dairy are permitted on a vegetarian diet.

Plants are the star in this cookbook. No one will miss the meat on their dinner plate when presented with one of Jeanine Donofrio’s concoctions. Instead of meat, we are bestowed with sweet potatoes, cauliflower, winter squashes, and hearty portobello mushrooms. The offerings are not only filling but energizing as well. 

Donofrio’s philosophy that meat does not need to be replaced with fake-meat substitutions is a more healthful view of vegetarian eating. Forget the overcooked green beans and broccoli from childhood. Read this cookbook as though vegetables have just made a new appearance on earth.

Every recipe appears with a stunning photograph of the finished product. The book is beautiful and laid out attractively. Our mouth salivates as our eyes peruse each page. The reader can’t help but become eager to see what these authors have in store for us as we eagerly turn each page and discover the versatility of the humble vegetable.

Jeanine Donofrio’s book stands out in a crowded field of newly published cookbooks. How do cookbook authors create a product that distinguishes them from the jam-packed shelves of cookbooks at Barnes and Nobles and on the pages of Amazon.com? It can be challenging. Despite the competition, it usually begins with a social media presence.

Jeanine Donofrio enjoys a very successful social presence. With a blog and a website that posts delicious, vibrant, and appealing photographs, she has an active social media presence, which is absolute requisite. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest have done wonderous public relations work for up-and-coming cookbook authors. 

Often cookbook authors, who also have an active and productive presence on the Internet, will create a cookbook duplicating recipes that have appeared on their website or blog. This is not one of those cookbooks. Each recipe is new and a breath of fresh air. One might find a Falafel Flatbread recipe on the website, but the Spring-on-a-Plate Socca Flatbread in the cookbook is a different culinary experience. The taste of the socca flatbread is more sophisticated. It offers the brine from pickled red onions and a spinach herb spread with crumbled feta cheese. 

This is a cookbook that needs to be read through and through. The author’s description of how she approaches everyday cooking is practical. She instructs the reader on a variety of basic terms and methods. The recipes are straight-forward, and Jeanine Donofrio provides the reader with tips that make their preparation effortless. There is much to learn from this author. Salt, for example, is not an enemy. Healthy fats add flavor and keep us full longer than non-fat alternatives. Herbs and spices should be used abundantly. 

Doesn’t everyone love cookies? Here we are given a free pass to try Banana Bread Quinoa Breakfast Cookies. The ingredients could just as easily be made into muffins, but the creativity of baking cookies for breakfast is one of the things that makes this cookbook stand out. 

Being a vegan and vegetarian does not mean abstaining from alcohol. There are recipes for some amazing libations such as Mint Tea Mule and Orange Tea Old Fashioned made with plenty of bourbon. The chapter on drinks is innovative, unique, and most unusual in this type of cookbook.

A picture is worth a thousand words, and that is what this cookbook offers—a multitude of photographs of food that tempt the reader to create recipes from Love and Lemons Every Day.