Vegan Macaroni and Cheese
23 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Home Cooking, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes Tags: almond milk, brown rice, brown rice pasta, butternut squash, cayenne, cheddar, coconut oil, comfort food, cream cheese, daiya, entertaining, mac & cheese, mac & cheeze, mustard, pasta, quick and easy, rice milk, sauces, sides, Skinny Bitch, soy milk, squash, vegan, vegan cheese, vegetarian, whole-wheat, winter squash
Mac and Cheese is one of my ultimate comfort foods and I am always up for trying out different vegan versions 
I love that this recipe uses 20 ounces of squash for the sauce so you “sneak” in the veggies and help make it a creamier sauce without needing extra vegan cheese. (although we didn’t really skimp on that:)) Check out Cheesy Baked Penne with Cauliflower (one of my fave versions ever!) and Quick, Easy & Healthy Vegan Mac & Cheeze (I also used winter squash in this one).
Vegan Macaroni and Cheese
adapted from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch
Serves 8
• 1 tablespoon refined coconut oil
• About 2 tablespoons fine sea salt
• 1 pound whole-wheat or brown rice elbow macaroni
• 2 (10-ounce) packages frozen pureed winter squash
• 2 cups soy, rice milk or almond milk
• 8 ounces vegan Cheddar cheese, shredded
• 4 ounces (about 1/2 cup) vegan cream cheese
• 1 1/2 teaspoons powdered mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Preheat oven to 375 F. Oil a 2-quart casserole dish; set aside.
- In a 4- to 6-quart stockpot over high heat, combine 3 quarts of water with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the salt. Bring the water to a boil, add the macaroni, and cook according to the package directions.
- Meanwhile, in a 3- to 4-quart saucepan over medium heat, combine the squash and milk, stirring and breaking up the squash with a spoon until the squash is defrosted. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and whisk in the Cheddar, cream cheese, mustard, cayenne, and the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of salt.
- When the pasta is done, drain it, then return the pasta to the pot. Stir the cheese sauce into the macaroni. Transfer the entire mixture to the prepared baking pan.
- Sprinkle with more cheese and salt and pepper and then bake for 20 minutes.
Bring on the troops!
Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies
16 May 2012 3 Comments
in Home Cooking, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes Tags: agave, brown sugar, chocolate, chocolate chips, cinnamon, comfort food, cookies, earth balance, Ener-G, nutmeg, vanilla, vegan, vegetarian, whole wheat flour, zucchini
Of course I love all things veggie but sometimes and for some people you have to sneak them in there. So this is a great dessert recipe that also has a bunch of zucchini hidden inside These taste just like chocolate chip cookies – YUM – but with a great added bonus! I am sure by the time my little kiddos are ready to eat cookies they will already be super veggie lovers, but I still think, why not have the extra fiber and veggies in there
Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/2 dozen cookies
Wet Ingredients
1 Ener-G Egg Replacer
1/2 cup earth balance
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup agave
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1-2 cup finely shredded zucchini (I like to use more, as it is a great way to sneak a veggie into a dessert!)
12 oz chocolate chips..vegan
- Pre-heat oven to 350 Degrees.
- Combine wet ingredients in a medium sized bowl.
- Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Combine zucchini and chocolate chips into the wet ingredients and blend well.
- Mix all ingredients together and mix well.
- Drop by spoonful (I love to use a small ice cream scooper) onto greased baking sheet or silicon baking sheet, and flatten with the back of a spoon.
- Bake for 13- 15 minutes.
- Cool on a rack and enjoy!
Vegan Peanut Butter Mousse
15 Mar 2012 1 Comment
in Home Cooking, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes Tags: agave, banana, banana bread, breakfast, chocolate, chocolate chips, comfort food, cookies, cream, cream cheese, dessert, entertaining, granola, mousse, non-dairy cheese, peanut butter, pudding, quick and easy, silken tofu, snack, strawberry, tofu, Tofutti, vanilla, vegan, vegetarian
Addictive does not even describe how good this is! You are lucky if it makes it out of the blender to serve. Have fun with this and change up the toppings or get super creative and make a pudding pie or cake with the mousse.
This one is so super easy to whip up but be careful, not sure we should have mousse EVERY day ENJOY!
Vegan Peanut Butter Mousse
1 cup peanut butter
16 oz firm silken tofu (not the vacuum packed kind – I used Nasoya)
1/2 cup agave
1/2 cup vegan cream cheese
1 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
Blend tofu and peanut butter in blender or food processor until smooth. Add cream cheese and blend more, scraping down the sides. Add agave and vanilla and blend again.
Assemble with toppings or just enjoy alone (maybe even straight out of the blender )
Toppings Ideas
bananas
strawberries
other fruit
granola
banana bread crumbles
chocolate chips
Like this:
Thai Root Veggie Curry with Coconut Milk
29 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in Home Cooking, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes Tags: broth, butternut squash, carrot, coconut milk, comfort food, curry, curry paste, ginger, lime, onion, potatoes, quick and easy, rice, thai, tomatoes, turnips, vegan, vegetarian
I love curries! Since winter is ending (yeah!!!!) I wanted to get one last yummy root veggie dish on the table and this turned out amazing! I also love a big one pot meal, especially if I already have cooked rice in the fridge already like I did this night! Perfection!
Thai Root Veggie Curry with Coconut Milk
Serves 4
2 cups rice, cooked and set aside
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
1 onion, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups butternut squash, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 turnips, trimmed and cubed
3 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
6 fingerling potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 zucchini, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 1/2 cups hot vegetable broth, or more as needed
1 teaspoon red or yellow Thai curry paste, or more to taste
1 cup low-fat coconut milk
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- Heat the oil in a large pan and set over medium-high heat. Add ginger, onions and salt and cook 4 to 5 minutes until the onions softens. Reduce the heat to low and add the butternut squash, turnips, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes and zucchini and simmer.
- In a separate saucepan over medium heat, whisk the hot broth with the curry paste until the paste dissolves. Pour the broth over the vegetables to cover them; simmer over medium heat, covered , for 20 to 25 minutes,until veggies are tender.
- In the empty broth saucepan boil coconut milk until it reduces in volume by half. The pour over the vegetables and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the lime juice and serve over rice with lime wedges.
Vegan Pizza with homemade dough
24 Feb 2012 2 Comments
in Home Cooking, New York Highlights, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes Tags: artichoke, broccoli, capers, comfort food, corn, daiya, dough, eggplant, flour, garlic, herbs, homemade, marinara, mushrooms, non-dairy cheese, olive oil, olives, onion, pala, pepper, pesto, pizza, sauces, sausage, soy, sugar, sun dried tomatoes, tempeh, tofu, tomato, tomatoes, vegan, vegan cheese, vegetarian, viva, yeast, zucchini
Who doesn’t appreciate a good slice, especially here in NYC where pizza is so very important and such a point of contention – even for vegans! Our favorite place to order from is Viva Herbal Pizzeria where we can get spelt or gluten-free crusts with daiya and even vegan sausage as toppings (our personal fave combo!) Pala Pizza also has great vegan options and that brick-fired pizza taste, yum!
Sometimes it is easy to buy dough and tomato sauce quickly whip up a pie at home, but if you are interested in making your own dough, here is a great recipe! My mom made the dough and I added the homemade sauce (thanks mom!!). It was really very very good!
Check out here for some of my other fun pizza nights Flatbread Pizza with hummus, green olives, cherry tomatoes and za’atar (this is a raw one and Well Worth the effort!), Raw Eggplant Pizzas and the quick at home whipped up kind with purchased dough.
Vegan Pizza with Homemade Dough & Daiya Cheese
Pizza Dough Recipe
- 3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon finely ground sea salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 1/4 teaspoon dry yeast (1 packet of dry yeast)
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1 1/2 cup warm water
- Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees (if using a pizza stone – place in the oven to get hot and heat for an hour)
- Mix together the warm water, sugar and yeast. Put aside to get foamy. If it does not foam then the yeast is not good – redo this step.
- In a separate bowl mix all of the other ingredients. Add in the yeast mixture and mix well until dough forms a ball. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough – Use the palm of your hand and keep pressing in and folding it over and repeating for about 5 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 4 – one pound balls. Place these dough balls into containers and cover the container with anything that will keep the air out. Set the dough to rise in a warm spot for at least 45 minutes. (you can freeze any unused dough after rising*)
- Prepare your topping. Stretch out the dough and aim for it to be even thickness all around. Top your pizza and place in the oven. Bake for 8 minutes. Let it rest. Add any herbs to your pizza afterwards.
*If using frozen dough – allow dough to defrost in fridge 12 hours
- Either use a jar of Marinara Sauce or make your own
Basic Sauce Recipe
- 28 ounce pureed tomatoes
- sugar to taste
- salt to taste
- 3-6 finely grated fresh peeled garlic cloves
Mix all the ingredients together.
Topping Suggestions:
- Mushrooms
- Onions
- Fresh or Roasted Garlic
- Broccoli
- Sweet Corn
- Peppers
- Olives
- Fresh Tomatoes
- Sun Dried Tomatoes
- Grilled/Fried/Baked Eggplant
- Grilled Zucchini
- Roasted Red Pepper
- Capers
- Saute Spinach
- Pesto Sauce
- Artichokes
- Soy Pepperoni or Soy Sausage or Tofu/tempeh
- Daiya Vegan Cheese or other vegan cheese
- Herbs
Unbaked Pizza
Mushroom-Barley “Risotto”
06 Dec 2011 6 Comments
in Home Cooking, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes Tags: barley, chanterelle, comfort food, cremini, garlic, morel, mushroom, olive oil, onion, oyster, sides, tumeric, vegan, vegetarian
I love all things mushroom! So this was one of those amazing recipes for my house. Thank goodness I made a bunch as we were super happy to eat it for a while The best part was that unlike regular risotto – I didn’t have to stand over the hot stove and stir this dish the whole time. And of course barley is way more nutritious than arborio rice.
Check out these other mushroom dishes from the past…Mushroom and Crumble Stroganoff -Vegan Creme of Artichoke and Mushroom Soup with Pesto, Raw Spinach & Wild Mushroom Quiche, Chopped “Liver” Spread, Thai Coconut Bliss Soup, Mushroom Stroganoff and Raw Mushroom Cream Sushi
Mushroom-Barley “Risotto”
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups mixed mushrooms, quartered (chanterelle, cremini, morel, and oyster)
1 cup pearl barley
3 cups vegetable stock or water
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
- Add the onions; cook about 5 minutes and stir in the garlic and cook, 30 seconds.
- Add the mushrooms; cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the barley to coat.
- Add the stock, salt, and turmeric and bring to a boil.
- Lower to a simmer and cover, stirring occasionally, until the barley is tender and liquid is absorbed.
Like this:
Butternut Squash Cornbread Stuffing
21 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in Home Cooking, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes Tags: butternut squash, celery, comfort food, cornbread, entertaining, garlic, mushroom, onions, red pepper, sides, stuffing, thanksgiving, vegan, vegetarian
I’m so sorry to have gone MIA for so long! It was a crazy couple of months and then we went on a fabulous whirlwind tour of Australia So no complaining here but I am happy to be back home and back in the kitchen!! And just in time for an awesome Thanksgiving recipe!!
I have always Loved the stuffing part of the meal so this dish is pretty perfect. It has all the carby goodness of the cornbread but much more veggies than a normal stuffing, so you can even enjoy this as a great fall meal. Yum! And I just love roasted squash! Plus this dish is also really low in fat compared to all the butter laden stuffing recipes out there
What are your favorite vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes/dishes? I would love to hear from you!!
Butternut Squash Cornbread Stuffing
Serves 8 as Main Dish or 16 as Side Dish
- 1 butternut squash (love buying the pre-chopped!!), cut into 1/2″ pieces
- 2 Tbsp. canola oil
- 2 onions, diced
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 3-4 celery stalks, diced
- 1 lb. button mushrooms, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 14 ounce bag cornbread stuffing
- 2 cups “chicken” flavored veggie broth
- salt
Heat oven to 400°F. Spray sheet or roasting pan (I needed 2 pans – but I also made extra squash for buttnernut mash- nice to be able to double duty the recipe!) Spray pan with nonstick cooking spray and roast squash for 25 minutes. Rotate squash and cook for an additional 20 minutes. Set aside and reduce heat to 350°F.
In a saute pan or wok – heat canola oil and cook onions, pepper, celery and mushrooms until onion is translucent. Add garlic, cook for one minute more and remove from heat.
Combine squash, veggies, broth and cornbread in large bowl. Place in a baking dish/roasting pan (use the same 1 or 2 that you roasted squash in) and cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt to taste and enjoy
Polenta & Shallot Squares
04 Sep 2011 3 Comments
in Home Cooking, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes Tags: comfort food, cornmeal, onions, polenta, shallots, sides, vegan, vegetarian
We love all things Polenta!! You can serve this as is or fry it up in a pan to make it a little more decadent, but we thought it was perfect on its own. Such a yummy side dish!
Here are a few other polenta dishes to check out: Vegan Creamy Polenta, Polenta with Nectarine-Blackberry Salsa, Polenta with Black Beans, Pan-Fried Tofu & Roasted Coconut Tomato Sauce, Slow Cooked Corn Polenta and Chiles and Polenta Vegetable Casserole.
Polenta & Shallot Squares
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onions, diced
2 shallots, diced
1 cup water
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup coarse cornmeal
Salt & pepper, to taste
- Place oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and shallots. Cook, covered, for 10 minutes, or until softened, stirring occasionally.
- Add the water, broth, and bring to a boil. Gradually whisk in the cornmeal.
- Reduce the heat and cook, stirring often and adding water as needed, for 30 minutes, or until thick.
- Season with the salt and pepper.
- Brush an 11x7x2-inch dish with oil. Spread the polenta in the dish. Cool completely and cut into squares.
Vegan Peach Cobbler Pie
03 Aug 2011 2 Comments
in Home Cooking, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes Tags: agave, Cobbler, comfort food, dessert, earth balance, flour, nutmeg, peach, pie, snack, soymilk, sugar, vanilla, vegan, vegetarian
- Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
- Toss the peaches with the agave and the nutmeg in baking pans and set aside.
- Mix all the sauce ingredients together until smooth and pour over peaches.
- Combine the crumbles ingredients into a crumbly dough with your hands. Sprinkle on top, completely covering the peaches and sauce.
- Place in the oven 35 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle another tablespoon of sugar onto both pies. Place back in the oven for 7 more minutes.
- Remove, let cool, and enjoy!
Carmelized Onions and Pesto Quinoa Pasta
24 Jul 2011 3 Comments
in Home Cooking, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes Tags: basil, comfort food, gluten-free, olive oil, onions, pasta, pesto, pine nuts, quick and easy, quinoa, sauces, tofu, vegan, vegetarian
We had such a super lovely week of vacation! We spent most of the week out in Sag Harbor relaxing, cooking, practicing yoga with the amazing Colleen Saidman at Yoga Shanti, hanging out with my wonderful sister & brother in law and their adorable twin girls and just generally taking it super easy. (I’ll post some of our other super quick vacation recipes soon!)
We then headed out to Northport to stay with our friend Lisa Dawn. She has a beautiful studio there, Project Yoga, that I was honored to be teaching at this weekend. Such a sweet and blessed space. We spent the rest of the time there at the beach and of course cooking a little more
As many of you know, I love onions! We bought the most beautiful onions at the Farmers Market in Northport and I wanted to use them right away. Lisa had this amazing Vegan Pesto from Delpozzo at the farmers market so it was just a perfect quick and easy beach meal to throw both these together with quinoa pasta. Easy Peasy!
The pesto was Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Basil, Garlic, Pinenuts, Tofu, Salt and Pepper. Super easy! I have never tried tofu in the my pesto and this was out of control amazing! I usually make my pestos with olive oil, pinenuts (or sometimes other nuts), salt and pepper -occasionally I will add some nutritional yeast. I always like to try new things of course, so I am excited to experiment with this one soon myself.
Caramelized onions are one of my favorite things ever. They come out so sweet and deelish!! All you have to do is cook them down and the sugar in the onions make them super sweet. Yum!
Carmelized Onions and Pesto Quinoa Pasta
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3-6 onions (depending on how much you love onions and if you want some for leftovers)
- 4 ounces of quinoa pasta
- 2-3 ounces vegan pesto
To caramelize the onions, just peel and chop the onions. Heat oil in a pan over medium heat and add the onions, stirring. Continue to let the onions cook for a while, stirring occasionally to make sure the onions don’t burn. You can either cover the onions with a lid and let their liquid cook themselves down or for a browner more caramelized version, keep the lid off and the liquid begins to evaporate as the onions begin to brown, just make sure you are stirring frequently to prevent them from burning. You can cook both versions for about 10-20 minutes till you reach your desired color and texture.
After you get the onions in the pan, boil the pasta water. Add the pasta and cook according to instructions.
Then simply combine the onions, pesto and pasta with a bit of salt and pepper and Enjoy
I kept the cover on for the onions, so they are not as brown, but they are soft and super sweet!
I LOVE it when it says Vegan on it!! So Special!!!
