Coconut-Cashew Veggie Curry over Rice Noodles

09 Feb 2016 Leave a comment

by marisashealthykitchen in Vegan Recipes Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I just had the most amazing month of eating! I completed the Veg Whole 30! Felt a bit cliché doing a January cleanse, but I loved it! And did it with a group of amazing women, and that always makes everything so much more fun 🙂 The Veg Whole 30 is no-grains, no-dairy, and most importantly No Sugar (of any kind, including stevia and maple sugar!) ! I did eat legumes/soy (which the traditional Whole 30 eliminates) as I wanted to make sure to get enough Vegetarian Protein.

I feel really good and am going to keep this rolling by doing 100 Days of Real Food. I primarily eat this way, but not so strict! So inspiring and excited for more 🙂

As I slowly come off my Whole 30 month I am excited to add things like Rice Noodles and non-refined sugar sweeteners back into my life!!! I used to make a ton of curries and I was inspired to start off with this yummy take on curry! I cooked so much this last month, I feel newly refreshed and inspired in the kitchen!

Michael doesn’t always love coconut milk so I made it a coconut-cashew sauce and it was delicious!!!! I have to say though that after not eating grains for a month, I was SO full after eating this! Very satisfying!!!

I also enjoyed a few pieces of Raw Vegan Not Your Sugar Mamas Salted Caramel Raw Chocolate! Yum! It had been a while 😉

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Coconut-Cashew Veggie Curry over Rice Noodles

  • 1 can Coconut Milk
  • 1/2 cup cashews, plus more for topping
  • 1 can diced tomatoes
  • 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 1 head of cauliflower, chopped
  • 1 sweet bell pepper, chopped
  • 1/2 a bunch of fresh basil, chopped
  • 1 avocado, chopped
  • 1 package of extra-firm tofu, cubed
  • red curry paste
  • salt
  • rice noodles (brown or white)
  1. Soak cashews in water for 30 minutes-overnight. Drain and recover with water in a Vita-mix or other blender. Add coconut milk and blend. Add diced tomatoes and blend till smooth.
  2. In a large pot brown the tofu and remove for later use.
  3. In the same pot add coconut mixture above and 1/2 – 1 tablespoon of red curry paste to a large pot over medium heat and whisk. Add chopped veggies (minus the basil and bell pepper) and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover for 15 minutes (or until cauliflower and sweet potato are cooked). Add the cooked tofu, bell pepper, basil, avocado and salt to taste. Stir to combine and heat for another 3-5 minutes.
  4. While the curry is cooking, boil water and cook noodles according to directions.
  5. Plate noodles and curry over top. Top with some cashews. Super enjoy! 🙂

Cauliflower Buffalo Wings

21 Jan 2015 2 Comments

by marisashealthykitchen in Home Cooking, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I kinda have an obsession with hot sauce and vegan wings in general. Michael knows that if we go to Red Bamboo that we 100% have to order their amazing Barbecue Buffalo Wings. I love that there is a Cauliflower Buffalo Wing craze/trend these days! BEYOND better than so many of the other popular food trends of 2014!! And they are AMAZING!!!!!!!!

I had these at a New Year’s Party and had to make them immediately! I made them for a dinner party and even the biggest meat eaters enjoyed these! I doubled the recipe to make sure to feed a crowd 🙂 Loved the sauce & the dip together! But also soooo excited to try this recipe with a bunch of other flavors as well…. thinking Jamaican Jerk Marinade, Sweet Mango Barbecue, Teriyaki-Orange, Thai Chili and Thai Peanut! But I have a feeling we will return to the Buffalo ones again and again!!!

This is going to be perfect for Superbowl time too! Try this recipe! I think everyone will be so surprised and impressed with how yummy and substantial it is!!

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Cauliflower Buffalo Wings 

recipe adapted from hotforfoodblog.com

  • 1 head of cauliflower
  • 1/2 C non-dairy milk
  • 1/2 C water
  • 3/4 C gluten-free all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp of paprika
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground pepper
  • 1 tbsp earth balance buttery spread
  • 1 C frank’s wing sauce (can also use hot sauce)
  1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 450 F.
  2. Wash and cut cauliflower head into small bite sized pieces.
  3. Mix all the ingredients (minus the earth balance and hot sauce) into a mixing bowl. (The batter will be thin enough that it runs off your fork and the cauliflower florets)
  4. Dip each floret into the mixture and coat evenly. You can shake or tap off the excess on the side of the bowl.
  5. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
  6. While the cauliflower is baking get your ranch dip (recipe below) and wing sauce ready.
  7. In a small saucepan on low heat melt earth balance and mix in hot sauce, bringing to a low simmer before removing from the heat.
  8. Remove the cauliflower from the oven and put all the baked florets into a mixing bowl with the wing sauce and toss to coat evenly. Then spread all the florets in wing sauce out onto the same baking sheet. Bake in the oven for another 25 minutes.

Ranch Dip

  • 1 C vegan mayo of your choice
  • 1/8 C non-dairy milk
  • 3 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tbsp dill
  • 1 tbsp parsley
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground pepper
  • 1 tsp of garlic powder
  • 1 tsp vegan worcesterchire sauce

Blend all the ingredients in a blender until smooth. Refrigerate for at least 30 mins before serving.

Cauliflower Mac & Cheese: Healthy Vegan Cheese Sauce Yum!

14 Jul 2014 Leave a comment

by marisashealthykitchen in Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

So this was awesome!!! We are lucky that our kids eat a ton of veggies but this was still an awesome way to serve them! Everyone loved it! Enjoy this tasty and super healthy dish!

Cauliflower Mac & Ch

Cauliflower Mac & Cheese – Healthy Vegan Cheese Sauce Yum! 
Gluten-free, Vegan

1 cauliflower, cut into florets
handful of baby carrots
1/4 cup cashews
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt, or to taste
1/4-1/2 teaspoon pepper, to taste
pasta of choice (we used GF penne pasta)
Fresh parsley, for garnish

  1. Add cauliflower & carrots in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a low boil. Once boiling, cook for another 8-9 minutes until super tender. Drain.
  2. At the same time boil water for pasta and cook as instructed by package. Drain when done.
  3. In a high-speed blender (we use a Vitamix) blend the cashews and a 1/4 cup of water for 30 seconds. Then add the cooked and drained cauliflower & carrots, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Blend until a super smooth.
  4. Add sauce & pasta into a pot and stir, till just combined. Salt, to taste
  5. Serve with parsley sprinkled on top

NYC Food Update

11 Apr 2012 1 Comment

by marisashealthykitchen in New York Highlights, Raw Desserts and Treats, Raw Vegan Recipes, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

What a great couple of food outings I have had over the last couple of weeks! YUM! Some goodies but oldies and some that I have been wanting to try out and finally made my way over to. Love that!!

My Babies Blessing Party at Candle 79. Awesome!! Always an amazing time there 🙂

Quintessence in the East Village has always been a solid stand out as far as vegan raw food. I have been totally craving Caesar salads lately and they make such a great one! I have actually had that and their raw tacos twice over the last 2 weeks haha. So good! The Caesar dressing is amazing with a generous amount of avocados in the salad to make for salad perfection! YUM! Plus the tacos are just super awesome too. I love that you can order just one.

Dirt Candy is also in the East Village and I have been wanting to go there since Amanda Cohen opened it up a few years ago. FINALLY we were able make it there! It was actually pretty hard to get a decent time reservation but luckily I planned this one in advance and there we were 🙂 It is a pretty tiny, yet adorable place but of course the main reason why we were there was the OUTSTANDING food! As you know I am quite the foodie and been to many many restaurants but I have to say – I was beyond impressed with everything we ate! I am really hoping to go back super soon and try the other half of the menu!

We started with the Jalapeno Hush Puppies served with maple butter (how could we not!) and the Mushroom! dish portobello mousse, truffled toast pear & fennel compote, incredible! Complex, creamy and of course deelish! Then we moved on to our entrees. I have to say, everything we had was well thought out, very creative, visually stunning and sooo tasty! Chard – chard gnocchi, grilled chard, garlic granola & drunken fig jam and Cauliflower buttermilk battered cauliflower, waffles,  horseradish, wild arugula. And although we were getting pretty full how could I not try their dessert after such an incredible meal! Popcorn Pudding salted caramel corn. The other desserts had more of an out there sound to them, and although I am sure they were deelish, I had to go with this one. Suffice it to say, there was no disappointment here 🙂 We will for sure be back and are just sad that it took us this long to finally make it there!

Cauliflower - buttermilk battered cauliflower, waffles,horseradish, wild arugula

Chard - chard gnocchi, grilled chard,garlic granola & drunken fig jam

Lula’s Sweet Apothecary is another East Village fabulous vegan stand out when you are craving some amazing dessert. This awesome warm weather we have been having was just the perfect excuse to head over for some ice cream. They have a ton of fabulous flavors and I have tried many of them but I am sure as a lot of people would agree with – the Cake Batter soft serve is not to be missed. This is the first time I tried it with a topping and I had to go caramel sauce. So happy I did that! haha YUM!!!!

Cake Batter Ice Cream -- photo from http://www.theurbanhousewife.com

Gingersnap’s Organic  is another amazing new raw place to open up in the East Village. It just opened up in November and I am so happy I didn’t wait too long to make it over there! The owner, Jamie, is super awesome, friendly and down to earth. The place itself is really cute, comfortable and they specialize in food on the fly. So although they have an awesome full menu, you can can just grab pre-made food and run. I had already eaten lunch when I went but wanted to try one of their raw vegan dessert specialties. OH MY Chocolate Ganache Cake! It was seriously the best raw food cake I have ever eaten! I am sure this would pass to anyone for a master slice of chocolate cake. I love raw food, but I know the thoughts and feelings many people have about them as desserts, and this one seriously measures up! YUM! I am excited to come back here and try the rest of the menu and their cool looking cleanse as well. Welcome to the neighborhood Gingersnaps!

Gobo is a West Village mostly vegan restaurant that has a cool vibe to it. I have been going there for years and years! It was always the, parents taking me out go-to restaurant, for so long 🙂 But it had been maybe 2 years that we have been there and it was super nice to revisit. I always start with their Scallion pancakes with homemade mango salsa. Then we moved on to the natural Seitan medallions in sizzling spicy citrus sauce and the Organic king oyster mushrooms in sizzling basil black bean sauce. I typically would not order a mushroom dish as an entrée but last time I was here my friend ordered it and I was lucky to get a taste. So deelish! The king oyster mushroom is such a star! My very favorite dish there is the Pine nut vegetable medley with lettuce wraps, which I could not help ordering to go for my lunch the next day 🙂 Absence does make the heart grow fonder, it was nice to go back. Yum!

Pine nut vegetable medley with lettuce wraps