08 May 2014
by marisashealthykitchen
in Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes
Tags: breakfast, comfort food, cooking with kids, entertaining, h'orderves, jewish, kid-friendly, kids, Mayim Bialik, Mayim Bialik passover, Mayim Bialik vegan, Mayim Bialik's recipes, Mini Potato Kugels, olive oil, onion, paprika, Passover, Potato Kugel, potato starch, potatoes, quick and easy, sides, vegan, vegetarian
I love that all the food we cooked for this year’s Passover Sedar, we cooked as a family! Such a sweet day with the four of us! Most of the recipes we made were also great for year round.
In searching for some kiddo & adult friendly Passover recipes I found this one for Mini Potato Kugels. They are perfect little cups of fried onions and potatoes, so really yummy handheld hash browns 🙂 My kids really liked them (even raw as we were making them) and pressing them into the muffin tins! Plus it was super fun for both of the kiddos to take turns pressing the on/off switch on the food processor to grate these.
I was also inspired because this is one of Mayim Bialik’s recipes and LOVE all things Mayim! True to form it was great 🙂

Mini Potato Kugels
5 medium potatoes, grated
1 large onion, grated
3 Tablespoons olive oil, separated
1 teaspoon paprika
1 Tablespoon potato starch
Salt, to taste (somehow I missed that this was not in the recipe, so notice the salt I sprinkled on top 🙂 but best to add to the mixture first!)
- Grate the potatoes, and then drain the liquid from them.
- Saute the grated onion in 2 Tablespoons of the olive oil until soft but not brown. Add paprika.
- Mix onions into the potatoes and add potato starch and 1 more Tablespoon olive oil.
- Push into greased muffin tins, filling each muffin space all the way to the top, and spritz with a little more oil.
- Bake at 400F for 40 minutes.
23 Apr 2014
by marisashealthykitchen
in Uncategorized, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes
Tags: almond butter, chocolate, chocolate chips, comfort food, dessert, earth balance, entertaining, holiday, lisasprojectvegan.com, matzah, matzah meal, matzo meal, nut butter, Organic, organic natural peanut butter, Passover, peanut butter, powdered sugar, quick and easy, Sea Salt, snack, vegan, vegan chocolate chips, vegan powdered sugar, vegetarian
Passover dessert is not really known for being so great (think dry flour less cardboard), but these were awesome! Chocolate & Peanut Butter to me is always a winning combination 🙂 Not everyone eats peanuts/legumes during the holiday so you can always substitute Almond butter and I’m sure would be amazing too! Also to make this as a Non-Passover dessert you can use graham cracker meal or maybe even try coconut flour! mmmm ideas!
My dear friend Lisa posted these on her site and I’m so happy, and so was the rest of my family! YUM!!!!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Matzo Squares
recipe from lisasprojectvegan.com
1 1/4 cup organic natural peanut butter (room temperature)
4 tablespoons Earth Balance (1/2 stick, softened)
1 cup vegan powdered sugar
1 cup of matzo meal (approx 3 sheets processed)
1 cup vegan chocolate chips
coarse sea salt (optional)
Combine the peanut butter and Earth Balance. Use a hand mixer and if it gets to tough, use your hands. Work the powdered sugar in 1/2 a cup at a time. When that is thoroughly combined, add the matzo meal and 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips. Combine well. Lightly grease a small square pan (mine is a 8×8 baking pan) and set the mixture in by really pressing it down firmly so it is even. Melt together 1/4 cup of the peanut butter and the other 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips. Pour it over the top of the crust and spread it out evenly. If using sea salt, sprinkle on (I did so on half) Place in the refrigerator to set (at least an hour.) Cut into squares and serve! Enjoy!

16 Apr 2014
by marisashealthykitchen
in Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes
Tags: almond milk, appetizer, dip, earth balance, entertaining, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, Happy Passover, Hors d'oeuvre, Hors d'oeuvres, kale, ketchup, lacinato kale, lemon juice, Mashed Potato, Mashed Potato Quinoa Puffs, Mashed Potato Quinoa Puffs with Sriracha Mayo, mayonnaise, non-dairy milk, Passover, Potato, Puffs, quinoa, Quinoa Puffs, rice milk, sauces, sides, snack, spinach, sriracha, Sriracha Mayo, swiss chard, vegan, vegan mayonnaise, vegetarian
Happy Passover! If you celebrated the last two nights, I hope they were joyous ones!! We are stuffed, exhausted but had a great time!
This year I made a bunch of new dishes (and some old favorites!!) and they all came out super deelish!! I wanted to concentrate on some kid friendly dishes that I knew the adults would love too. We had fun as a family cooking these up together. So sweet 🙂
This one was a perfect appetizer for Passover or really any party 🙂 It was a hit both nights and we are super happy to have some leftover! I doubled the recipe to make sure we would have enough and will do next time since they everyone loved them!

Mashed Potato Quinoa Puffs with Sriracha Mayo
recipe adapted from http://brazenkitchen.com
Mashed Potato Quinoa Puffs
1 lb. potatoes
1 cup cooked quinoa
2 cups very finely chopped greens such as lacinato kale, swiss chard or spinach
1-3 cloves garlic, pressed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or Earth Balance Soy-Free Spread
¼ cup almond milk or rice milk
Salt and pepper to taste
vegan mayonnaise
Sriracha
ketchup
lemon juice
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Cut the potatoes into 1 inch cubes. Steam or boil until soft. Drain.
- Mash the potatoes well or put it through a ricer.
- Once the lumps are gone, add all the ingredients and mix thoroughly.
- Using a tablespoon, form into 1 inch balls or using two tablespoons, form the into rough “quenelles” or oblong discs. (I used a mini ice cream scoop/cookie scooper)
- Drop into parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Turn the puffs and bake for another 15 minutes.
Sriracha Mayo
- Mix Sriracha and mayo to your desired spice level
- Kick up with some ketchup and lemon juice.
18 Mar 2014
by marisashealthykitchen
in Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes
Tags: celery, chickpeas, crock-pot, diced tomatoes, Freezer Cook, freezer cooking, garam masala, garlic, gluten-free, healthyslowcooking.com, Kathy Hester, kids, meal planning, not-chicken bouillon, one-pot meal, organizing meals, quinoa, Quinoa Stew, red lentils, slow cooker, Slow Cooker Indian Spiced Chickpea Quinoa Stew, soy-free, sweet potato, turmeric, turnip, vegan freezer cook, vegan freezer cooking, vegan meal planning, vegetable bouillon
Here is a super simple deelish slow cooker meal! We LOVE a great one-pot meal! I like Kathy’s suggestions to add any veggies you have on hand or use yellow lentils instead of red, potato in place of turnip and even carrots.
A while ago I spent a day doing a Huge Freezer Cook aka cooking/assembling meals and freezing then for later use! Brilliant idea but makes for one super crazy cooking day plus another whole afternoon to shop! But I made 26 meals to freeze!! Some meals required cooking and storing in tins to be later defrosted and cooked or reheated. Some meals, like this one, I cut and prepped all the ingredients/spices and put in a food saver bag so it was ready to go in the slow-cooker 🙂 We Love having a freezer full of meals for when we need a prepared meal and don’t feel like or have time for cooking!
This was PERFECT after we came home from vacation recently. We woke up in the morning and I just tossed the bag of ingredients & the 4 cups of water, in the slow-cooker and 8.5 hours later we had a wonderful & hot dinner. Which after coming back to the cold, snowy NY from hot and sunny Mexico was much needed to warm us up! Plus always so nice when the kids love the meal you prepared! Yeah!

Slow Cooker Indian Spiced Chickpea Quinoa Stew
Recipe from Kathy Hester at healthyslowcooking.com
serves 4 to 6
- 4 to 5 cups water
- 1 can diced tomatoes (or 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen)
- 1 can chickpeas, rinsed (or 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen)
- 1/2 cup red lentils
- 1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
- 1 cup peeled turnip, chopped
- 1 cup sweet potato, chopped
- 1/2 cup celery, chopped (about 1 stalk)
- 1 tablespoon not-chicken bouillon
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- salt, to taste
Put everything in the slow cooker and cook on low 6 to 9 hours. Taste, re-season if needed (you may not even need the salt if your bouillon is salty.)
* If you plan to prep & freeze for another time, add the water at the time of cooking.
29 Jan 2014
by marisashealthykitchen
in Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes
Tags: appetizer, dip, entertaining, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, h'orderves, Hors d'oeuvre, Hors d'oeuvres, lemon juice, Party, polenta, Polenta Squares with Sun-Dried Tomato and Walnut Tapenade, rosemary, sides, sun dried tomatoes, Sun-Dried Tomato Tapenade, thyme, tomatoes, vegan, vegetable broth, vegetarian, walnut tapenade, walnuts, yellow cornmeal
I love Gena’s site and have always been happy with how her recipes come out! We love Polenta in our house, so not surprising when I saw this one I had to try! I am such a sucker for appetizers too, they really are always the best part of any meal or party! I made these for several gathering and parties and they were always a hit. Enjoy!!!
You can prepare the polenta up to 2 days in advance, and the tapenade up to 3 days. On the day of your party, simply broil the polenta squares and top them with the tapenade. The polenta can also be used as a base for many different seasonings. Try & play around 🙂
Just a couple of past polenta dishes and I am sure many more to come: Creamy Polenta with Barbecue Seitan Sauce, Vegan Creamy Polenta with Sausage and Peppers, Mushroom and Kale Polenta, Polenta & Shallot Squares, 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 Squares with Sun-Dried Tomato and Walnut Tapenade
Recipe from http://www.choosingraw.com
Serves 22 (recipe can easily be halved)
Polenta Party Squares
6 cups vegetable broth (low sodium if possible)
2 cups polenta (yellow cornmeal)
1 teaspoon sea salt
Black pepper, to taste
1 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 batch sun-dried tomato and walnut tapenade
Bring the polenta, salt, and broth to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer. Using a long wooden spoon, continually stir the polenta until it has thickened (approximately 25-30 minutes). When the mixture is very thick and is pulling away from the sides of the pot, stir in the pepper and thyme.
Oil a 15.25 x 10.25 baking sheet (or line with parchment paper). Spread the polenta mixture evenly over the sheet with an inverted knife. It should be about as thick as the edge of the pan itself. Allow it to cool, and then transfer to the fridge for a few hours.
Preheat your broiler. Cut the polenta into squares (you should get about 22). Return them to a baking sheet and brush lightly with olive oil. Place under a broiler for 8 minutes, or until they’re lightly toasted. You can alternately bake them at 375 for twenty-five minutes or so. Top each square with a tablespoon of tapenade, and serve.
Sun-dried Tomato and Walnut Tapenade
3/4 cups sun-dried tomatoes (not oil soaked)
2 cups water
2/3 cups walnuts
2 small cloves garlic
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Black pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Boil the water and pour it over the tomatoes. Allow them to soften for 20 minutes. Discard most of the water (keep a half cup in case you need to thin the tapenade).
Grind the walnuts in a food processor fitted with the S blade until they’re finely ground. Add the tomatoes and garlic, and pulse to combine. Add the lemon, sea salt, pepper, and rosemary.
Run the motor of the food processor and drizzle in the oil in a thin stream. If the mixture is still very thick, drizzle in some of the soak water from the tomatoes until it reaches the desired consistency. You’re aiming for the consistency of regular tapenade, or a thick pesto.

22 Jan 2014
by marisashealthykitchen
in Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes
Tags: brown lentils, cayenne, crock-pot, cumin, garam masala, garlic, ginger, indian, lentils, onion, quick and easy, quinoa, sauces, sides, slow cooker, turmeric, vegan, vegetarian
My friend Dina told me about a super easy slow cooker lentils recipe. It was really yummy and beyond easy! There is something so nice about placing everything in a slow cooker and hours later having a hot cooked and deelish meal waiting for you! Perfect for weeknight dinners 🙂

Easy Slow Cooker Lentils
2 cups brown lentils
1 1/2 cups quinoa
1 chopped onion
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tbsp fresh grated ginger (I keep mine peeled and frozen so it is super easy to grate )
1 tsp each garam masala, turmeric, cayenne, cumin
Salt to taste
Mix all of the above in the slow cooker and put in enough water to cover by an inch plus. Cook on high for 2-3 hrs or low for 3-4 hrs. (add more water if needed) I served it with yogurt and chopped cucumber. Deelish!
15 Jan 2014
by marisashealthykitchen
in Raw Vegan Recipes, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes
Tags: avocado, caesar, caper, Cashews, dip, dressing, garlic, green, kale, kale salad, lemon juice, miso, nutritional yeast, pignoli, pine nuts, quick and easy, radish, raw, rice vinegar, salad, vegan, vegetarian
Back to the Kale Salad! YUM! This one is so creamy and deelish it will please even people who think they don’t love kale. This dressing can be used with any other salad or even as dip!

Kale Caesar Salad
2 large bunches kale, stems discarded, chopped
Caesar Dressing
1 bunch red radishes, sliced super thin
3 tablespoons capers
1/2 ripe avocado, chopped
- Massage Kale and Dressing in a large bowl. Use your hands to massage and make sure to really get in there to soften the kale and evenly distribute the dressing.
- Add radishes, capers and avocado and toss.
Caesar Dressing
2 cups water
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup cashews
1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons dark miso
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- Place all the ingredients into a high speed blender and blend till creamy.
- Chill until ready to use and shake well.
05 Jan 2014
by marisashealthykitchen
in Home Cooking, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes
Tags: apple cider vinegar, Barbeque, barbeque sauce, Barbeque Seitan, bbq, chili powder, comfort food, Creamy Polenta, garlic, grits, mustard, onion, peanut butter, polenta, red pepper, sauces, seitan, sides, sugar, tamari, tomato sauce, vegan, vegetarian
As you know we LOVE polenta over here 🙂 What is not to love; creamy, smooth corn goodness! And what makes this even better is a deelish, hearty sauce over top 🙂
Just a couple of past polenta dishes: Vegan Creamy Polenta with Sausage and Peppers, Mushroom and Kale Polenta, Polenta & Shallot Squares, 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.

Creamy Polenta with Barbeque Seitan Sauce
1 1/2 cups water, divided
3 teaspoons tamari, divided
1 large onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1 teaspoon stone-ground or Dijon mustard
8 ounces coarsley chopped or grated seitan
4 cups cooked polenta (see recipe)
Heat 1/2 cup water and 1 teaspoon tamari in a large pot. Add onion, pepper, and garlic and cook until onion is soft and translucent. Add remaining 1 cup water and 2 teaspoons tamari, tomato sauce, sugar, chili powder, vinegar, peanut butter, mustard, and seitan and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Spoon the cooked polenta into bowls and top with the sauce. Enjoy 🙂
27 Nov 2013
by marisashealthykitchen
in Home Cooking, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes
Tags: almond milk, apple, Apple Cranberry Pie, brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, Cobbler, comfort food, cranberry, dessert, earth balance, lemon, non-dairy milk, sugar, thanksgiving, vegan, vegan cobbler, vegetarian
My husband’s favorite dessert ever is cobbler so it was pretty easy to decide what to make when we had so many CSA apples and cranberries! It was super deelish!!!
Have a wonderful and gentle Thanksgiving!!!

Round 1: I used a pie pan. Loved the height but was so happy I used the baking sheet underneath!

Round 2: I used a cake pan so it wasn’t as high up but barely made a mess 🙂
Apple Cranberry Cobbler
Filling:
4 apples, peeled and chopped
2 cup cranberries
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons cornstarch
juice of 1 lemon
dash of salt
8 tablespoons non-dairy butter (we used earth balance)
For the Cobbler Topping:
3/4 cup non-dairy milk (we used almond milk)
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
dash of salt
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Combine the Cobbler Filling ingredients in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the topping ingredients.
- Melt the butter in a pie dish in oven. Remove from oven and fill with the filling. Pour topping over the fruit.
- Bake for approximately 1 hour (helpful to use a cookie sheet underneath to avoid a mess!), or until the juices are bubbling and the cobbler is golden.

10 Nov 2013
by marisashealthykitchen
in Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes
Tags: almond milk, breakfast, butternut squash, cardamom, cinnamon, cranberry, muffins, nutmeg, oats, pumpkin, quick and easy, snack, soy milk, vanilla, vegan, vegetarian, vinegar, whole-wheat
We recently moved to the country and it has been beyond amazing but now Michael has a bit longer commute. So I am trying to come up with some quick and healthy “grab as you run out the door” breakfasts 🙂 Green Juice, check! (thank you Blue Print Bottles!) But then something a bit more substantial for him throughout the morning. These were super yummy, kid & husband approved!


Butternut Cranberry Oat Muffins
Makes 12
¾ cup organic cane sugar
1 ½ cups unbleached all purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat pastry or spelt flour
½ cup oats
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup almond or other nondairy milk
1 cup cooked pumpkin or butternut squash, mashed
2 tablespoons canola or other neutral oil
1 teaspoon white or rice vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
½ cup dried cranberries
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Spray regular sized muffin tins with cooking spray
- Combine the sugar, flours, oats, salt, baking powder and soda in a large bowl. Stir well to combine.
- In another bowl, mix the remaining ingredients except the cranberries. Stir until well mixed.
- Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, along with the cranberries, and stir well but quickly to combine. Do not over-stir the dough otherwise the muffins will come out tough. . Spoon the batter into the muffin tins to fill about 2/3 of each cup.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until the muffins are golden brown and cooked in the middle. Let cool on a rack. Enjoy 🙂
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