Crock-Pot Oatmeal

14 Dec 2009 7 Comments

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

I know you had all heard me profess my new-found love for breakfast but I haven’t posted one in a while. For the last couple of weeks I have been making Crock-Pot Oatmeal. As you know I am always cooking up a storm in my kitchen, so to have this one be super easy really takes the pressure of breakfast off me 🙂 What I do is throw all the ingredients in the crock pot on sunday, let it do its thing and then refrigerate them in perfect portions for the week. Love it! This really couldn’t be easier and there are so many versions to play with! The one below is this week’s breakfast but I will list addition as well.

Crock-Pot Oatmeal

1 cup of steel-cut oats
1/2 cup quinoa
1/2 brown rice
5 cups water
1/3 cup raisins
1/2 – 1 teaspoon salt, to taste
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup agave

In a crock-pot, combine the oats, quinoa, rice, water, raisins and salt. Turn on high for 2.5 hours or slow for 6 hours. About 1.5 hours in, stir and recover. Once the oatmeal is finished cooking add the sweeteners of your choice. Enjoy 🙂

Additions or substitutions

  • apples, chopped (before cooking for baked apples or after for crisp apples)
  • dried fruits (goji berries, cranberries, chopped figs, etc. )
  • berries (after cooking)
  • other grains (wheat berries, barley, buckwheat, cornmeal, etc)
  • sweeteners (honey, stevia, date sugar, etc.)

Multi-grain Crusted Chicken with Roasted Veggies

13 Dec 2009 1 Comment

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

This is a super easy one to throw together. My husband loved it! I am sure this would be great for kids as well if you use chicken tenders instead of breasts, such a better version than the fried chicken fingers out there! This would be great with a sauce or on its own. You could always play with the mixture and add spices as well. I love that I mixed the mayo with mustard to cut the fat in half. Michael does not like the taste of mustard, but he said he couldn’t taste it at all, which is perfect! It adds all the moisture you need while cutting the fat.

As usual I doubled the recipe so I could freeze these in individual portions, but I wrote it out for more functional use 🙂 But feel free to do what I did, they froze perfectly!

I always make my own breadcrumbs but to keep this extra simple just buy a good store brand. But I find making them is just as simple 🙂 What I do is toast about 4 slices of multi-grain bread (we keep it in the house, so it is really convenient). I then let the slices cool a bit before cutting the edges off and tossing the pieces into the food processor. A couple of pulses and I have bread crumbs.

Multi-grain Crusted Chicken

  • Olive oil for brushing
  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken-breast halves
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1 1/2 cups multi-grain bread crumbs
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Pat the chicken breasts dry and season with the salt and pepper.
  2. Blend together the mustard and mayonnaise and coat the chicken with the mixture.
  3. Pour the breadcrumbs onto a dinner plate, or equivalent and roll the chicken around on it to cover them.
  4. Place the chicken on the baking sheet and cook until cooked through 14-25 minutes (depending on how thick your chicken is)

I love roasted veggies! Of course, my beloved brussel sprouts found their way into this one 🙂 I could eat a dish like this all year-round but it just feels right in the fall/winter. Super simple, yet all the goodness and nutrition of the veggies. Pearl onions are one of my favorites too. I used fresh ones for this recipe, but to keep it simple and easy just buy a frozen box of them and toss it in.

As usual, I encourage you to play around with the recipe and substitute your favorites!

Roasted Veggies

1 pound baby carrots
1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered
1 1/2 cups pearl onions
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine all the veggies with the olive oil in a large baking pan. (9×13 is the best for this)
  2. Place in the oven and stir half way through.  Roast are tender, about 30 to 40 minutes total.
  3. Season with salt and pepper and Enjoy!

Butterscotch Smoothie

08 Dec 2009 6 Comments

by marisashealthykitchen in Cleansing, Raw Desserts and Treats, Raw Vegan Recipes, Superfoods, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Butterscotch Smoothie anyone? OMG! This was so good! Non-green smoothies are rare in my house and normally a weekend treat. This one is perfect for a treat anytime though! SO good! Mesquite is always a great addition. If you have never had it before I would definitely suggest this sweet, butterscotch tasting powder that is made from ground mesquite pods. Check it out here.

Plus they match the wood 🙂

Butterscotch Smoothie

4 large ripe bananas (I used some frozen and some ripe)
1 ½ cups water
4-6 dates
1 tablespoons of agave nectar
2 heaping tablespoons mesquite powder

Also the best thing about this smoothie, is you just put everything in the blender and blend away! You can add more mesquite or sweetener to taste.

Everything but the kitchen Sink-Frittata

07 Dec 2009 2 Comments

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

I think you all know that we love frittatas in my house. See my Spanish Tortilla, Zucchini, Potato and Goat Cheese Frittata with Cilantro Sauce and Fontina, Asparagus and Zucchini Frittata. They are delicious, quick and nutritious. So similarly to the Italian Ribollita soup, this is my go-to leftovers meal. I hate wasting food so this is the perfect way to make sure your veggies don’t go bad and to empty out your fridge all while really enjoying what you make with the ingredients. Also, as I have said before, frittatas are perfect for breakfast, lunch, snacking and dinner! All you need is the eggs and have fun with the rest. This recipe is one that I made recently, but you can play with whatever you have and as long as it makes sense and you will have a tasty, quick and inexpensive meal.

Everything but the kitchen Sink-Frittata

6 eggs
left-over goat cheese from Judith’s Fig and Goat Cheese Bruschetta (thanks Judith 🙂 )
2 onions chopped (there are always onions in my house)
1 10 ounce bag of spinach leftover from the Polenta Vegetable Casserole
1/2 cup of pesto leftover from the Raw Corn Cakes
3/4 cup chestnut puree, divided, leftover from the Chestnut and Mushroom Pâté en Croûte
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
3/4 cup mushrooms leftover from the Chestnut and Mushroom Pâté en Croûte
1/2 cup cottage cheese
garlic, chopped (of course!)

Preheat over to 375 degrees. Heat some oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sautée onions and garlic for 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and spinach and cook for another 2-3 minutes, till spinach has wilted. Add goat cheese, cottage cheese, pesto and half of the chestnut puree and stir till combined with vegetable mixture. Turn heat down to medium and pour eggs on top of vegetable mixture and let settle. Top parmesan, other half of chestnut puree, salt and pepper. After 5-7 minutes on the stove top put the skillet into the oven for another 10-15 minutes to set. Once it is golden on top you can take out and Enjoy :)

Cauliflower Mash

06 Dec 2009 5 Comments

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

We love cauliflower mash in my house. It is so good yet so much healthier than mashed potatoes. Plus check out the gorgeous Yellow Citrus Cauliflower I picked up from Satur Farms, so fabulous! That really made this batch so special. I know people have been making this dish for years, but it is just so satisfying and always a great side dish.  Instead of margarine or butter I normally use Brummel and Brummel All Natural Yogurt Spread and I love it! Click on the link and see how great the stats are compared to regular butter or margarine. I also use almond or soy milk instead of whipping cream. Of course whipping cream would make this sinfully great, but my version is still pretty amazing!

Note: Now that I am completely vegan – I used Earth Balance instead of Yogurt Spread

Cauliflower Mash

1-2 heads cauliflower, trimmed
sea salt
1/4 cup whipping cream, soy milk, almond milk or regular milk (or more to taste)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine (or less, to save on calories) – I use Earth Balance

Cut the cauliflower, including the core, into large pieces/ Use a steamer to cook the cauliflower till they are tender, 15-20 minutes. Transfer the cauliflower to a food processor or Vita-mix. Add the liquid and butter and puree until completely smooth. Season to taste with salt.

Dina’s Chili-lime Ginger Tofu in Coconut Basil Broth with Rice Noodles

02 Dec 2009 5 Comments

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

My fabulous girlfriend Dina sent me the most deelish and simple recipe recently. I made it and was beyond delighted. I am already thinking about making it again soon. It was really quick and I had almost all the ingredients in my house already. This was just so tasty! I used wide noodles which took about 10 minutes to cook. It came out with the most delicious, thick, coconuty sauce! If you use thin noodles, it might need less cooking time and turn out more brothy. I had sliced the yam with a mandolin so it was super thin and broke up during cooking which just added to the thickness of the sauce.  We do not normally eat that much tofu in our house, but Michael and I agreed that this was the best we ever had it prepared, it was so good!

Dina’s Chili-lime Ginger Tofu in Coconut Basil Broth with Rice Noodle

2 cups veggie broth
1 can light coconut milk
1 cup coconut water (or more veggie broth/coconut milk)
Fresh basil, chopped
1 yam, peeled and slice thin
rice noodles
2 tsp safflower, grapeseed or another neutral oil
1 block tofu, cubed
Soy sauce or tamari, to taste
fresh ginger, grated
juice and zest from 1 lime
red pepper flakes
sriracha sauce.

Combine the veggie broth, coconut milk and coconut water in a saucepan over medium heat. Next add basil and the yam and bring to a boil. Cover and let simmer until the potatoes were tender. Add the rice noodles and cook till soft, 3-7 minutes.

Pour the oil in saute pan over medium heat and add the tofu. Hit it with some soy sauce, ginger, lime zest, lime juice, red pepper flakes and sriracha sauce. Saute until  nice crust forms on tofu.

Combine broth, noodles and tofu in a bowl. As Dina says, “Holy guacamole!!!!!!!! Try it! You’ll never do Thai takeout again!!”

Raw Corn Chowder II

01 Dec 2009 4 Comments

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

Here is another version of a deelish corn soup. This one is simpler but still super good! So easy, so creamy and good! This is best in the summer with fresh corn. This was the last of the fresh corn that I am using till next season 😦 Oh well, many fun winter recipes to come! Check out my other Raw Corn Chowder. 🙂

IMG_2775

Raw Corn Chowder II

3 ears of sweet corn
3/4 cup walnuts
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp sea salt
2 cup water
2 avocados, diced
ground pepper to taste

Set aside 1 cup of corn and avocado. Blend the corn, walnuts, oil, garlic, salt, and water. Pour the soup into bowls and top with avocado and corn. Ground fresh pepper on top and serve. Enjoy 🙂

Fabulous Pot-Luck part 3

29 Nov 2009 2 Comments

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

After enjoying our deelish apps and my entrée course we were all really full. But after we saw and then tasted Liz’s super amazing Grape and Fig pie we all made room! haha! I love her homage to raw food for me, even though this is a baked pie. The flavors were so bright and luscious. The mascarpone cheese added such a nice finish. Really great flavors!! Thanks Liz and Edo 🙂

Another funny note is both Judith and Liz made food with figs in it. I doubt they knew it was one of my favorite foods, but of course it worked out perfectly! Such a great evening!

Liz’s Grape and Fig Pie
Recipe from Pie;  editor: Haedrich

1 recipe piecrust
Filling:
1 ½ cups stemmed and diced dried Black Mission figs (other figs will work)
4 cups halved seedless black grapes
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 ½ teaspoons Frangelico or ½ teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
1 Tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces.
Garnish: sweet mascarpone cheese

1. Prepare the pastry and refrigerate until firm enough to roll (about an hour)
2. On a sheet of lightly floured waxed paper, roll the larger portion of the pastry into a 12 inched circle with a floured rolling pan, Invert the pastry over a nine inched standard pie pan, center and peel off the paper, Gently tuck the pastry into the pan, without stretching it, and let the overhang drape over the edge.  Place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
3. Place the figs in a steamer basket set in a saucepan (or directly in the saucepan) and as about ½ inch of water to the pan.  Cover tightly and bring the water to a boil.  Reduce the heat slightly and simmer-steam the figs for five minutes.  Drain in a colander or sleeve.
4. In a large bowl, combine the grapes, figs and all but about 2 tablespoons of the sugar, the lemon juice, lemon zest, and Frangelico (if using).  Mix well, and then set aside for 15 minutes.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
5. Mix the cornstarch and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar together in a small bowl.  Sprinkle the mixture over the fruit and stir to combine. Turn the filling into the chilled pie shell and smooth the top.  Dot the filling with the butter.
6. Roll the other half of the pastry into a 10-inch circle on a sheet of lightly floured waxed paper, Moisten the outer edge of the pie shell with a pastry brush.  Invert the top pastry over the filling, center and peel off the paper.  Press the top and bottom pastries together along the dampened edge.  Using the back of a buttered knife, trim the pastry flush with the edge of the pan.  With the back of a fork, press the tines all alone the edge to seal.  Using a fork, poke several seam vents in the top of the pie, including a couple alone the edge so you can check the juices there later.
7. Place the pie on the center oven rack and bake for 30 minutes.  Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees and rotate the pie 180 degrees, so that the part of the pie that faced the back of the oven now faces the forwards. Just in case, slide a large aluminum, foiled lined p baking sheet on the rack below to catch any spills.  Continue to bake until the pie is golden brown, about 25 minutes. When done, you may notice thin juices bubbling out of the steam vents alone the edge.
8. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool for at least two hours before serving.  Garnish with sweetened mascarpone.

the Mascarpone Cream 🙂

Fabulous Pot-Luck part 2

24 Nov 2009 10 Comments

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

After enjoying plenty of wine and Judith’s Amazing Fig and Goat Cheese Bruschettait was time to sit and enjoy the main course. I made 3 dishes for our pot-luck; a Chestnut and Mushroom Pâté en Croûte, an updated version of my Fresh Summer Bruschetta Pasta, and my go-to brussel sprout recipe. I must say, that everything turned out deelish 🙂

To see the recipe for my Fresh Summer Bruschetta Pasta click on the link. The only differences were that I used red onion instead of shallots and fresh ricotta instead of goat cheese. I also doubled this recipe which could have fed 10+ people! The fresh ricotta was an amazing addition. Mixing it with the hot, fresh pasta made the cheese melt right into it and it was soo good! Because I had doubled the recipe we had tons of leftovers! Good thing Michael really enjoys this dish 🙂

For the side dish I made my go-to brussel sprout recipe. It was inspired around my Aunt Carole and Aunt Joanne’s brussel sprouts. I am so lucky to come from an amazing family full of fabulously talented women! This dish would make a person who thought they hated brussel sprouts a true believer! They are super tasty and so good for you!

I have never written down this recipe so all my measurements are approximates.

For the other entree I made a Chestnut and Mushroom Pâté en Croûte! mmmm! I first made this a few years back when Michael and I were just dating. It is still a main concern of mine to make the most scrumptious food out there, but of course when you are dating you want to really impress! This is an exceptional entree or side dish that is so deeeeelish! Yummy filling and puff pastry, how can you really go wrong? You can play with the filling, for instance if you aren’t into mushrooms just leave them out or substitue some cauliflower or cooked potatoes. This is a luscious and playful dish, have fun with it 🙂 If you want to keep it 100% vegan use soy milk to brush on top of the pastry to get that gorgeous shine instead of an egg wash. (1 egg mixed with a tablespoon of water)

I had a little trouble cutting it, but it was still amazing!

Brussel Sprouts with toasted Pine Nuts

2 pints of brussel sprouts, cleaned and trimmed, quartered
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
onions (optional)
salt to taste

In a large pot saute the brussel sprouts with the olive oil and garlic for 5-10 minutes. They will turn bright green and gorgeous! Add in the pine nuts and salt to taste. Enjoy!

*the cooking time depends on if you like your brussel sprouts crispy or cooked through, taste as you cook to tell.

*sometimes I saute some onions beforehand and put them in with the brussel sprouts, always delicious!

*to toast the pine nuts; pour onto a baking sheet and toast in 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes, being careful that they do not burn.

Chestnut and Mushroom Pâté en Croûte
serves 4-6

2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 cup button mushrooms, chopped
1 cup red wine
2 cups canned chestnuts, pureed
1 1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb frozen puff pastry, defrosted
soy milk or egg wash

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Heat the oil in a large pot, add onions and cook for 10 minutes, stirring. Add garlic and mushrooms and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add wine and cook for 2-5 minutes until most of the liquid has reduced. Remove the pan from heat and add in the chestnuts, breadcrumbs and salt and pepper to taste. Let cool.

Roll out the pastry dough into 2 strips. The first should be around 6x12in and the other 9x12in. Place the first strip onto a baking sheet which has been sprayed with cooking spray or water. Spread the chestnut mixture over the pastry, leaving a 1cm gap around the edge. Form the mixture into a neat loaf. Brush the edges with water and lay the 2nd piece of pastry on top. Press the edges down to seal and trim. Make a few steam holes with a fork and brush with soy milk or egg wash.

Bake for 8 minutes and reduce heat to 400degrees and bake for a further 20-25 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. Serve immediately and enjoy!!

Fabulous Pot-Luck part 1

23 Nov 2009 7 Comments

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

Last Saturday night we had the best time at our house with some great friends and deelish food! It was really such a wonderful evening that writing this post is making me so happy! Maybe it was the way I was raised, maybe it is just me, or maybe I am just human haha but good friends and good food is the ultimate for me! Cheers to that!

My fabulous girlfriend Judith and her husband Ken brought over this mouth-watering app for us all to enjoy. Take a look at these pics and let me know if you could resist these!! They were even better than they look!

This is a great recipe that you can make for entertaining. Judith actually put this together at my house in under 20 minutes, with several of those just having the bread toasting in the oven. Super simple and super delicious! If you have more people to serve just double or triple the recipe, this one will go quickly 🙂

Judith’s Fig and Goat Cheese Bruschetta
Recipe Inspired by Cooking Light
6-10 servings

1 French bread baguette, sliced into 1/2 inch slices, toasted
I jar of fig jam (you only need about half)
1 1/4  cups  (10 ounces) crumbled goat cheese (we used low-fat and it was amazing and light!)
5  teaspoons  finely chopped walnuts

Toast the bread slices right before ready to serve. Top each toasted bread slice with 1 1/2 teaspoons fig jam and 1 1/2 teaspoons goat cheese. Then drizzle with honey and sprinkle evenly with walnuts. Arrange bruschetta on a serving tray. Serve warm. ENJOY 🙂

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