Vegetarian Recipes | Marisa's Healthy Kitchen

One Pot Kale and Quinoa Pilaf

08 Aug 2011 2 Comments

by marisashealthykitchen in Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes Tags: comfort food, green, kale, lemon, pine nuts, quick and easy, quinoa, scallions, sides, vegan, vegetarian

I love one pot meals! SO easy! This one uses quinoa and kale; two of our favorite foods ever makes this one even more perfect! YUM!

One Pot Kale and Quinoa Pilaf
adapted from Food52
Serves 2-4

2 cups salted water
1 cup quinoa
1 bunch (any type) kale, washed and chopped into 1″ lengths
1 lemon, zested and juiced
2 scallions, minced
1 tablespoon toasted walnut, grapeseed or olive oil
3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
salt and pepper

Bring the water to a boil in a covered pot. Add the quinoa, cover, and lower the heat until it is just enough to maintain a simmer. Let simmer for 10 minutes, then top with the kale and re-cover. Simmer another 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and allow to steam for 5 more minutes.
While the quinoa is cooking, take a large serving bowl and combine half of the lemon juice (reserving the other half), all of the lemon zest, scallions, oil, and pine nuts.
Check the quinoa and kale when the cooking time has completed — the water should have absorbed, and the quinoa will be tender but firm, and the kale tender and bright green. If the quinoa still has a hard white center, you can steam a bit longer (adding more water if needed). When the quinoa and kale are done, fluff the pilaf, and tip it into the waiting bowl with the remaining ingredients. As the hot quinoa hits the scallions and lemon it should smell lovely. Toss to combine, seasoning with salt and pepper, and the remaining lemon juice if needed.

Vegan Peach Cobbler Pie

03 Aug 2011 2 Comments

by marisashealthykitchen 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

When we were out in Sag Harbor we went to every farmers market in the Hamptons. SO many fresh and colorful fruits and veggies 🙂

One of the markets we went to, The Milk Pail in Water Mill had beautiful peaches, so I couldn’t resist the 5 pound bag. Two years ago I had done the same thing (we had actually got to pick the peaches then) and made Raw Luscious Peach Cobbler. This year I figured although we LOVED that cobbler, to try a baked version. Michael’s absolute favorite dessert is cobbler so I always love to experiment with it. I looked up some different recipes and here is my interpretation. Yum!!!

Vegan Peach Cobbler Pie

makes 2 cobbler pies 8x8ish or round pie pans

Sauce

1 cup flour

3/4 cup white sugar

2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup soymilk

4 teaspoon vanilla

Crumbles

3/4 cup vegan butter, melted

1/2 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon agave nectar

pinch of sea salt

2 1/3 cup flour

Peaches

7-9 peaches, sliced or chopped

1/2 cup agave nectar

1 tablespoon nutmeg

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!

Honeydew Gazpacho

29 Jul 2011 2 Comments

by marisashealthykitchen in Raw Vegan Recipes, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes Tags: almonds, honeydew, lime, quick and easy, raw, red wine vinegar, soup, tomatoes, vegan, vegetarian, vinegar

This was super simple and a perfect pool day lunch. It was HOT last week as many of you know 😉 and this was a great light lunch to cool us off. So simple yet very complex flavors. Deelish!

Honeydew Gazpacho

Serves 4

2/3 cup slivered blanched almonds, separated
juice of 1 1/2 limes
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
6 plum tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped
1 honeydew; cut in half – 1 half seeded, peeled and chopped &
other 1/2 diced
Salt and pepper to taste

Blend 1/3 cup almonds, lime juice, vinegar, tomatoes, and chopped honeydew until smooth. Either serve right away or chill. When serving, place diced honeydew and almonds in a bowl and pour soup over. Enjoy!

Carmelized Onions and Pesto Quinoa Pasta

24 Jul 2011 3 Comments

by marisashealthykitchen 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

serves 2

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!!!

Raw Kale and Pear Salad – Kale Salad Challenge #2

13 Jul 2011 7 Comments

by marisashealthykitchen in Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes Tags: agave, basil, garlic, green, kale, olive oil, pear, pepitas, quick and easy, salad, sides, vegan, vegetarian

We LOVE raw kale! It is great because any other salad with dressing would get all wilted when left with dressing in the fridge, where as kale just gets better, so this is a great leftover salad! The cooked onions and pears added so much goodness to this too. YUM!

This is the 2nd Salad in the Kale Salad Challenge 🙂

Raw Kale and Pear Salad
inspired by Chef Rachel Greenspan

1 lb Lacinato kale, cut crosswise in very thin slices
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup basil, diced
1 red onion, chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon agave
2 pears, diced – carefully take onions out and leave some agave to sautee pear in
cinnamon, to taste
juice of 1 lemon
3 tablespoon white or red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
handful of pepitas, toasted

Place kale, garlic, and herbs into a large bowl.
Sweat onion with 1 tablespoon olive oil for about 5 minutes or until translucent. Add agave and continue cooking until nicely caramelized, another 10-15 minutes.
Carefully take cooked onions (place in the bowl with kale) out of the skillet, leaving some agave liquid in the pan. In the same pan, saute diced pear until tender but still firm (add a dash or two of cinnamon to the pears). Once cooked, add to the kale and mix through.
To dress salad, add remaining 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, and salt and pepper, all to taste. Let the salad sit for about 30 minutes to 24 hours to tenderize the kale without having to cook it. The salad should be vinegary and delicious.

Kitchari Challenge – Recipe #3

07 Jul 2011 6 Comments

by marisashealthykitchen in Cleansing, Home Cooking, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes Tags: Cleanse, comfort food, Kitchari, lentils, quick and easy, rice, sides, split peas, vegan, vegetarian

Many recipes have the option to add chopped veggies to the Kitchari and I’m sure it would be super tasty. But I am a Kitchari purist. Maybe sometime during this challenge I might try some of the chopped veggies, but I am not there yet. This one was simple, easy and deelish.

Cleansing Kitchari
Recipe adapted from Ayurveda for Women: A Guide to Vitality and Health

2 cups basmati rice
1 cup yellow split peas
12 cups boiling water
3/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 big pinch asafoetida
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoon of salt

optional, chopped veggies

Combine the rice with the split peas and wash twice.
Place rice and beans into boiling water, adding the turmeric and asafoetida.
Cook over medium heat until the water is mostly absorbed.
I usually use an immersion blender to have a semi-smooth consistency. I only blend about half.
Add one more cup of lukewarm water, vegetables, and optional spices if you’re using them. The final dish should be a stew with a very moist and soft consistency.

Love seeing this big pot of Kitchari!

Asian Cold Noodles With Spicy Almond Dressing

05 Jul 2011 3 Comments

by marisashealthykitchen in Cleansing, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes Tags: agave, almond butter, bragg, Cleanse, comfort food, cucumber, ginger, lime, Nama Shoyu, pepper, quick and easy, sauces, sides, soba, vegan, vegetarian

I have used Blue Print Cleanse many times over the years and always love their juices. When the fabulous ladies behind the juice company came out with a cook book of course I had to check it out. So far this first one is a winner!

I love pasta, but of course I don’t want to eat plain, white pasta all the time (especially after doing this cleanse). There are fabulous alternatives to traditional pasta – quinoa, rice, buckwheat (soba), etc. Soba is a deeeelish buckwheat noodle that cooks up super fast and tastes great with this sauce. This dish was great for dinner and just as good cold the next day for lunch. YUM!

Check out my Ginger-Poached Noodles with Soba Noodles as well 🙂

Asian Cold Noodles With Spicy Almond Dressing
Recipe adapted from ‘The 3-Day Cleanse’ by Zoe Sakoutis and Erica Huss (The Blue Print Cleanse Ladies 🙂
Makes 4 servings

12 oz. buckwheat soba noodles
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup scallions, sliced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
Spicy Almond Dressing (see below)
lime for garnish

1. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil and add the noodles.
2. Lower heat and simmer for 6-8 minutes until soba is tender, then remove from heat.
3. Strain noodles and rinse with cool water. Drain.
4. Place noodles in a bowl and add the cucumber, scallions and red bell pepper. Toss with spicy almond dressing.
5. Squeeze of lime before serving.

Spicy Almond Dressing
Makes 8 ounces

1/2 cup raw or roasted almond butter
1 tomato, chopped
2 Tbsp. Nama Shoyu or Bragg Liquid Aminos
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
3 tsp. fresh lime juice
2 tsp. agave nectar
3/4 tsp. ginger, peeled and chopped
1/4-1/2 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. sea salt

Blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender until completely smooth.

Spicy Almond Dressing

Italian Potluck Night!!

30 Jun 2011 1 Comment

by marisashealthykitchen in Raw Vegan Recipes, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes Tags: artichoke, Cashews, comfort food, dates, dressing, green, maple syrup, non-dairy cheese, nutritional yeast, olive oil, pasta, pine nuts, quick and easy, salad, sauces, sesame, sides, snack, spinach, tahini, vegan, vegetarian

As you know I LOVE Potlucks! And now we have a pretty regular Vegan Themed Potluck Party happening 🙂 Last nights theme was Italian Night! (last month was Asian) SUPER YUM! Not kidding this meal was out of control. We didn’t end up having dessert, but we all happily had seconds of the deelish food!

Lisa Dawn made this OUT of this world lasagna! We have seen her amazing Ricotta Cheese in her Stuffed Shells, but to taste this you would think that this was gourmet ricotta cheese made in Italy. But happily it was Vegan (but still super gourmet :)) And the homemade tomato sauce was also deelish!

Joey made this amazing pesto pasta sans cheese of course. It was so gorgeous with the fresh grape tomatoes and basil! Beautiful and super tasty!

I made my favorite Raw Crisp Caesar Salad with Pinenut parmesan and Artichoke Guacamole with mulit-grain pita chips. Yum!!!

On a side note, I can’t help but brag about Lisa & Paul’s overly impressive and adorable son Luke! Lisa had this great deck of cards with all the US Presidents pictures on them. Luke was able to go through all of them and name them!!! SO CUTE!! And he is under 2 years old!

Such a super great night with friends and deelish vegan food!

Amazing photo courtesy of Lisa's fabulous husband Paul!

Spring/Summer Cleanse 2011: Week 1

28 Jun 2011 3 Comments

by marisashealthykitchen in Cleansing, Raw Vegan Recipes, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes Tags: agave, almond, almond milk, apple, avocado, breakfast, butternut squash, cacao, caesar, Cleanse, coconut, coconut milk, crystal manna, cucumber, dates, dressing, green, hemp, Kitchari, maca, mango, pine nuts, protein powder, psyllium, quick and easy, salad, smoothie, soba, spinach, Synergy, vanilla, vega, vegan, vegetarian, vitamineral green

It is that time of year, cleansing time! I love to do fasts and detoxes a few times a year. I have done so many different cleanses ranging from green smoothie cleanses, to juice cleanses, to the master cleanse and even gallbladder and liver cleanses. I decided this time around to embark on a longer more sustainable cleanse. It is a combo elimination diet and detox. This is helping me cleanse easily and effectively while I am continuing to eat. But I have cut out foods that would interfere with the cleansing process and that I feel I rely too much on in my diet. I used Dr. Alejandro Junger’s, Clean Program as a loose guideline. I am hoping to maintain eating primarily the foods of the Elimination Diet even after I finish the cleanse, while occasionally enjoying some of the other foods.

My Plan for the Cleanse:

Weeks 1-3 (21 days): (I plan on doing this part for 4 weeks)

Breakfast: Smoothie/Juice or Protein Shake
Lunch: Clean meal made of detox friendly foods (see list below)
Dinner: Smoothie/Juice/Soup/Blended Foods
Snacks: anything from the approved list, but only snack when truly hungry, not just bored. (I can certainly relate to this!)
Drink A LOT of water and/or herbal tea.
Also ideally lunch should be the real food meal, but of course since this is an extended cleanse, if you need to switch lunch and dinner sometimes it is fine, BUT make sure you keep
a 12 hour window between dinner and breakfast free of food for optimal digestion and detoxing. (This actually makes this so much easier to sustain for weeks at a time, knowing that you can still go out for dinner sometimes!)
The shakes/smoothies/juices are meant to help decrease the amount of work your digestive system has to do so it can rest and restore.

The general list of foods to remove for Elimination Diet includes: grains with gluten, anything processed (including all soy products), fatty nuts, nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant), condiments, sugar and obviously no dairy, animal products, alcohol, caffeine or soda. Click here to see Elimination List. and here to see the Shopping List.

Weeks 4: Juice Cleanse

I love my juice cleanses! See this post for more details.

Weeks 5: Back to the Elimination Diet Cleanse detailed above

With all stages I will include lots of Yoga of course and some cardio exercises.

Here is my first week of the cleanse broken down meal by meal to make it super easy for you to cleanse! Of course adjust times and recipes for your life and preferences. Meals in Bold have recipes listed below. I will post a few more recipes next week to add more variety 🙂

DAY ONE

8am Upon Rising: room temperature lemon water &/or herbal tea
10am Breakfast(at least an hour after waking): Morning Green Smoothie
1:30pm (lunch): Romaine with Caesar Dressing and Capers
8pm (dinner): Apple and Butternut Squash Soup

DAY TWO

8am Upon Rising: room temperature lemon water &/or herbal tea
10am Breakfast(at least an hour after waking): Morning Green Smoothie
2:00pm (lunch): Kitchari from JivamukTea Cafe (they use brown rice instead of white basmati! perfect!)
4pm (snack): A handful of mixed seeds and nuts
7pm (dinner): Shake: 1 serving UltraClear and MetaFiber mixed with water

DAY THREE

8am Upon Rising: room temperature lemon water &/or herbal tea
10:30am Breakfast(at least an hour after waking): Morning Green Smoothie
2:00pm (lunch): Raw Sesame Nut-meat salad from Bonobos
7:30pm (dinner): Shake: 1 serving UltraClear and MetaFiber mixed with water

DAY FOUR

5 am Upon Rising: room temperature lemon water &/or herbal tea
7:30 am Breakfast(at least an hour after waking): Morning Green Smoothie
12:00pm (lunch): Kitchari and a kale side from JivamukTea Cafe
4pm (snack): A handful of mixed seeds and nuts
8:30 pm (dinner): Cucumber and Avocado Soup

DAY FIVE

8am Upon Rising: room temperature lemon water &/or herbal tea
10am Breakfast(at least an hour after waking): Shake: 1 serving UltraClear and MetaFiber mixed with water
1:30pm (lunch): Berry Protein Shake
4pm (snack): A handful of mixed seeds and nuts
7pm (dinner): Coconut/Avocado Raw soup & Lover’s Salad from Caravan of Dreams

DAY SIX

9am Upon Rising: room temperature lemon water &/or herbal tea
11am Breakfast(at least an hour after waking): Berry Protein Shake
1:30pm (lunch): Chocolate Protein UN-Milkshake
4pm (snack): A handful of mixed pumpkin and sunflower seeds
7pm (dinner): Soba Noodle Soup at Souen Ramen

DAY SEVEN

9am Upon Rising: room temperature lemon water &/or herbal tea
11am Breakfast(at least an hour after waking): Mango and Coconut Smoothie
2:30pm (lunch): Leftover Soba Noodle Soup & Small Salad with Caesar Dressing
5pm (snack): A handful of mixed seeds and nuts
9pm (dinner): Leftover FROZEN Berry Protein Shake (so fun! I was able to eat it like a creamy sorbet instead of drinking it :))

RECIPES

Morning Green Smoothie (2 servings)(We drink this most days as it is now :))

1 cup frozen Blueberries or raspberries
1 cup frozen Mango or Pineapple
big handful of baby spinach or 3 stalks of kale or chard
2 heaping tablespoons Synergy Green Powder, Vitamineral Green or other green powder
1 tablespoon Maca
1 heaping teaspoon Crystal Manna Blue green algae or E3AFA2 heaping tablespoons Psyllium Whole Husks or MetaFiber1 serving of Vegan Protein (soy-free) powder; Vega, UltraClear, Life’s Basics
2 cups Almond, Hemp or Coconut milk
1/2 cup water or coconut water

optional: coconut (unsweetened) or avocado

Blend everything together and Enjoy! Feel free to play around with ingredients (adding or ommitting them) but pay attention to the elimination diet guide (ie no bananas for this smoothie)

Berry Protein Shake
Recipe adapted from Dr. Alejandro Junger

1 cup nut/rice/hempseed milk of your choice (either homemade with 1/2 cup nuts and 1 1/2-2 cups water, or unsweetened)
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
1/2 cup fresh or frozen blackberries (optional)
3 pitted dates
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 serving of Vegan Protein Powder
1 serving of Fiber powder, Psyllium Husks or 2 ounces aloe juice
Handful of Spinach or serving of green powder

1. Blend all ingredients until smooth.

Mango and Coconut Smoothie

1 cup frozen mango
1/2 frozen pineapple
1/2 cup dried unsweetened coconut
2 teaspoons agave
12 ounces almond, coconut milk or coconut water
handful of baby spinach

Blend and Enjoy!

Chocolate Protein UN-Milkshake

This was out of control deelish! It was so creamy and chocolatey! I would not have it everyday, but for a treat, especially when cleansing, it was amazing!

4 ounces of water
8 ounces of almond milk (unsweetened)
1/2 of an avocado
2 teaspoons organic almond butter
a pinch of sea salt
1 serving Chocolate Protein Powder – Vega Chocolate is Great!
1 serving MetaFiber
1 tablespoon Agave
1 heaping tablespoon raw cacao powder

1. Blend all ingredients until smooth.

Apple and Butternut Squash Soup
Recipe from Clean Book; Dr. Alejandro Junger

2 cups Butternut Squash, peeled and chopped
2 stalk celery
2 green apples, peeled
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup fresh tarragon, chopped
4-5 cups water

Blend all ingredients except tarragon in a high speed blender.
Check Seasoning
Add the tarragon and blend again for 10 seconds, just enough to be mixed in.
Serve in a bowl or mug slightly warm or at room temperature.

Cucumber and Avocado Soup
Recipe from Dr. Alejandro Junger
1 serving

zest of 1/2 lime
juice of an entire lime
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cucumber, peeled and seeded, roughly chopped
1/2 avocado, peeled and roughly chopped

Blend everything together until totally creamy and smooth.

Vegan Fudge: Soy, Tree Nut, & Gluten Free

19 Jun 2011 5 Comments

by marisashealthykitchen in Home Cooking, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes Tags: chocolate, coconut milk, comfort food, dessert, quick and easy, snack, vegan, vegetarian

Thanks so much Averie for this recipe! OMG! This one “magically” dissappeared fast out of the fridge over the week. 😉 I don’t normally make these kind of desserts to keep in the house, but it was Birthday Week so I thought we could have this special treat. SO good, So fast (to make AND to eat!!). YUM!!!!!! It’s rich, decadent, fudgy, wonderful.

Vegan Fudge–Soy, Tree Nut, & Gluten Free; and a 10 Minute Recipe
Recipe from Averie

1 Cup Vegan/Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 box Confectioner’s Sugar
1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder
2 Tablespoons Dairy-Free Margarine (Earth Balance)
1/2 Cup Regular Coconut Milk *DO NOT USE LIGHT Coconut Milk*
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

In a large bowl, combine the chocolate chips, sugar, and cocoa.
Separately, place the margarine and coconut milk in a small saucepan, and stir together over medium heat.
Cook the mixture until the margarine has melted, and bubbles just begin to break at the surface.
Remove it from the stove, and immediately pour the liquid over the dry chocolate & sugar mixture.
Let everything sit for a couple of minutes (and if you wait too long and it hardens up on you, feel free to nuke it for 15 seconds at a time or until melty), and then stir vigorously to melt the chocolate and incorporate the dry ingredients.
Continue stirring until a completely smooth mixture forms.
Mix in the vanilla, and quickly pour everything into your prepared pan, a lightly greased or cooking-sprayed 8×8 pan (or another similar size)
Let cool completely before cutting into squares.

I'm surprised any of this made it into the pan 🙂 It was so good! The ultimate spoon licking dessert!!

Ready to Chill

Marisa's Healthy Kitchen