Vegan Creme of Artichoke and Mushroom Soup with Pesto

21 Jan 2010 3 Comments

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

This soup was sooo good! Thanks Bryanna! It was super easy and super deelish! I love artichokes and the taste that lingers in your mouth after you have eaten them. This soup is just divine and super creamy and Vegan! Yum! Highly recommend! Bryanna also listed the nutrition stats, which is always helpful!

Plus I just found out this is the coldest winter in NYC since 1977. No wonder I am craving soups lately!

Vegan Creme of Artichoke and Mushroom Soup with Pesto
adapted from Vegan Feast Kitchen
Servings: 4

2 tablespoon vegan margarine or olive oil
1 1/2 cups fresh crimini or white mushrooms, chopped
2 shallots, chopped
2 tablespoons white unbleached flour
6 cups lite soy milk or other nondairy milk
2 tablespoons No-Chicken Bouillon/Soup Base
2/ 14 oz. cans artichokes hearts in water, well-drained and chopped
(OR use two 9 oz. pckgs. frozen artichoke hearts, thawed, drained and chopped)
2 tablespoons non-dairy basil pesto (I made my own but you can just use a packaged brand )
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

  1. Melt the vegan margarine or heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add the mushrooms and shallot and stir-cook over medium-high heat, about 5 minutes.
  2. Stir in flour and stir-cook for 1 minute.
  3. Vigorously stir in the nondairy milk and bouillon and let it come to a boil, stirring. Cook 1 minute, stirring consistently.
  4. Add the artichokes, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
  5. Either use an immersion blender to puree the soup or Carefully pour into a blender and puree there.
  6. If you are using an external blender pour back into the pot.
  7. Add the pesto and stir to combine.
  8. Serve and Enjoy immediately.

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 285.1 calories; 27% calories from fat; 9.0g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 3578.0mg sodium; 1272.9mg potassium; 44.1g carbohydrates; 12.9g fiber; 14.5g sugar; 31.2g net carbs; 22.3g protein; 5.6 points.

Check out the steam coming off the top of the soup!

Maple Chicken

20 Jan 2010 1 Comment

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

This is a super simple recipe I just whipped up for Michael. If I know I am not going to have a lot of time one evening to cook, I love setting up something in a marinade the night before so all I have to do is cook. I am a big fan of the foodsaver but you could just use a gallon size bag to marinade. I doubled the recipe as usual, but wrote it for 4 servings. Michael really enjoyed the flavor of this chicken dish!

Maple Chicken
4 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoon tamari, nama-shoyu or soy sauce
juice from 2 lemons
2 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoon ginger, minced
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

  1. In a large plastic bag pour all ingredients except the chicken and mix. Add chicken and marinate from 2 hours to overnight.
  2. Heat a grill pan or skillet on medium heat and spray with cooking spray. remove chicken from the marinde (reserve) and grill chicken untikl cooked through on both sides, flipping once.
  3. While the chicken is cooking, pour the reserved marinade into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat until reduced by half. Pour over cooked chicken and serve.

Wild Mushroom Lasagna

18 Jan 2010 2 Comments

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

Yum! Wild Mushroom Lasagna! Is this not the most perfect, comforting food for a Sunday? This wasn’t just any Sunday, it was the day after the big blizzard in NYC and I had no intention of leaving the house at all 🙂 Although there is still a bunch of cheese in this recipe, I tried to tone down the amounts I used and made it a little more low-fat than the original recipe. But this is definitely a deelish and uplifting meal.  I love mushrooms and especially that decadent porcini taste. Plus of course, this meal also feeds a crowd, at least 8-10 people! So invite some friends over and Enjoy 🙂

Sorry, this is not the best side picture, but at least you get some idea.

Wild Mushroom Lasagna
Adapted from recipe in Gourmet

For mushroom filling

  • 3 cups water
  • 2 ounces dried porcini mushrooms (about 1 cup)
  • 2 pounds fresh white mushrooms
  • 2 large zucchini, diced
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 6 tablespoons Sherry or White Wine
  • 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For sauce

  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 4 cups low-fat milk
  • 1 cup of heavy cream
  • 4 1/2 ounces freshly grated Parmesan (about 1 1/2 cups)
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • eighteen 7- by 3 1/2-inch sheets dry no-boil lasagna (about 1 pound)
  • 1/2 pound freshly grated mozzarella (about 2 cups)
  • 1 1/2 ounces freshly grated Parmesan (about 1/2 cup)

Make filling:
In a small saucepan bring water to a boil and remove pan from heat. Stir in porcini. Soak porcini 20 minutes. Lift out porcini, squeezing out excess liquid, and reserve soaking liquid. In a sieve rinse porcini to remove any grit and pat dry. Chop porcini and transfer to a large bowl. Simmer reserved soaking liquid until reduced to about 1/4 cup. Pour liquid through a sieve lined with a dampened paper towel into bowl with porcini.

Quarter white mushrooms and in a food processor pulse in 3 batches until finely chopped. In a 12-inch heavy skillet heat 1 tablespoon butter over moderate heat and cook one-third white mushrooms with 2 tablespoons Sherry, stirring, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated and they begin to brown. Add mushroom mixture to porcini. Cook remaining mushrooms in 2 batches in butter with remaining Sherry in same manner and add to porcini mixture. In skillet cook zucchini in 1 tablespoon butter until tender and stir into porcini mixture. In skillet cook onion in remaining tablespoon butter, stirring, until softened. Stir in garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir onion into mushroom mixture until combined. Filling may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.

Make sauce:
In a 3-quart heavy saucepan melt butter over moderately low heat and whisk in flour. Cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes and whisk in milk. Bring sauce to a boil, whisking constantly, and simmer, whisking the whole time for 3 more minutes. Stir in Parmesan, mustard, and salt. Remove pan from heat and cover surface of sauce with wax paper. Sauce may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring sauce to room temperature before proceeding.

Preheat oven to 375°F and spray or butter a 13 x 9-inch (3-quart) baking dish.

Assemble lasagna:
Spread 1 1/4 cups sauce in baking dish and cover with 3 pasta sheets, making sure they don’t touch each other. Spread one-third filling over pasta sheets in dish and top with 3 more pasta sheets, gently pressing down layers to remove air pockets. Top pasta sheets with one-third mozzarella. Continue layering in same manner with sauce, pasta sheets, filling, and mozzarella, ending with mozzarella (dish will be filled to rim). Spread remaining sauce over top and sprinkle with Parmesan. On a foil-lined large baking sheet bake lasagna in middle of oven until bubbling and golden, about 45 minutes. Let lasagna stand 20 minutes. Lasagna may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring lasagna to room temperature and reheat before serving.

Cold Sesame Noodles

13 Jan 2010 3 Comments

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

I was always obsessed with Cold Sesame Noodles from Chinese restaurants. If there is one food that I remember loving from my childhood, it is this one. And although I occasionally indulge in it now, we rarely order it in.  We ordered some recently from Vegetarian Paradise 2, so yummy! I love this place but since it basically is just vegan chinese food, we almost never treat ourselves to it.  After having that small taste, a couple of days later I was hankering for more. I chose to whip some up for myself and I was pleasantly surprised by how deelish it came out!

Before Mixing

After Mixing - don't they look so authentic!?!?!

Cold Sesame Noodles

3 tablespoons tamari
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
A squeeze of Sriracha
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
1/2 cup water
1 pound spaghetti

In a pan combine the soy sauce, vinegar, Sriracha, brown sugar, peanut butter, oil, ginger, and water. Simmer the mixture while stirring until thickened and combined, only a few minutes. Cook the noodles and drain. Toss with the sauce and chill until it reaches your desired temperature or if you just can’t wait any longer. if you want it traditional add chopped scallion and cucumber strips

YUM!!

Roast Chicken Breasts with Garbanzo Beans, Tomatoes, and Paprika

12 Jan 2010 3 Comments

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

This one is simple. You prepare the goodies, mix them up and then put them in the oven and Voila! Dinner is Served 🙂 I liked the colors as well. I served this with my go-to brussel sprouts but I am sure you could also serve this with rice to sop up the yummy sauce.

Roast Chicken Breasts with Garbanzo Beans, Tomatoes, and Paprika
Inspired from Bon Appétit
4 servings

  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 garlic cloves, pressed
  • 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
  • 1/2 cup plain yogurt or Greek yogurt
  • 4 chicken breast halves
  • 1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
  • 1 12-ounce container cherry tomatoes
  • 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided

Preheat oven to 450°. Mix first 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Pour 1 teaspoon spiced oil mixture into small bowl; whisk in yogurt and set aside for sauce. Place chicken in a 9×13 baking dish. Rub 2 tablespoons spiced oil mixture over chicken. Add beans, tomatoes, and 1/2 cup cilantro to remaining spiced oil mixture and toss. Pour bean mixture around chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Roast until chicken is cooked through, about 20-30 minutes (depending on how thick your chicken is). Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cilantro. Serve chciken with bean mixture spooned over it and serve with yogurt sauce.

Sweet Potato Fries with Raspberry Dipping Sauce

10 Jan 2010 3 Comments

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

Go JETS!

Game Day at my house is always an event! I don’t always make fun and fabulous foods but I try to. This one was so perfect and yummy! On these kind of days I can appreciate the short prep time so we can just sit down and enjoy ourselves. I always love making a sauce like this because not only is it amazing but it is so bright and gorgeous too!

The inspiration for this dish was from one of the great NYC vegetarian restaurants, Gobo. When I was younger I would order their Yam & Yucca fries that always came with a yummy raspberry dipping sauce. I haven’t ordered french fries anywhere in years, so this was such a pleasure to indulge in! I love taking something classic like that and updating it with a healthy twist! Deelish!

Sweet Potato Fries with Raspberry Dipping Sauce

3 to 4 sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1/2 bag of frozen raspberries
1/4-1/3 cup agave

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Spray or lightly grease a large baking sheet. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them in 4 slices lengthwise. Then cut east piece into 1/4-inch wide strips. Place them into a large bowl and add the oil, salt, and pepper. Toss gently to coat the potato slices well and spread them on the baking sheet in a single layer. Bake until the potatoes are lightly browned and crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, 25 – 35 minutes. Make sure to rotate them once halfway through. While potatoes are baking; combine the frozen raspberries with agave until smooth in a food processor or blender and pour into a serving dish. When the potatoes are done serve immediately with dipping sauce.

Raw Sweet Potatoes

Roasted Butternut Squash, Pumpkin, Pear Soup

06 Jan 2010 3 Comments

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

MMM! Super creamy and tasty soup! It is soooo cold outside! There is nothing better in this weather than a deelish bowl of warm soup. And this one is super good and really low-fat. The flavors also undeniable wintertime, love that! I used sour cream for garnish to mix in, but you don’t have to. Actually, since there was lots of leftovers, I have been enjoying this so much without the addition of the sour cream and it is so good! This soup is super delightful on its own 🙂 Make this one soon, it is sure to impress.

Roasted Butternut Squash, Pumpkin, Pear Soup
6-8 servings

1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped into 2-inch pieces
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse sea salt and ground black pepper
3 leeks, white and light green parts only, cleaned well and chopped
2 Bosc pears, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup port
7 cups vegetable broth
3/4 cup pumpkin puree (from can)
1 large sprig fresh thyme plus some for garnish
1-inch piece ginger, peeled and grated
1/4 cup reduced-fat or vegan sour cream,  (optional)
3 tablespoon chopped crystallized ginger

  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. In a large roasting pan, combine the squash and carrots with the oil and salt and pepper. Roast for 10 minutes, then add the leeks and pears. Toss together and continue to roast for another 30 minutes.
  2. Remove the pan from the oven and immediately add the wine and port. Use a wooden spoon to scrape the bits and vegetable from the pan. Carefully, transfer the vegetables mixture to a large pot. Pour in the broth and add the thyme sprig, grated ginger and pumpkin puree, bringing the liquid to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 1 hour.
  3. Remove the thyme sprig and puree the soup with an immeserion blender or standing blender.
  4. Season with salt and pepper.
  5. Dollop with sour cream, if desired, and sprinkle with crystallized ginger and chopped thyme leaves.

RAW Red Pepper Curry Soup

05 Jan 2010 3 Comments

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

This is another recipe that I have made many times and just LOVE!! Sorry for not sharing before today! I can’t say it enough, but there is nothing easier to make than a raw soup. All you do is take the ingredients and throw in your blender. You are eating a deelish and healthy meal in under 5 minutes 🙂

This soup is super creamy with the perfect flavor. Enjoy 🙂 Plus the recipe originated from the Glamour Girl of Raw, Carol Alt! You must check out her book. So fabulous!

RAW Red Pepper Curry Soup
Adapted from Carol Alt’s “The Raw 50” and TheSunnyRawKitchen
3-4 Servings

1 ½ large red or yellow bell pepper
1 apple, peeled
1 small avocado or ½ large one
½ cup basil leaves
¼ cup walnuts
1 green onion
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon curry powder, or to taste
Salt, to taste
Dash cayenne
2 cups water, or until desired consistency is reached

Blend all ingredients until smooth.

Jonathan Safran Foer’s Favorite Burger

28 Dec 2009 1 Comment

by marisashealthykitchen in Home Cooking, In the News Tags: , ,

I have never been to Bonnie’s before, nor do I typically like diner kinds of restaurants. But I read in NY Mag that Jonathan Safran Foer’s (author of Eating Animals) named this veggie burger as one of his favorites in Park Slope. Plus after further review I see that not only do they serve Vegetarian Chili but they serve Vegetarian Chili Chese Fries. This is something I have never had because every place makes their chili with meat 😦 I don’t eat food like this often, but for the ultimate of comfort food we may be heading to Park Slope soon!

Jonathan Safran Foer’s Favorite Burger courtesy of New York Magazine

Jonathan Safran Foer’s Favorite BurgerPhoto: Richard De Luca/Zuma/NewsCom

“[Bonnie’s] veggie burger is f—king great! I remember what hamburgers were like, but, believe it or not, I would choose their veggie burger over a hamburger.” —Jonathan Safran Foer naming one of his top five vegetarian-dining spots in Park Slope for Brooklyn Paper. Yes, Jonathan Safran Foer, we do believe you.

Bonnie’s Grill
278 Fifth Ave.nr. 1st St., Brooklyn, NY 11215
718-369-9527

Channukah Pot-luck Part 3

23 Dec 2009 3 Comments

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

Ahhh Dessert!

Thank you Shalon and Prema!

Shalon made such a deelish Red Velvet Cake and Prema brought over these adorable and scrumptious Crumbs Channukah Cupcakes. My favorite dessert ever is Icing, and both desserts brought over were covered in it! YUM!

Thanks everyone for coming over! You all made the night so special for us 🙂

We did quite a number on this one 🙂

These cupcakes are so cute!!

So special! Michael and I bought this together in Israel! Happy Channukah!

Here is the recipe Shalon used the the Red Velvet Cake

Red Velvet Cake
Recipe from Bon Appétit

2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour (sifted, then measured)
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk (she used lowfat milk instead)
1 tablespoon red food coloring
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
Frosting
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

For cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Sift sifted flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into medium bowl. Whisk buttermilk, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla in small bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Beat in dry ingredients in 4 additions alternately with buttermilk mixture in 3 additions.
Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 27 minutes. Cool in pans on racks 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto racks; cool completely.

For frosting:
Beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth.
Place 1 cake layer, flat side up, on platter. Spread 1 cup frosting over top of cake, pressing lightly to adhere. Top with second cake layer, flat side down. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.)

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