23 May 2012
by marisashealthykitchen
in Home Cooking, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes
Tags: almond milk, brown rice, brown rice pasta, butternut squash, cayenne, cheddar, coconut oil, comfort food, cream cheese, daiya, entertaining, mac & cheese, mac & cheeze, mustard, pasta, quick and easy, rice milk, sauces, sides, Skinny Bitch, soy milk, squash, vegan, vegan cheese, vegetarian, whole-wheat, winter squash
Mac and Cheese is one of my ultimate comfort foods and I am always up for trying out different vegan versions 🙂 I love that this recipe uses 20 ounces of squash for the sauce so you “sneak” in the veggies and help make it a creamier sauce without needing extra vegan cheese. (although we didn’t really skimp on that:)) Check out Cheesy Baked Penne with Cauliflower (one of my fave versions ever!) and Quick, Easy & Healthy Vegan Mac & Cheeze (I also used winter squash in this one).
Vegan Macaroni and Cheese
adapted from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch
Serves 8
• 1 tablespoon refined coconut oil
• About 2 tablespoons fine sea salt
• 1 pound whole-wheat or brown rice elbow macaroni
• 2 (10-ounce) packages frozen pureed winter squash
• 2 cups soy, rice milk or almond milk
• 8 ounces vegan Cheddar cheese, shredded
• 4 ounces (about 1/2 cup) vegan cream cheese
• 1 1/2 teaspoons powdered mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Preheat oven to 375 F. Oil a 2-quart casserole dish; set aside.
- In a 4- to 6-quart stockpot over high heat, combine 3 quarts of water with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the salt. Bring the water to a boil, add the macaroni, and cook according to the package directions.
- Meanwhile, in a 3- to 4-quart saucepan over medium heat, combine the squash and milk, stirring and breaking up the squash with a spoon until the squash is defrosted. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and whisk in the Cheddar, cream cheese, mustard, cayenne, and the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of salt.
- When the pasta is done, drain it, then return the pasta to the pot. Stir the cheese sauce into the macaroni. Transfer the entire mixture to the prepared baking pan.
- Sprinkle with more cheese and salt and pepper and then bake for 20 minutes.
Bring on the troops!
06 Dec 2011
by marisashealthykitchen
in Home Cooking, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes
Tags: barley, chanterelle, comfort food, cremini, garlic, morel, mushroom, olive oil, onion, oyster, sides, tumeric, vegan, vegetarian
I love all things mushroom! So this was one of those amazing recipes for my house. Thank goodness I made a bunch as we were super happy to eat it for a while 🙂 The best part was that unlike regular risotto – I didn’t have to stand over the hot stove and stir this dish the whole time. And of course barley is way more nutritious than arborio rice.
Check out these other mushroom dishes from the past…Mushroom and Crumble Stroganoff –Vegan Creme of Artichoke and Mushroom Soup with Pesto, Raw Spinach & Wild Mushroom Quiche, Chopped “Liver” Spread, Thai Coconut Bliss Soup, Mushroom Stroganoff and Raw Mushroom Cream Sushi
Mushroom-Barley “Risotto”
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups mixed mushrooms, quartered (chanterelle, cremini, morel, and oyster)
1 cup pearl barley
3 cups vegetable stock or water
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
- Add the onions; cook about 5 minutes and stir in the garlic and cook, 30 seconds.
- Add the mushrooms; cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the barley to coat.
- Add the stock, salt, and turmeric and bring to a boil.
- Lower to a simmer and cover, stirring occasionally, until the barley is tender and liquid is absorbed.
21 Nov 2011
by marisashealthykitchen
in Home Cooking, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes
Tags: butternut squash, celery, comfort food, cornbread, entertaining, garlic, mushroom, onions, red pepper, sides, stuffing, thanksgiving, vegan, vegetarian
I’m so sorry to have gone MIA for so long! It was a crazy couple of months and then we went on a fabulous whirlwind tour of Australia 🙂 So no complaining here but I am happy to be back home and back in the kitchen!! And just in time for an awesome Thanksgiving recipe!!
I have always Loved the stuffing part of the meal so this dish is pretty perfect. It has all the carby goodness of the cornbread but much more veggies than a normal stuffing, so you can even enjoy this as a great fall meal. Yum! And I just love roasted squash! Plus this dish is also really low in fat compared to all the butter laden stuffing recipes out there 🙂
What are your favorite vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes/dishes? I would love to hear from you!!
Butternut Squash Cornbread StuffingÂ
Serves 8 as Main Dish or 16 as Side Dish
- 1 butternut squash (love buying the pre-chopped!!), cut into 1/2″ pieces
- 2 Tbsp. canola oil
- 2 onions, diced
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 3-4 celery stalks, diced
- 1 lb. button mushrooms, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 14 ounce bag cornbread stuffing
- 2 cups “chicken” flavored veggie broth
- salt
Heat oven to 400°F. Spray sheet or roasting pan (I needed 2 pans – but I also made extra squash for buttnernut mash- nice to be able to double duty the recipe!) Spray pan with nonstick cooking spray and roast squash for 25 minutes. Rotate squash and cook for an additional 20 minutes. Set aside and reduce heat to 350°F.
In a saute pan or wok – heat canola oil and cook onions, pepper, celery and mushrooms until onion is translucent. Add garlic, cook for one minute more and remove from heat.
Combine squash, veggies, broth and cornbread in large bowl. Place in a baking dish/roasting pan (use the same 1 or 2 that you roasted squash in) and cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt to taste and enjoy 🙂
02 Oct 2011
by marisashealthykitchen
in Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes
Tags: comfort food, ginger, maple syrup, quick and easy, sauces, sesame, sides, snack, soy, tofu, vegan, vegetarian
OMG! So Simple and So Amazing! This was one of the best dinners. So healthy (paired with steamed Kale! YUM!) deeeeeeelish and simple! These were amazing to keep in the fridge and soooo good cold even! I doubled the recipe and wish I had quadrupled it!!! So good!
Sesame Ginger Maple Baked Tofu
adapted from Averie’s recipe from Love Veggies and Yoga Thanks!
1 Tbsp Ground Ginger
1/4 Tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/4 Tsp Black Pepper
1/8 cup Sesame Oil
1/8 cup Maple syrup
2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
Optional: Garlic, Onions, Salt, Nama Shoyu/Bragg’s Liquid Aminos/Soy Sauce, to Taste
Optional: bake and/or garnish with sesame seeds
- Preheat oven to 425F
- Blot the tofu with paper towels & cut into uniform slices
- Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, stir and pour over tofu slices.
- Bake for 35 Minutes, flipping over halfway through baking.
04 Sep 2011
by marisashealthykitchen
in Home Cooking, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes
Tags: comfort food, cornmeal, onions, polenta, shallots, sides, vegan, vegetarian
We love all things Polenta!! You can serve this as is or fry it up in a pan to make it a little more decadent, but we thought it was perfect on its own. Such a yummy side dish!
Here are a few other polenta dishes to check out: Vegan Creamy Polenta, 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 & Shallot Squares
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onions, diced
2 shallots, diced
1 cup water
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup coarse cornmeal
Salt & pepper, to taste
- Place oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and shallots. Cook, covered, for 10 minutes, or until softened, stirring occasionally.
- Add the water, broth, and bring to a boil. Gradually whisk in the cornmeal.
- Reduce the heat and cook, stirring often and adding water as needed, for 30 minutes, or until thick.
- Season with the salt and pepper.
- Brush an 11x7x2-inch dish with oil. Spread the polenta in the dish. Cool completely and cut into squares.
08 Aug 2011
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.
13 Jul 2011
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.
07 Jul 2011
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.
- Â 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!
05 Jul 2011
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
30 Jun 2011
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!
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