For this month’s Cooking Day recipe, we used up some FRESH zucchini that one of our members generously gave to us (along with many other veggies!). We are so grateful to have such amazing gardeners who think of us. And check out the size of this zucchini!!

We made a Creamy Coconut Zucchini Casserole with Basil “Ricotta” Sauce and a Cream of Zucchini and Mushroom Soup. If you’re someone who isn’t new to our recipes here at WTI, you will notice a pattern and that is… COCONUT MILK! We use this as a substitute for regular dairy milk. It adds such a GREAT and UNIQUE flavor that is bound to set your dish apart at any party.

Ingredients

• 2 cups Button Mushrooms
• 2 Shallots
• 6 Garlic Cloves
• 5-6 Zucchini
• 3 Raw Banana peppers
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 bottle of tomato sauce (we used organic Bello Spicy Marinara)
• 1 1/2 cup Basil “Ricotta” Sauce

Directions:

1) Cut up garlic and let it sit for 10 minutes.

2) Cut up shallots, mushrooms, and banana peppers.

3) Add shallots, mushrooms, banana peppers, and garlic in a pan and start to sauté in vegetable broth for 10-15 minutes or until brown. Add coconut milk and cook for an addition 2-3 minutes. 

4) Cut up zucchini into little discs and add them to a glass pan while mushrooms are cooking.

5) Start layering tomato sauce, zucchini, and mushrooms mix in your glass pan.

6) Add a layer of Basil “Ricotta” Sauce on top.

7) Cook in the oven for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

8) Let cool down and serve 🙂

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Quinoa Surprise 

Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Oil Free

For this month’s Cooking Day I wanted to show you all my usual routine. I love making fun new recipes and experimenting in the kitchen but when life gets busy, it is important to have a go to routine!

My Grandma used to make us “keilbasa surprise” which was essentially keilbasa and what ever else she had in the fridge. Nowadays, no keilbasa for me but I love the freedom of cooking with whatever you have in the fridge. Here is the Quinoa Surprise I made in class, but feel free to make it your own! This recipe will give you a big batch to use throughout the week! I also made a soup and few other recipes with the quinoa surprise so that you don’t have to eat the same thing all week.

Ingredients: 

• 3-6 Garlic cloves
• 1 16 oz bag of quinoa
• 3 containers of mushrooms
• 2 Shallots 
• 1 bunch of Kale
• 1 container of spinach
• 2 cans Chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
• Red pepper flakes (to taste)
• Nutritional Yeast (to taste)

Directions: 

1) Chop up your garlic (let it sit for 10 minutes before heating)

2) Start your quinoa (cook about 15 minutes) I cook with a little extra water than what is required. ***be sure to rinse the quinoa before cooking***

3) In a separate pan add your mushrooms, garlic, and shallots and sautee in veggie broth

4) When the quinoa is finished, set aside.

5) Steam your kale and spinach.

6) Add everything together in a large pot

7) Lastly, heat your chickpeas in pan and add Red Pepper Flakes and Nutritional Yeast and then add to quinoa mix. (I only put spices on the chickpeas so that you can spice it up and add to it throughout the week for different recipes)

Check out 3 other ways you can make Quinoa Surprise by clicking the links below: 

– Quinoa Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

–Creamy Coconut Soup

–Quinoa Romaine Boats

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Cashew Sour Cream

This cashew sour cream is easy to make, and it is dairy-free!  It is PERFECT for tacos, nachos, soups, stir fry’s, veggie sandwiches, or just about anything else. 

Ingredients:

– 1 cup cashews, soaked overnight (or for at least 8 hours)

– 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

– ½ lemon, juiced

– 1 clove garlic

– 1 tbsp. water

Combine ingredients in a food processor or blender, and blend until smooth.  The longer you blend, the more smooth the texture will become.  Add more apple cider vinegar or lemon as needed to thin out.  

This is all you need! 

This Sour Cream is great on Nachos!

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Creamy Zucchini Alfredo (Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free)

This recipe uses our creamy garlic herb sauce to make a delicious Pasta Alfredo that is completely plant based, oil-free, and gluten-free!  

Ingredients:

– 5 zucchini, spiralized (here is the spiarlizer we used, but any spiralizer will work!)

– 1 cup low sodium vegetable broth

– 2-3 cups mushrooms

– 1-2 cups creamy garlic herb sauce (see recipe here)

– 3 cups spinach

Directions:

– Heat ½ cup vegetable broth in a saucepan or wok, and add 2-3 cups sliced mushrooms. Stir frequently.   You should not need to add much more broth to this because mushrooms have a lot of water in them already. Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

– After 20 minutes of cooking, drain out some of the excess broth / water in the mushrooms, then add the creamy garlic herb sauce into the saucepan and mix. Cook for another 1-2 minutes.

– In a separate pan, heat 2 cups water on medium heat.  Add 3 cups spinach, and let cook down for 1-2 minutes, or to desired texture.  Drain the water.

– While the spinach is cooking,  heat 3-4 cups water to medium heat. Add spiralized zucchini, and heat for 2-3 minutes. You don’t need to let the water boil, or let the zucchini stay in the water for too long, because they can overcook quickly.

– Strain the zucchini noodles, add the strained spinach, then add to the creamy mushroom sauce. Stir, and enjoy!

– Add red pepper flakes for some spice!

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Vegetable lasagna

 Gluten Free, Dairy Free 

Nicole made this vegetable lasagna for our December Cooking Class, it is super easy to prep, and bakes in under an hour!

Ingredients:

– 4 cloves garlic, 2 chopped, 2 whole (let the chopped garlic sit for 10 minutes after chopping to preserve the alicidin, which is the active component of garlic that contributes to it’s anti-inflammatory benefits)

– 1 yellow onion, chopped

– 5-6 zucchinis, thinly sliced lengthwise

– ½ tsp. himilayan sea salt

– 1 full jar of tomato sauce (organic, with no added sugar)

– 1 can organic artichokes, blended in a food processor

– 1 tsp. red pepper flakes (more or less depending on your spice preferences)

– 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast

– 1 cup cashews, soaked 6-8 hours or overnight

– 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves (chopped) *save a few to place on top after it has baked

– ¼ cup almond milk

– Juice of half a lemon

Directions:

– Preheat oven to 375F

– Chop 2 cloves garlic, do this first so that it can sit for 10 minutes before cooking.

– Warm a sauce pan on low-medium with ½ cup vegetable broth, add onion. Stir frequently, and add more vegetable broth as needed! (Add garlic after it has been sitting for 10 minutes) 

– While garlic and onion are cooking, line a casserole pan with paper towel, and place sliced zucchini on top, sprinkle himilayan sea salt on top (this helps to draw water out of the zucchini).

– After onions and garlic have been cooking for 10-15 minutes (or until they are translucent) add tomato sauce, spices, and blended artichokes.

– For Ricotta Cheese Sauce: Blend cashews, almond milk, remaining garlic, 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, lemon juice, a sprinkle of himilayan sea salt in a food processor, and blend to a chunky texture. (You can also use Kite Hill dairy free ricotta as a substitute for making your own cheese sauce)

– Layer some of the sauce (combination of tomato sauce, onions, garlic, etc.) on the bottom of the casserole pan. Pat down zucchini one more time before using, and layer them on top of the sauce. Add second layer of sauce, then add a layer of cheese sauce, then add another layer of zucchini. Continue like this (you should have about three layers of zucchini, sauce and cheese) until you have used up all the zucchini. Top the final layer off with sauce and remaining cheese sauce.

– Bake for 30 minutes covered with tin foil, then uncover and bake for 25 minutes.

– After baking sprinkle a some chopped basil on top.

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Cheesy Potatoes

This recipe was inspired by our Wellness Director Nicole’s favorite holiday dish growing up… cheesy potatoes!  She created this delicious dairy-free version of the classic dish, try it out for your next party or holiday!

Ingredients

– 5 white potatoes

– 1 large yellow onion, chopped

– 1 ½ cup vegetable broth (low-sodium)

– 1 package of organic tempeh

– 1 tbsp. liquid aminos

– 1 lemon (juiced)

– ½ cup cashews, soaked 6-8 hours or overnight

– 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

Directions

– Pre-Heat oven to 350F.

– Heat a large pot of water, and boil 5 potatoes (set timer for 20 minutes)

– Heat a saucepan on medium low in ½ cup vegetable broth, and add onions.  Cook for about 15 minutes.

– Cut the tempeh into lengthwise slices, add to a separate saucepan. Heat saucepan on medium low with ½ cup vegetable broth, and 1 tsp. liquid aminos, cook on medium low for about 5 minutes.

– Once potatoes are cooked through, chop into approx. 1 inch cubes & add to a casserole pan.

– For cheese sauce: Blend cashews, lemon juice, ½ cup vegetable broth, 1 tablespoon dijon mustard, and nutritional yeast in a food processor (add more broth if needed to thin, or more cashews to thicken).

– After onions have been cooking for about 15 minutes add on top of the potatoes, then add in tempeh. Pour the cheese sauce on top.

– Bake on 350F for 15 minutes.  Check potatoes with a fork to make sure they are cooked through.

*You could also add sauteed kale to this.

– Enjoy!

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Coconut Vegetable Casserole

This creamy casserole is a great way to get in LOTS of veggies at dinner!  It’s both versatile and a great way to cook up any leftover veggies you might have.  

Ingredients

– 3 cloves garlic (chopped) as always when using garlic, allow it to sit for 10-15 minutes after chopping to preserve allicin, which is an anti-inflammatory component of garlic.

– 1 yellow onion, chopped

– 1 cup vegetable broth (low sodium)

– 1 sweet potato, sliced into circular slices.

– 2 zucchini, chopped

– 1 can organic coconut milk

– 1 cup mushrooms

– ¼ tsp. cumin, coriander, thyme, oregano, basil

– Pinch of Himalayan sea salt

– 1 bunch kale, de-stemmed

Directions

– Pre-Heat oven to 350F

– Chop garlic first, so that it can sit for 10 minutes.

– Heat a saucepan with vegetable broth, add onions. Stir frequently, adding more vegetable broth as needed. (Add garlic after it has been sitting for 10 minutes.) Note: The only difference when cooking with vegetable broth compared to oil is that you will need to stir it a little more often, and add more as needed. 

– Line the bottom of a casserole dish with sliced sweet potatoes.

– Heat a second saucepan with ½ cup vegetable broth, and add mushrooms, stirring frequently.

– Sauté zucchini with vegetable broth and onion mixture.

– Blend coconut milk, cumin, coriander, thyme, oregano, and basil, and a pinch of Himalayan sea salt in a food processor.

– Add half of the kale to the saucepan with onions, garlic, zucchini, and vegetable broth. As the kale wilts down, you can add more.

– Once the kale has cooked down for a few minutes, pour kale mixture over the sweet potatoes.

– Top off with the mushroom blend, then pour the creamy coconut sauce evenly over the entire mixture.

– Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes, or until the coconut milk is boiling and has taken on a slightly toasty color.

Note: You can add any other veggies you want to this casserole!

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Mushroom Quinoa Protein Bowl

This recipe is protein packed with a cheesy and spicy flavor without the dairy, it is super easy and quick to make. Try making this at your next holiday gathering!

Ingredients:

-2 cups quinoa

-2 packages mushrooms

-1 block firm tofu

-2 to 3 tbsp nutritional yeast

-1 tsp red pepper flakes

-4 cups spinach

-1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

-1/4 slivered almonds

-1 can chickpeas

Instructions:

1. In a big pot, bring 2 cups of quinoa and 4 cups of water to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes.

2. At the same time sauté 2 packages of mushrooms. Add mushrooms to quinoa.

3. Crumble one block of firm tofu and sauté for 3-5 minutes. Add 2-3 tbsp nutritional yeast and 1 tsp red pepper flakes.

4. Steam 4 cups spinach

5. Blanche 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds and 1/4 cup slivered almonds with nutritional yeast for 1 to 3 minutes on a dry sauté pan.

6. Add all together, along with 1 can of chickpeas and top with avocado.

Recipe Notes: For a cheesier taste add more nutritional yeast, for more spice or less spice adjust the amount of red pepper flakes.

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Mushroom Gravy

This mushroom gravy is a healthy dairy and gluten free alternative to classic thanksgiving gravy, and it is delicious!  Also, did you know mushrooms are anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory?

Ingredients:

– 1/2 whole cooking onion, chopped

– 1 clove garlic, chopped

– 2 tbsp nutritional yeast

– 1 cup vegetable broth

– 1 cup mushrooms, chopped

– 1/2 tbsp. dried thyme

– 4 tbsp of almond flour

Directions

– In a sauté pan, heat 1/3 cup low-sodium vegetable broth

– Add mushrooms, garlic, and onions

– Sauté for 2-3 minutes and until all liquid is evaporated, stirring often

– add almond flour, dried thyme, and nutritional yeast

– Keep on low heat, whisking the mixture for 2 minutes, slowly adding in vegetable broth until desired thickness

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Green Bean Casserole Made 2 Ways

This green bean casserole is the perfect holiday or party dish!  It can be made just as a green bean casserole, or poured on top of sweet potatoes and baked.  

Ingredients (for casserole):

– 6 sweet potatoes (optional)

– 1/2 cup low sodium vegetable broth

– 2 cups green beans (cut)

– 1 can coconut milk

– 2 cloves garlic

– 1 bunch of kale (removed from the stem)

– 1/2 tsp. of rosemary, thyme, oregano, and paprika

Directions:

*If you are going to make the green bean & sweet potato casserole start here:  Place sweet potatoes in and bake at 350F degrees for 45 Mins.  You could also peel the skin off of the sweet potatoes and slice them into 1/2 inch slices and stack them in the dish.

– Add 1/2 cup vegetable broth to a sauce pan and heat on low/medium

– Add 2 cups of green beans, coconut milk, and garlic, cook down until it begins to thicken then add kale

– Add rosemary, thyme, paprika, a oregano and cook for another 5-10 minutes

* For the sweet potatoes, once they are done cooking slice them down the middle and add the green bean casserole mixture on top of the sweet potatoes and bake in the oven for 5-10 minutes at 350F.  If you pre-sliced the sweet potatoes you can just add the green bean casserole mix on top. 

Ingredients (for crunchy casserole topping)

– 2 tbsp. vegetable broth 

– 1 cup sliced raw almond

– 1 cup whole raw pumpkin seeds

– 1-2 tbsp. nutritional yeast

Directions

Add vegetable broth into a sauce pan and warm on low-medium.   Add sliced almond, pumpkin seeds, and nutritional yeast, roast in pan until slightly browned. 

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