vegan

For the longest time, I never wanted to even attempt a vegan baked ziti recipe because I thought nothing could live up to the original. But after some trial and error, I was excited to learn that I was so wrong! Baked ziti is now one of my favorite vegan pasta dishes. It's the perfect dish for special occasions, but it's just as delicious for weeknight meals.

This recipe uses my homemade vegan mozzarella, which is made from raw cashews and melts and stretches like the real thing. It also uses my tofu ricotta, and the sauce is loaded with green lentils instead of meat. For an extra kick of flavor, try topping the baked ziti with vegan parmesan cheese. You may want to serve with a loaf of garlic bread, as well.

You will want to prepare your cashew cheese a few hours ahead of time (preferably a day ahead of time) to give it time to chill and firm up. The marinara sauce is a huge part of the flavor of this recipe, so be sure to use a good one, such as Rao's. You can also make a homemade marinara sauce if you prefer.

This vegan cannelloni is stuffed with tofu and spinach ricotta, immersed in a homemade marinara sauce, and topped with a creamy vegan mascarpone sauce. It's the perfect dish for a dinner party or special occasion, but it's easy enough to make any night of the week. And even picky eaters will love it!

When you make this vegan cannelloni recipe, don't forget to serve it with a side of vegan garlic bread. Or, if you're looking for more recipes for vegan pasta dishes, you might like my baked ziti, butternut squash ravioli with mushrooms, lasagna, or stuffed shells.

Crème brûlée (literally "burnt cream," in French) is one of those desserts that just makes you feel fancy. It's perfect for Valentine's Day, or any special occasion. But this vegan version is so easy, you could have it every day. I've tried a few vegan crème brûlées that were on the bland side, but this one has a rich, creamy vanilla custard that will make you want to have more than just one.

If you're hosting a dinner party, this is the perfect elegant dessert to prepare for your guests (the combination of food and fire always seems to impress people). You can prepare the custard ahead of time, then caramelize the sugar right before you're ready to serve it. This recipe needs to chill for a couple of hours, so be sure to plan ahead!

I'll admit that these homemade brown sugar and cinnamon Pop-Tarts don't taste exactly like the original. But they do taste like what I always wished the brown sugar and cinnamon Pop-Tarts tasted like. While the original crust was underwhelming (am I the only one who used to break off the edges just to get to the filling?), the flaky crust in this recipe is flavorful and delicious.

The biggest challenge in this recipe was the filling. Other recipes all seem to use very similar fillings which lack flavor, and get hard and chewy when they cool a little. But this filling tastes perfect, and even better, it stays soft and moist when it cools. (A combination of vegan butter and coconut cream is the secret!)

Butternut squash is one of my favorite foods, as it's so versatile, delicious, and healthy. It's often just part of a dish with many flavors, but I also enjoy it on its own, as mashed butternut squash with a few added ingredients.

As much as I love butternut squash, it can be a headache to cut and peel it. Fortunately, this mashed butternut squash recipe doesn't require any peeling or cubing! After three slices (plus spooning out the seeds), the squash goes in the oven and then the flesh gets easily scraped away from the skin.

As a regular vegan home chef without any special training, the idea of making my own ravioli was a little intimidating not too long ago. But since I've managed to create beautiful, delicious ravioli at home, I am sure that you can too! And this vegan butternut squash ravioli recipe is worth all the work when you taste it.

For the butternut squash filling, I really wanted to let the flavor of the squash shine, so I didn't add any tofu or vegan cheese. Instead, I added garlic, almonds, lemon juice, and seasonings to enhance the creamy sweetness of the squash. I also used a basic sage-butter sauce with mushrooms to complement the ravioli filling without overpowering it.

A "curry" dish is hard to define, since it can use many types of sauces (or no sauce), and many different spice blends. Many of the chickpea curry recipes on the internet are some form of the American version of channa masala, made with garam masala (a blend of cumin, coriander, and other spices), tomatoes, and a coconut milk base.

In this dish, I wanted to create something slightly different, so I used a spice blend that contains more turmeric (similar to Caribbean curries). I also used raw cashews as a base for the creamy sauce. Both turmeric and ginger have anti-inflammatory properties, so I love adding them to my dishes. As Hippocrates said, "let thy food be thy medicine."

Let me start by saying that I've never been a big fan of vegan pizzas—especially vegan cheese pizzas—because they usually just taste okay. (However, I do enjoy a veggie-topped pizza with just a little vegan cheese). That's not the case with this pizza. I am not exaggerating when I say that this Detroit-style pizza tastes phenomenal.

Until recently, I never knew that my favorite pizza was actually Detroit-stye pizza. When I tried it for the first time at Jet's Pizza in Fort Lauderdale, I thought it was just Sicilian pizza. While Detroit-style pizza is actually a descendant of Sicilian pizza, there are a few differences. With Detroit-style pizza, the cheese goes all the way to the edges and forms a crispy browned cheese crust. The sauce is often piled on top of the cheese as well, creating a gooey blend of bread and cheese under the sauce. This "red-top" method of making pizza actually works quite well for vegan pizza, since vegan cheese tends to melt better when it's surrounded by sauce.

Have you decided to go plant-based for the month of January, but don't know where to start? Knowing what to eat can be the hardest part of a new diet, but it can also be the most exciting part! If you approach it as an adventure, going vegan for a month (or longer) can be a great opportunity to try new foods you never knew you would love so much.

When I was a teenager, jalapeño poppers were one of my favorite appetizers. There's just something about a jalapeño pepper stuffed with a creamy filling and wrapped in a crunchy breaded crust. Recently, I was reminded of my beloved snack and decided to make a vegan version.

When I looked around the internet, all of the vegan recipes were open-faced stuffed jalapeños, without the breaded coating that I remember. While those stuffed jalapeños do look pretty, they just weren't quite what I was looking for. So I set out to make my own. And I soon realized why all those recipes were made without the coating: it's not easy to get jalapeños perfectly coated! However, after weeks of trial and error, I've finally come up with a method that creates the perfect crunchy coating.