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cuisine by katie

[whole + authentic + vegan]

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Katie Lopynski

Shampoo by Alaffia

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This is my all time favorite shampoo. My obsession starts with the pump bottle. I am obsessed with large shampoo pump bottles. Who’s with me? The pump is so convenient, and because you receive 32 fluid ounces of product, you won’t have to buy shampoo as often. If you have super long hair like I do you will really appreciate this. I like the Purely Coconut scent best, but totally your preference. It is vegan, paraben free, gluten free, and alaffia doesn’t test on animals and doesn’t add synthetic fragrance either. The shampoo creates an awesome lather and is hydrating. Great for normal to dry hair! This product is certified fair trade, handcrafted, and unrefined. The formula is both simple and effective.

As seen on the back of the bottle – Alaffia hair care is formulated to balance science with tradition to holistically benefit your hair, communities, and the environment. EveryDay Coconut Hydrating Shampoo is prepared with Certified Fair Trade virgin coconut oil and African ginger for gentle cleaning and stimulation. Alaffia pays fair wages to members of their coconut cooperative in Togo, Africa. Funds from this and their other products help conduct empowerment projects. Alaffia works with rural farmers to plant 10,000 trees each year. This prevents soil erosion and helps negate the unpredictable effects of climate change.

Vanilla Cashew Latte

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I make this beverage often for a few reasons. It is simple, quick, delicious, creamy, frothy, and full of coffee! I could go on, but need I say more?

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Vanilla Cashew Latte


Servings 1

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup raw cashews OR 2 tablespoons cashew butter
  • 2 cups hot coffee
  • 1-2 tablespoons maple syrup optional - depending on how sweet you like your lattes
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • a dash or two ground cinnamon

Instructions

  1. Simply add all ingredients to a high powered blender and blend for a minute on high. 

Caprese Crostini

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CROWD P L E A S E R. I have made these for my family for years and they are always a hit. The base is a lightly crispy, equally soft baguette topped with a creamy roasted garlic cream cheese, fresh bruschetta, sweet balsamic glaze, and fresh basil.

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Roasted Garlic Cream Cheese

Ingredients

  • 1 head garlic
  • 1 teaspoon avocado oil
  • 8 oz vegan cream cheese (I use the Kite Hill brand)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut the tip off of the head of garlic to expose the cloves (this will make it easy to remove the cloves once roasted and soft). Rub or spray the head of garlic with a little oil, place in square of aluminum foil, and roast for about 30 minutes. You will know the garlic is ready when your home is perfumed with the lovely aroma of roasted garlic. Once done, remove the aluminum foil wrapped head of garlic from the oven and set aside to cool. 

  2. Once the head of garlic is completely cooled, remove from the aluminum foil. Next, mix the vegan cream cheese with the roasted garlic cloves. To remove the roasted garlic cloves, gently squeeze the garlic out from the skin. 

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Classic Bruschetta

Ingredients

  • 6-8 roma tomatoes
  • 3/4 cup fresh basil
  • salt to taste pink himalayan
  • pepper to taste finely, freshly ground

Instructions

  1. Cut the tomatoes into a small dice.  
  2. Chiffonade the basil and add to the diced tomatoes.
  3. Add salt and pepper to taste (I like to add a pinch of salt and lots of pepper).

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Balsamic Glaze

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons coconut palm sugar

Instructions

  1. Add the balsamic vinegar and coconut palm sugar to a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sugar has dissolved. 

  2. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer until glaze is reduced by half, about 15 minutes. 
  3. Once cool, I like to add the glaze to a squeeze bottle so I can make a pretty drizzle on top of the crostini, but this is completely optional. 

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Caprese Crostini

Instructions

  1. To prepare the baguette — Cut the baguette into centimeter sized slices (I have tried these with thin and thick slices of baguette and both are yum, so totally up to your preference). 

  2. Place the slices of baguette on a parchment lined or silicone baking sheet. Spray or coat with a touch of oil and bake for 2-3 minutes on each side until slightly golden (I prefer the toasts to be underdone rather than super crispy, again totally your preference). 

  3. To assemble the crostini  — Add a spoonful of the garlic cream cheese to the toasted slice of bread. Add a spoonful of the bruschetta on top of the cream cheese. Drizzle with the balsamic glaze. Garnish with a chiffonade of basil. 

Strawberry Milk

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I was never a huge fan of strawberry milk. As a kid, I’d always go for the chocolate milk. HOWEVER, this recipe is a game changer. It’s perfect for even the pickiest children. It’s creamy, slightly tart, and perfectly sweet. It’s also super quick and easy. Did I mention it is vegan and made with whole ingredients?! Winner, winner. I love to add this milk to everything from oats to cereal, or simply enjoy alone!

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Strawberry Milk

Servings 1

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup strawberries frozen or fresh
  • 1/4 cup raw cashews
  • 8 oz water
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Add ingredients to a high powered blender. Blend for about a minute on high until the beverage is creamy and smooth. 

Quesadillas

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First of all, I love flavors from Mexico. Some of my favorite Mexican noms? Tortillas. Melty Queso. Black Beans. Salsa. This dish has it all!

This dish also takes me back to my sophomore year college days [so yeah, I love it!]. Quesadillas are so quick to whip up and SO delicious, it’s no wonder I made them on the daily my first year living off campus. Three of my girlfriends and I rented an apartment [super fun] in a just built building close to campus [we were the first people to live there…and OH did we destroy it!]. My favorite part of our new place? The kitchen! When we weren’t consumed by our studies or, quite the contrary, embracing our college ratchet-ness (yea I just went there), we were cooking! It was so much fun to learn new tips and traditions from friends. This was the year I really started getting in touch with my passion for culinary arts.

Unlike the Quesadillas I used to make back in the day, these beauties are plant-based, better for you, and even more delicious! If you are going to make the Sour Cream, I suggest preparing it first. The longer it sits in the fridge, the thicker, creamier, and [obviously] colder it becomes.

For the cheese, I like to use a combo of sweet potato, fresh cashew cream, and nutritional yeast. Super simple and quick to pull together.

    

After I cook the sweet potatoes and let cool, I remove the skins. The skins at this point are so easy to remove they peel right off with almost no effort. I usually throw the skins in my pups bowl because they are both delicious and nutritious for dogs too! Needless to say, little Skittle loves when I make these quesadillas!

     

    

This dish has quickly risen to one of the most frequent meals I make. It is a crowd pleaser and people find the cheese quite impressive…which is always fun. If you have cheese left over, as I often do, I keep it in the fridge for quesadillas at a later date, or dip chips in it and eat it as a snack [so good, its like nacho cheese!].

Although the Black Bean component is not at all necessary [the quesadillas are still super delicious with just the tortilla and the cheese], they take the quesadillas to the NEXT LEVEL [bonus – they increase the flavor protein content]. I like to start by sautéing half of a Yellow Onion until translucent, adding a clove or two of minced Garlic, as well as the Cumin and Smoked Paprika [I am OBSESSED with Smoked Paprika] before adding the Black Beans.

    

Once you have the cheese and the black beans prepared, it is traditional quesadilla assembly time from there on out.

If you make these quesadillas, please be sure to let me know! Leave a comment or take a picture and tag me @katielopynski and use  #cuisinebykatie on Instagram or Facebook so I can see. I love seeing my recipes make their way into your kitchen!

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The Best Vegan Quesadilla Ever

Servings 6

Ingredients

  • 1 medium-large sweet potato
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt pink himalayan
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper fine, fresh ground
  • 1/2 cup raw cashews
  • 1/2 cup water filtered
  • 1 8oz can black beans rinsed and drained
  • 1/2 yellow onion diced
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 tablespoon vegan butter I use Miyokos brand
  • 1 teaspoon sunflower or avocado oil
  • 6 tortillas I use flour tortillas here

Instructions

  1. For the cheese - chop sweet potato into large, even chunks. Place sweet potato chunks into a pot, cover with water, cover the pot with a lid, and bring to a boil. Once you can easily pierce the potato with a fork (after about 5-10 minutes of boiling) they are done. Strain the water and set aside to cool.  Once cool remove the skin (the skin will easily peel off). In a high speed blender, add the cashew and water. Blend on high for a minute or until it reaches a smooth creamy consistency. Next add the sweet potato to the blender along with the nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper. Blend on high until super smooth. You may need to work the blender a bit with a plunger (if using Vitamix) or stop the blending once or twice to scrape the sides of the blender down to make sure it reaches the right consistency. Now the ooey, gooey cheese is done. YUM!

  2. For the beans - heat a medium or large frying pan. Add 1 teaspoon oil to the pan followed by the onion. Once the onion is translucent, add the garlic. Next, add the smoked paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Next add the butter and black beans. As soon as all of the ingredients are evenly mixed you can turn off the heat, the beans are done. 

  3. To assemble a quesadilla - spray a little oil down on a medium-hot pan or smear one side of the tortilla with butter. Put the tortilla (butter side down) on the hot pan, put a few scoops of the cheese on one side of the tortilla as well as the bean and onion combo. Fold the quesadilla over. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side or until tortillas reaches your desired crispness. 

Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal

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I haven’t been able to make it to the grocery store in about a week due to a rather busy schedule and extremely cold temperatures that promote hibernation. So with nothing but strawberries in the fridge and some oats and raw cashews in the pantry, I decided to get creative.

First, I decided to make strawberry milk. It’s actually more like strawberry half and half because it is a tad creamier than milk. This is the star of the show right here. Anybody else obsessed with how versatile cashews are as an ingredient? Yea…I buy bulk.

Absolutely creamy b l i s s. Takes me back to childhood. Unlike the store bought version I would drink as a kid, filled with artificial nonsense, my version is homemade using minimal ingredients and is done in two minutes! That’s it! I like to call this simple luxury. Also…it is pink. My all time favorite color is pink of all varieties. You understand.

Once the oatmeal is done cooking, I then swirl the strawberry let’s-just-call-it-cream in. And m a g i c happens. The oats are infused with the subtle aroma and flavor of sweet strawberries. Seriously mouth watering. And can I say, gorgeous!

I typically top my oats with hemp seeds, flax meal, or some other variation of superfood to boost the nutrition…however this is perfectly s i m p l e. Did you know one cup of rolled oats has 10g of protein?! Yasss. Also, I actually l o v e the smell and flavor of oats. Sometimes when I add too many ingredients to oats I end up missing the oat flavor. Another reason why these oats are perf. If you are into overnight oats, try soaking your oats in the strawberry cream. Top it off with fresh strawberries in the morning and you’re good to go!

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Strawberries & Cream Oats

Servings 1

Ingredients

  • 10 oz water
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • pinch of salt pink himalayan
  • 1/4 cup strawberry milk + 1 teaspoon
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon coconut butter
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • raw cashews optional for garnish
  • fresh strawberries optional for garnish

Instructions

  1. Add the water to a medium size sauce pan and bring to a boil. 

  2. Add the oats to the water and turn the heat down to medium low. Let cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

  3. Next add the strawberry milk, maple syrup, coconut butter, and vanilla extract to the half-cooked oats. Let cook for about 5 minutes, or until the oats are cooked to your desired consistency. 

  4. Garnish with some cashews and fresh strawberries. (optional)