Want a healthy vegan carrot cake? Here it is with a special ingredient… mango! Tender, moist, delicious. Vegan, oil-free, and whole-grain.
At least once a month I'm asked for a healthy vegan carrot cake recipe.
Funny, I've made a pumpkin cake, sweet potato cake, carrot muffins (in a couple of cookbooks), and zucchini muffins. So, I'm not sure what has taken me so long to post an actual carrot cake.
Especially since I've had this vegan carrot cake recipe in my files for over three years.
Yep.
It was a recipe I had planned for Plant-Powered Families. As I've mentioned a few times, we ran out of space in that book and I had to cut some recipes.
What makes this vegan carrot cake special?It's such a unique version of carrot cake that I was sure to include it in Dreena's Kind Kitchen (order book here).
Unique how, you ask?
Often applesauce is used as a default for oil-free baking. But this isn't always best, as I've mentioned in other posts.
In this healthy carrot cake, in that it uses frozen mango (pureed with other wet ingredients) to add natural sweetness, beautiful color, and moistness to the cake.
Healthy Carrot Cake: The Frosting!I've opted for a coconut butter-base for this frosting, as it is very reminiscent of a traditional cream cheese frosting to me. If you prefer not to use coconut butter, you can absolutely substitute cashew butter instead (raw cashew butter preferred for optimal color).
I think this is just a beautiful cake to serve on Mother's Day. Look how beautiful it is!
I'd love to hear what you think of this healthy vegan carrot cake.
We love it, and I hope you do too! x Dreena
Special thanks to Nicole Axworthy for the food photos.
This post was originally published May 2018 and updated for April 2022.
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This buddha dressing will make any salad and any buddha bowl insanely delicious!
This oil-free vegan dressing will become a new favorite recipe. You will want to drizzle it on everything from salads to vegan bowls, to sweet potatoes, sauteed greens, and cooked quinoa.
Well, those are some of my favorite ways to use this Buddha Dressing – I expect you will have many others… because this dressing is stellar!
When I hosted polls to find out which dressing from the Salad Bowl chapter of Dreena's Kind Kitchen you all wanted, it was a close race. The Cilantro Lovers Dressing and Guac Your World Dressing pulled in some votes, but most votes went to this recipe and my oil-free Italian Dressing. Buddha took the win!
I know many of you already love it. The combination of tahini with nooch, apple cider vinegar, a touch of sweetness, and a few other flavor accents give this oil-free dressing wow factor.
This recipe hails from Dreena's Kind Kitchen, and in the book, I pair it with the Cornucopia Salad (below). It works so beautifully with the kale and sweet potatoes in that dish.
For effortless blending, I use my Blendtec with the twister jar or mini wildside jar. Pick one of these handy jars up, you will love it for dressings, dips, puddings, and more. Use Blendtec discount code: YAY-BLENDTEC for 20% off.
You can watch me demo this salad on WGN-TV from when DKK was launched.
Ultimately, though, this dressing will be enjoyed in many more ways. It will become a go-to, staple dressing in your home – far beyond buddha bowls.
I'd love to hear how YOU most love using this dressing. Share in the comments below.
Want to see the two other recipes that pulled in the most votes? Here are the Awakened Pad Thai and the Potato-Cauliflower Scramble.
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A creamy avocado pasta sauce that can be prepped in the time it takes to cook your pasta! With a special ingredient to make it thick and rich, but not oily!
Yes, you can bring together this avocado pasta in 10 minutes!
Except for the time it takes to actually bring the water to a boil. By the time it takes to cook the pasta (usually 7-9 minutes), you can blitz up this creamy avocado pasta sauce.
And dinner, my loves, is served!
Of course, avocado pasta sauce is not a new idea. It's been around for years.
I've been making different versions myself for years, and just never got to creating a formal recipe for one.
Until I toyed with the idea of adding cooked potato to the sauce. What? Why? How? and What!?!
Yeah, cooked potato in a pasta sauce seems like a funky idea.
But, a portion of cooked potato in the sauce helps to thicken and 'extend' this avocado pasta sauce. So, you can use less avocado – if you need or want to do so. Not just to thicken and 'extend' the sauce over more servings, but also to make it a little lower in fat.
I mean, I love avocado as much as the next guac-lover. But you might want to use less when avocado prices are through the roof. Right?!
Or, maybe you love the idea of an avocado pasta sauce but it's a little too high in fat for your diet.
When an avocado sauce is made fully with avocado, it can be very rich and high in fat for some, if following a lower-fat dietary protocol.
This modified sauce may be suitable for folks on a lower-fat diet. and you can even tweak a little further to suit your dietary needs.
In short, this avocado pasta sauce is healthy – easy – quick – and most important… delicious!
This recipe is also in Dreena's Kind Kitchen, flip to page 168.
I hope you all enjoy it. Do share and share your feedback! x Dreena
Want more vegan recipes in your diet? Check these out:
photo credit: Angela MacNeil
This post was originally published 2019 and updated for April 2022.
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Did you know it's National Chocolate Covered Raisins Day?
And I have a cookie for that!
Chocolate Covered Raisin Cookies, also known as Raisinet Cookies from Let Them Eat Vegan.
Now, as a Canadian, we would call these Glosette Raisins Cookies.
In the US, chocolate-covered raisins are Raisinets, here they are Glossette Raisins.
Either way, they aren't vegan. But my Chocolate Covered Raisin Cookies ARE! And, they are oil-free.
I created these cookies with my best friend in mind. See, she always loved Glosette Raisins, so I wanted to create a healthy vegan cookie that would remind her of that chocolate confection.
These cookies really taste like chocolate covered raisins to me, and the touch of molasses truly makes a difference in the recipe, so do keep it!
These are oil-free, and if you want oil-free chocolate for the recipe, pick up Nibble chocolate and chop/break up into pieces, or get the Nibbleitos!
I posted this recipe some years ago but decided to refresh it for this post, so the recipe is slightly different – better, I think!
You will have to be the ultimate judge… do these cookies remind you of Raisinets or Glosette Raisins?
Okay, let's get going with the recipe. Let me know how you enjoy these chocolate vegan cookies!
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Hello friends, today I thought I'd share a selection of my yin yoga classes.
I posted these videos to my youtube channel in recent months, so this will give you the opportunity to sink in and try a class (or more)!
Remember that yin yoga is truly for everybody – every body. It's a gentle, slow-paced style of yoga where postures are held for longer periods of time than in other yoga classes. Poses may be held anywhere from a minute to five minutes or more.
Yes, anyone can do this form of yoga, regardless of age, level, or experience with yoga.
What is the difference between regular yoga and yin yoga?"Regular" yoga (also called yang, hatha, flow, or vinyasa) focuses on strengthening and stretching your muscles. Yin yoga focuses on relaxing muscles to move into deep connective tissues, like your fascia, ligaments, joints, and bones. It's slow and even meditative, offering you the time to focus on the sensations in your practice.
Is yin yoga hard?The challenge with this style of yoga is the stillness and remaining patient with the longer holds of the pose. This mental and physical distraction 'discomfort' can make yin yoga more challenging than a more dynamic form of yoga.
Is yin yoga active or passive?It's a combination of both, even though most yin postures are quite passive. But some postures (asanas) are more yang in nature or contain. yang elements.
Can I do yin yoga every day?In general, yes, you can do a daily yin yoga class. However, it depends on the student and also the degree of exertion. Sometimes we push ourselves too far in yin which can result in soreness. Listen to your body during and between classes.
Let's get into a yin yoga class! Below are several sequences I have posted on youtube. Choose one or more, explore in your body.
I hope you enjoy. x Dreena
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