Hi! I’m Cadry Nelson. I’m the recipe creator, writer, and photographer behind the blog, Cadry’s Kitchen.
I started Cadry’s Kitchen in 2009, a couple of years after I went vegan.
At that time, I was learning so much about food, and exploring cooking in a whole new way than ever before. I was excited to share what I was learning, as well as grow my own repertoire of recipes.
What you’ll find on Cadry’s Kitchen
I specialize in classic comfort foods made vegan. Most of my recipes can be made in about a half an hour.
Think reuben jackfruit sandwich, vegan potato salad, vegan French dip sandwich, raw tacos, and chicken-style vegan pot pie.
Occasionally, a smoothie, juice, or salad recipe finds its way onto my blog by mistake. Haha!
I am also fairly obsessed with my air fryer. It’s an appliance that I use almost daily.
So vegan air fryer recipes like fried pickles, air fryer baked potatoes, vegan fried ravioli, and fried artichoke hearts make regular appearances here.
With step-by-step instructions and photos, as well as answers to the most common questions, you’re guaranteed to have success in the kitchen time after time.
To see my reader favorites, check out this top 10 list from 2020. Or access all of my recipes in my recipe index.
As seen on
Cadry Nelson and Cadry’s Kitchen have been featured on NBC News, Mashable, Today, Delish, Shape, Reader’s Digest, Yahoo, VegNews, Taste of Home, Eater, Brit + Co, Greatist, Parade, PureWow, Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, and Vegan Food & Living.
I have spoken at veg fests, as well as doing cooking demonstrations at various venues.
Vegan travel
The only thing I love as much as vegan food is travel + vegan food.
I adore sharing highlights from my trips – which restaurants to visit, which farmers markets to shop, and what food specialties you don’t want to miss.
You can find all of my previous travel posts in my travel index.
My favorite food cities are Los Angeles, New York City, Washington DC, Portland, Seattle, and Minneapolis.
Also, I live in Iowa. So if you’re looking for plant-based food in the Hawkeye State, you’re in the right place. I have lists for Des Moines, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls, Mason City, and the Quad Cities.
Fun facts about Cadry
I got the name Cadry, because my cousin had trouble learning how to spell her name.
As a kindergartener, she would scramble the letters when writing her name at the top of her papers. Her name is Darcy, but she would move the letters around to Cadry. (Same letters, different order.)
My mom was pregnant at the time, and she’d teasingly call her Cadry. The more she said it, the more it grew on her. And she decided to name me that!
For 11 years, I worked as a touring children’s theatre performer. I went into schools across Southern California to perform plays for kids.
I’m currently learning to play the piano. Outside of a stint with a snare drum as a fourth grader, I’d never played an instrument before. It’s been a really fun learning experience. “Lean On Me” is my favorite tune to play.
Other favorite things include good mail days, trips to one of the Disney parks, cute summer dresses, and stationery stores.
My cats are the lights of my life. I feel endlessly lucky to spend my days with Avon & Cally, and Spike and Jezebel before them.
My husband, David, and I are both from Iowa, but we actually met in California. A mutual friend wrangled us into being in a play that never got produced, even after a year of rehearsal.
Although the show never saw any stage time, we still got a lot out of it.
David’s claim to fame is that he was the guy Alicia Silverstone pushed away in Clueless when she said, “Ugh, as if!” Her loss is my gain!
These days, David helps me with the editing of my cooking videos. And we work on creating and shooting short films together.
He wrote a 12-minute short called Blake, which is about a man who is able to spend another week with his beloved cat, who has passed away. It has won several film festival awards.
We’re also currently working on a claymation mockumentary, which will hopefully be in festivals in 2021 or 2022. You can read more about it on Instagram here and here.
Let’s connect on social media
Follow me @cadryskitchen on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and Twitter. You can also email me at cadryskitchen@gmail.com.
And if you have a vegan-friendly business, check out my Work With Me page for more information on ways we can collaborate.