Mushroom Risotto
Before I went vegan, a normal, balanced meal was meat, veg, and a carb or starch.
A three piece setup that could be subbed out with various options for the different thirds of the plate.
Now that I’m vegan and don’t exactly want to follow the same formula -- meat substitutes aren’t exactly sustainable to eat every single night -- we’ve gotten really good at creating inclusive meals rather than segregated ones.
Instead of the three-parter (protein + greens + potatoes/rice/pasta), we make curries, stir fries, soups, and risottos that can all live in harmony in one bowl.
Well, at least those are our go-tos when we don’t feel like getting super complicated.
And, you know what, we’ve fallen so in love with our easy default meals, that we choose them even when we have energy to get crazy in the kitchen!
This mushroom risotto dish is suuuper easy to make.
If you’ve never made risotto before and feel like it’s a bit daunting, please don’t worry.
Take it one step at a time, taste test along the way, and remember, it’s reaaally hard to screw this one up.
Once you make it a few times, you may get more comfortable with experimenting and adding bolder flavors to the mix.
We love adding roasted gourds to our risottos in winter months, because it gives our risottos a really tasty depth to them. That sounds pretentious talking about depth to a dish, doesn’t it??
No, but really -- once you start becoming more confident with the flavors you use, you won’t want to go back to the three-ingredient meals you used to make.
Be bold. Experiment. Try new things!
But first, try this risotto!
Simple, gluten-free, comforting, and crowd-pleasing, this dish will make anyone with taste buds happy as a clam!
Plus, you can even use any leftovers from this risotto to make arancini balls the next day or even two days later.
Haven’t heard of arancini balls?
Check out this recipe for vegan arancini balls that use this very recipe!
MUSHROOM RISOTTO
INGREDIENTS
4 cups chopped mushrooms
1 diced onion
3 ½ cups vegetable broth
2 cups arborio rice
4 diced garlic cloves
1 thumb of ginger -- diced
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp fresh or dried rosemary
½ cup soaked or boiled cashews
½ cup water
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tsp olive oil
S & P to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
Soak cashews for two hours or boil on stove for 15 minutes until soft.
Drain, then blend cashews, water, and yeast to make a thick cream.
In a deep sauté pan or pot, heat 1 tsp oil.
Add onions, garlic, and ginger to the pan or pot you’re using.
Add chopped mushrooms and a pinch of salt.
Cook until mushrooms are brown.
Stir the rice and herbs until all combined.
Slowly stir in the vegetable stock ½ cup at a time.
Stir consistently for 20-25 minutes (very important!) until al dente.
Stir in cashew cream.
Adjust flavor to taste.
Enjoy!