Vegan Mushroom Brown Rice Risotto

TASTE! Talida, a Newcastle-based food blogger, shares a delicious risotto for a chilly day.

Ingredients:

RICE:

• 1 cup medium grain brown rice
• 8 cups water
• 2 tsp dry vegetable stock
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1 brown onion – diced
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 4-5 cups thickly sliced mushrooms
• salt and pepper to taste
• handful of chopped fresh parsley
• 2 TBSP nutritional yeast

CREAM:

• ⅓ cup cashews
• 1 cup soy milk ( other plant based milks will work but soy gives most authentic taste)
• ½ tsp paprika
• 1 TBSP nutritional yeast
• juice half small lemon
• 1 tsp tahini

1. Begin by cooking your rice in 8 cups of water and 2 tsp of stock over low – medium heat until all the water is absorbed. Once cooked set aside.
2. Make your cream by blending all the cream ingredients in a blender until smooth and set aside. If your blender is not strong enough you may wish to soak your cashews for an hour or two before blending. Alternatively I like to let my cashews sit in the soy milk for 10 – 15 minutes before blending.
3. Gently fry off the brown onion in the olive oil until soft and lightly browned. Add in crushed garlic and fry for a few more seconds until it becomes fragrant.
4. Add your chopped mushrooms and allow to cook adding salt and pepper to taste. The mushrooms will shrink in size and release water as they cook.
5. Once the mushrooms are cooked and most of the mushroom water has evaporated, reduce heat to low and add the cooked brown rice to the mushroom mixture and mix through. Sprinkle in 2 TBSP nutritional yeast and chopped fresh parsley and mix through.
6. Slowly add your cream mixture a little at a time while mixing the cream through the rice. The rice will absorb the cream, stop adding cream when you get the creamy risotto consistency you are looking for. I usually use the whole amount but sometimes find that I need a little less.
7. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
8. Garnish with extra parsley and vegan parmesan cheese. Best eaten straight away while still hot.

A big THANKS to Talida from hazelandcacao.com.au for this recipe.