Vegan and vegetarian food and treats, So Delicious!

Christmas has done come and gone. And you know what Christmas equals…it equals massive amounts of foooood!! Okay, maybe the amounts are not quite “massive” for my vegan and vegetarian brethren. But that’s what I’m here fo! To talk a little about some easy vegan recipes that I cooked up over these past couple of daze. Juu ready??!!

Okay for Christmas Eve, we had a little din din at my parental unit’s house. It was nice because I could just cook right there on the spot, and my mom already has a bunch of ingredients and even went shopping for some of my favorite veggies. I heart my mummy! So what I made was a vegan risotto paired with some sauteed vegetables and tofu. E-Z breezy right?!

Here’s the recipe for the vegan risotto, which I found yet again on the PostPunkKitchen blog, a.k.a : www.theppk.com

Vegan Risotto

This is a base risotto that you can add other flavors to, but it’s anything but bland. It has a creamy, complex flavor. It takes some time and attention, but there’s so much going on in it that you don’t even miss the cheese. Mushrooms are nice as an optional ingredient.

Equipment: pan with a heavy bottom, tallish sides, and lid (a large cast iron skillet works well)medium saucepanladle or cupwooden spoon measuring cups Ingredients 4 cups stock (veggie or mushroom) 2 medium onions, finely chopped 1/2 head celery, finely chopped 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 3/4 cups arborio rice salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 1 1/2 cups dry white wine (I use Two Buck Chuck Sauvignon Blanc) 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp. olive oil Fresh basil or parsley, chopped, for sprinkling on top optional ingredients: fresh or rehydrated dried mushrooms, whole cloves of roasted garlic, chopped sauteed spinach and olives, chunks of pre-cooked pumpkin or squash, really any veggie of choice. Directions 1. Heat stock in saucepan to near-boiling. 2. Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion, celery and garlic. Cook until soft, 10-15 minutes. Add rice, salt and pepper, cook one minute, or until rice is slightly translucent, stirring constantly. Turn up heat to medium high. 3. Add wine and cook until absorbed, stirring constantly. Stir in a pinch of salt. 4. Add one ladle of stock (1/3 to 1/2 cup), cook until absorbed, stirring constantly. After stock is absorbed, add another ladlefull. This process should take 15 minutes or so. If you’re using any, add optional ingredients about halfway through the stock. 5. When all the stock is absorbed, turn off the heat, put on the lid and let it sit for 3 minutes. Then take off the lid and stir in the rest of the olive oil. Stir and serve with chopped fresh basil or parsley sprinkled on top.

I added some butternut squash flavoring in mine [via Trader Joe’s Butternut Squash soup] and that made it DEEEELISH! So like the recipe said, feel free to use any/all of the vegetables of your choice.

The next part of the meal was actually my own very insanely simple recipe. Because the risotto that I made had such an intense flavoring, I decided that the vegetables and tofu should be mild in flavor so that the two tastes were not competing with each other. Check it check it out, on and on and on:

Basically have the veggies of your choice all sliced and diced. In this instance, I used:

• asparagus
• mushrooms
• spinach

OOOooooO…surprise, surprise. Damn I love those veggies. Anyway, so you also need to dice a bunch of onions and garlic and sautee them in a medium pan, using olive oil and put it on medium heat.

Add in the vegetables according to how long it will take them to cook. So for instance, I put in the asparagus first and the spinach last. I also added the tofu in there. So you basically let everything marinate and simmer, mixing it well and salt and peppering to taste. After everything looks done and ready, place some on top of a bed of the vegan risotto you just made..and woooooooo!! Another super easy and delicious vegan meal to save your day!!!

And this Christmas, all the rest of my fam B wantin to try my dish!

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