Creamy Dairy-free Risotto

We all love a good Risotto, however this dish is not always the most heart-healthy option. In honour of Heart Awareness month, I decided to create a heart-healthy risotto dish. By replacing the traditional butter and cheese with unsaturated plant oils and nutritional yeast, this dish becomes heart healthy. If you want to take it a step further, use short grain brown rice instead of the traditional arborio rice. This will add more fibre and will slow down the release of sugar into your blood stream. Lastly, always remember that a balanced meal should consist of plenty of fresh vegetables, some healthy fats and protein, along with your starchy foods. Risotto isn’t really a balanced meal on it’s own as it is mostly starch based and doesn’t have much protein or veg. Therefore, try to combine your risotto with a big green salad and some chickpeas or grilled tofu.

Flora risotto recipe (2).jpg

For my patients on calorie-controlled meal plans:

1 x serving of this recipe  =

  • 2 starch servings

  • 1 veg serving

  • 1/2 fat serving

SERVES 8 as a side dish

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups dry arborio rice or short grain brown rice

  • 1 onion, chopped

  • 1 tbsp olive oil

  • 200g asparagus tips, sliced into 1-inch strips

  • 300g mushrooms, diced

  • 4-6 cups vegetable broth

  • 1/4 cup white wine

  • 1 tbsp nutritional yeast

  • 1 tsp Flora Vegan margarine (or dairy-free butter/ margarine of choice)

Method:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick pot and add the chopped onions. Fry the onions until golden.

2. Pour the white wine and rice into the pot and turn down the heat slightly. Saute the rice in the wine until the wine has been absorbed.

3. Add 1/2 cup of vegetable broth into the rice mixture and keep stirring until the vegetable broth has been absorbed.

4. Once absorbed, add another 1/2 cup of vegetable broth along with the mushrooms and asparagus and saute through on medium-low heat until the mixture has once again become “dry” and more broth is needed.

5. Continue adding the broth, 1/2 cup at a time, until absorbed into the rice. Do this until the rice is cooked through. It should take about 45 minutes and about 4-6 cups of broth.

6. Once cooked, stir in the nutritional yeast and flora and serve with a side of fresh green salad.

Jessica KotlowitzComment