golden mushroom & pea risotto from the vegan chef

last saturday night i had a craving for something creamy and comforting, so i decided to find a vegan risotto recipe that would still be "creamy" without the butter & parmesan cheese. found it! thank you Vegan Chef  for this great recipe.

there were some tweaks i made to the recipe:
- i used chicken stock instead of veggie stock
- i did not add asparagus (not at the supermarket right now)
- left out the "nutritional yeast flakes" & lemon zest

it was still so good! definately

original recipe from The Vegan Chef


  3 1/2 - 4 cups vegetable stock
1 lb. asparagus, tough ends trimmed
1 cup onion, diced
2 T. olive oil
1 1/2 cups cremini mushrooms, destemmed, cut in half lengthwise, and sliced
2 T. garlic, minced
1 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine (optional) 
1/4 t. saffron threads
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
1/3 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley
2 T. freshly chopped dill
2 t. finely grated lemon zest
  In a medium saucepan, place the vegetable stock, and bring to a boil. Slice the asparagus spears diagonally into 1-inch pieces and place them in a fine mesh strainer. Place the strainer in the boiling vegetable stock and cook the asparagus in the stock for 2 minutes to blanch them. Remove the strainer from the stock and set the asparagus aside. Reduce the heat of the stock to low. In a large saucepan, saute the onion in the olive oil for 3 minutes to soften. Add the mushrooms and garlic and saute the mixture an additional 3 minutes. Add the Arborio rice, stir well to coat it with the sauteed vegetable mixture, and cook an additional 2 minutes while stirring constantly or until rice turns opaque.
Add the white wine (or use some of the stock if omitting) and saffron threads, season to taste with salt and pepper, and stir well to combine. Reduce the heat to low and cook the mixture while stirring occasionally until all of the liquid has been absorbed. Add 1/2 cup of the simmering vegetable stock and continue to cook, while stirring occasionally, until all of the stock has been absorbed. Repeat the procedure of adding a 1/2 cup of simmering stock, stirring, and cooking until fully absorbed before adding additional stock, until all but a 1/2 cup of stock remains. Add the blanched asparagus, along with the remaining ingredients, and stir well to combine. Cook the mixture an additional 2-3 minutes while stirring constantly, adding the remaining stock, as needed, so that the rice is tender and the risotto has a creamy consistency. Taste and adjust the seasonings, as desired.
Serves 4 (main dish) or 6 (side dish)