Ingredients
2 cups cauliflower broth
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup uncooked arborio or other medium-grain rice (see note)
1 cup dry white wine (I use vermouth)
juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 cups baby spinach
1 eggplant
1 whole sweet peppers
1 bunch wild mushrooms
2 Yellow squash
1 bunch chopped parsley
1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half
Parmesan cheese, for serving
salt, to taste
Instructions
In a small saucepan, bring the cauliflower stock to a simmer, then lower the heat to low to keep warm.
Bake the eggplant, sweet peppers , lime, lemon and yellow squash with olive oil and salt & pepper to taste. High heat about 30 minutes.
In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and mushrooms sauté until softened and cooked, 5-10 minutes. save the mushrooms for garnish
Add the butter to the saucepan and melt. Add the rice. Cook and stir for one minute. Pour in the wine and the lemon juice and cook, stirring frequently, until the wine has absorbed into the rice.
Add the cauliflower broth a half cup at a time, stirring constantly after each addition. Once each addition has been completely absorbed, add another half cup of the broth.
Once all of the liquid has been absorbed, add the vegetable and the coconut cream or almond milk. Stir until the vegetables and mushrooms has wilted and the cream has been absorbed. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon zest and salt to taste.
Serve immediately with vegetable garnish, chopped parsley and grated cheese for topping
Notes
Most people use arborio rice, but I buy another medium-grain rice in my grocery stores Hispanic section. It is called "Arroz Rico" and comes in a bright yellow bag. It is much less expensive than arborio rice!
What do you do when you don’t have a dinner plan? This creamy lemon spinach risotto is easy and delicious, and it’s quicker than fast food delivery!
What do you do when you just can’t bring yourself to make whatever meal you’ve planned? In my house, breakfast for dinner (better known as “brinner”) and risotto are the order of the day. Ardee is on Diet and so are mine.
We make risotto when we don’t know what else to make for dinner. Risotto has this weird reputation as being fussy food, probably because you have to stir it a lot to get the starch to release from it. It isn’t fast food, it’s easy food. It’s a little bit of Another thing I’m a fan of? Anything lemon flavored. Desserts, drinks, seasonings…I love lemon. And lemon + creamy combo? Yes please. It’s definitely comfort food for me. If you have some spinach or other greens (chard, kale, arugula) withering in your produce drawer, why not throw them in there to add a little nutritional value, texture, and flavor? I can never seem to use up all the spinach that I buy, so I love to mix leftover spinach into pasta or rice dishes.
This zesty vegetarian risotto isn’t “fast” food. However, if you consider how long it would take to put your shoes on and head to a drive-thru, or how long you’d have to wait on your pizza delivery, it kind of casts it in a different light, right? And it’s just so darned delicious!