And now, a break from your regularly scheduled Popsicle onslaught. I’m a little late on getting to CSA recipes for this week (keeping in mind that the CSA week starts on Wednesdays). Here was the haul:
Green beans
Cherry tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes
Cantaloupe
Roma tomatoes
Onions
Watermelon
Jalapeno (as in, a bag of about twenty large jalapenos)
Lemon basil
Potatoes
Personally, I’m getting a *tiny bit* tired of lemon basil, and it’s just such a unique and assertive flavor that I haven’t found it to be very versatile. Hello, bowl after bowl of Thai cabbage salad! But obviously, we’re excited about a double melon week, a continued tomato haul, and green beans, which we absolutely love to munch on. Usually I just steam them, squeeze a little lemon juice and grind some black pepper on top, and we dig in. Today I kicked it up a bit of a notch, though, by roasting them (along with some tomatoes) in balsamic and black pepper and using them to top a creamy, vegan brown rice risotto. Heck yes!
I guess it’s a myth that risotto is a specific dish. Risotto really refers to the style of cooking the grain, which is not required to be white arborio rice – or even rice. The first step is to saute the grains in fat (in our case, olive oil and coconut oil) until lightly fragrant, and next, it’s slowly cooked with frequent stirring so that the grains can absorb extra liquid and become creamy and soft. I have found that this recipe is very forgiving; it’s a preparation of brown rice that I have been making for years (though at first, it usually involved parmesan cheese and bacon being stirred in at the end 🙁 ). These days, in our home we are making risotto that is plant strong and much healthier and tastier than the classic buttery, cheesy Italian dish it brings to mind. I used corn grits here instead of 1/4 of the brown rice to play off of the sweet corn stock that I used, but using 100% brown rice would be just fine, though might require a bit more liquid.
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Brown Rice and Polenta Risotto with Roasted Tomato and Balsamic Green Beans
Makes 4-6 servings
Roasted tomatoes and green beans
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes
1/2 lb green beans, ends trimmed, longer ones cut in half
olive oil
salt, freshly cracked black pepper, balsamic vinegar
1/2 lb green beans, ends trimmed, longer ones cut in half
olive oil
salt, freshly cracked black pepper, balsamic vinegar
Risotto
1 tb olive oil
1/2 tb refined coconut oil (optional)
1 small onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 small green peppers, seeds removed, thinly sliced
3/4 cup brown rice
1/4 cup corn grits (polenta)
1/2 tb white miso paste (optional)
1 tb liquid aminos, soy sauce, or tamari
1/4 cup white wine
Juice of 1 lemon
Tomatoes (from above)
2-3 cups vegetable broth (or water or a mixture)
1 cup unsweetened, plain almond milk (or other plain milk)
salt, freshly cracked black pepper, dried oregano, to taste
chopped fresh parsley and green onions (to garnish)
1/2 tb refined coconut oil (optional)
1 small onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 small green peppers, seeds removed, thinly sliced
3/4 cup brown rice
1/4 cup corn grits (polenta)
1/2 tb white miso paste (optional)
1 tb liquid aminos, soy sauce, or tamari
1/4 cup white wine
Juice of 1 lemon
Tomatoes (from above)
2-3 cups vegetable broth (or water or a mixture)
1 cup unsweetened, plain almond milk (or other plain milk)
salt, freshly cracked black pepper, dried oregano, to taste
chopped fresh parsley and green onions (to garnish)
Prepare tomatoes and green beans. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. On a baking sheet, toss tomatoes with a light coating of olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast for about 25 minutes, or until soft with skins wrinkled. On a separate baking sheet or separate part of the same baking sheet, toss green beans with a light coating of olive oil, salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar. Roast for about 15 minutes or until slightly tender and beginning to shrivel. Set aside both tomatoes and green beans, but separately. Chop up the roasted tomatoes, keeping the liquid from inside them.
Prepare risotto. Set out broth and almond milk to come to room temperature if in the refrigerator.
In a large saucepan, preferably nonstick, heat olive oil and coconut oil. When oil is shimmering, add onion, garlic, and green peppers. Saute on medium heat for about 5 minutes or until softened. Add rice and corn grits, stir to coat, and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until rice is fragrant. Add miso paste, liquid aminos, white wine, lemon juice, tomatoes, and 1 cup of vegetable broth. Stir to combine and bring to a boil, then return to medium heat. From here, stir every 5 minutes (or more frequently), and add liquid 1/2 cup at a time (starting with the cup of almond milk and then adding more broth or water) whenever the liquid is absorbed. You may need more or less liquid than I estimate in the ingredients list. The risotto is done when the rice is fully cooked and the mixture is creamy, viscous, and not watery. This will take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.
Add black pepper and oregano, stir, and taste for seasoning, adding salt if needed (you may not – especially if using miso). Serve with green beans, parsley and green onions to garnish. This will keep for 5-7 days in the fridge and also freezes great.
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Marti Mïllër Häll says
PERFECT timing! I have a BUCKET of green beans AND yellow-pear cherry tomatoes to use up!!
shanbogen says
Nice! It’s hard to beat the delicious sweetness of roasted cherry tomatoes 🙂