Healthy Recipe of the Week: Vegan Mushroom and Asparagus Risotto

Are you in the mood for a creamy Italian dish? Perhaps a smooth risotto will suit your palate? Our healthy recipe for the week is Vegan Mushroom and Asparagus Risotto, which is made creamy without dairy ingredients.

Asparagus is a very healthy vegetable that is packed with dietary fibre and some important vitamins like vitamin C, E, and K, beta-carotene, rutin, folic acid, riboflavin, niacin, copper, phosphorus, iron, selenium, manganese and potassium. This vegetable is known to be a diuretic; hence good for the kidneys. It also helps improve insulin secretion; thus lessening the risk of Type 2 Diabetes.

Mushroom on the other hand, offers a lot of health and natural cosmetic benefits. Researchers suggest substituting red meat with button mushrooms for weight loss purposes. Mushrooms help improve the quality of nutrition, increase the levels of vitamin D and improve the function of the immune system, which makes it as one of the best anti-ageing foods.

Ingredients for this healthy recipe:

• 1 bunch of asparagus (remove the woody stalks and chop each into 2 inches short)
• 8 ounces of mushrooms (roughly chopped)
• 3 cups of vegetable broth
• 4-6 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 2 cups of spinach (chopped)
• 1 cup of uncooked Arborio rice
• 2 teaspoon of onion powder (this is optional though)
• 2 teaspoon of nutritional yeast (optional)
• ½ cup of white wine (which is also optional)
• 1 onion (diced)
• 1 teaspoon thyme (dried)
• 1-2 teaspoon of lemon juice
• ½ – 1 tablespoon of salt (

Note: These ingredients can make 2-4 servings.

Preparation of this healthy recipe:

1. Over medium fire, heat a large pot; add garlic, onion and asparagus. Stir the vegetables occasionally for 5 to 7 minutes or until the asparagus softens.
2. Put in thyme, mushrooms, white wine and salt, and heat for another 3 to 5 minutes or until the mushroom soften.
3. Add Arborio rice and stir until it makes snapping noises. The rice must be coated well. Add the vegetable broth, ½ cup at a time. Stir well and allow the rice to soak up all the liquids before adding more. Each interval may take around 5 minutes.
4. Once you’ve put in almost all the broth, add the nutritional yeast, lemon juice, onion powder, spinach and the rest of the broth. Mix until the spinach wilts. Taste the mixture and add more salt if you desire. You may also add more lemon juice and pepper. Serve while it’s hot.