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Vegan Asparagus & Crimini Mushroom Risotto by HLife Photography

When you are vegan, creative, and grew up eating nothing but amazingly flavorful dishes, your home becomes the best restaurant ever. My husband and I LOVE Italian food and our Italian vegan dishes are super delicious but also healthy, because there is no mucous-causing, villi-blocking, cancer-causing dairy present here. Risotto is one of my husband’s favorite Italian dishes, so my challenge was to make a spectacular vegan-raw version of this dish for his birthday.

Serves 6
Prep time: 1 hour

To prepare asparagus, you will need to rinse the spears and break off the tough ends. Then place them in a pan with enough drinking water to barely cover them, and sprinkle some sea salt. Place on stove and turn the heat to high until the water is boiling, then to medium low for about 5 minutes, until asparagus is bright green and cooked. Set asparagus aside on a plate and save the water from the asparagus in a bowl, to cook the rice in it.

In a large pan (that has a lid) heat the olive oil and add all 3 different onions diced, the garlic, 1/2 tablespoon of Celtic sea salt, black pepper, and sauté until the onions look translucent and golden. Bring heat down to medium high, add the mushrooms, zucchini and tamari.  Sauté ingredients until all are mixed well, then add the uncooked rice and red bell pepper and mix it all very well. Now add 3 cups and 1/2 of water (use the asparagus water first as part of the three cups and 1/2 of water), garlic powder and rest of sea salt, which would be about a tablespoon or little more. Stir to mix well, turn up the heat to high and cover with a lid.  Once the water in boiling, bring heat down to medium low and set your timer for 1 hour and 15 minutes. That’s how long the brown rice will take to cook.

In the mean time, cut the asparagus in one inch pieces and grate the zest of the lemons, then set both aside. Make the raw cashew cheese of your choice and set aside. Once the brown rice is cooked, add the raw cashew cheese, asparagus and lemon zest. Stir and mix all together under medium low heat, add more black pepper or Celtic sea salt to taste, and serve immediately.

Optional: Squeeze a bit of lemon juice onto risotto.

Nutritional Info:
The fact that there is no dairy in such a creamy, hearty Italian dish is already a nutritional win!  For the nutritional info on cashews please refer to our HFood feature on Cashews; they are nutrient-dense as well as delish.

❁ Asparagus: An excellent source of folic acid used in blood cell formation and prevention of liver disease and neural tube defects. A good source of potassium, which helps in muscle recovery and prevents cramping, also a significant source of Vitamin C, Thiamin, B6, and fiber. Provides as many grams of protein as it does of carbohydrates, contains rutin, which strengthens capillary walls and provides GSH, an antioxidant and cancer fighter.

❁ Crimini mushrooms: These guys have recently been shown to have anti-cancer properties. Also may help protect against the development of breast cancer by preventing circulating levels of estrogen in the body from becoming excessive. An excellent source of selenium, riboflavin (Vitamin B2), pantothenic acid (Vitamin B5), copper, niacin (Vitamin B3), potassium and phosphorus. Selenium is needed for the proper function of the antioxidant system, which works to reduce the levels of damaging free radicals in the body. Also involved in DNA repair, selenium is a necessary co-factor of one of the body’s most important internally produced antioxidants, glutathione peroxidase, and also works with Vitamin E in numerous vital antioxidant systems throughout the body. For all those vegans out there, know that crimini mushrooms are also a good source of iron.

❁ Red bell pepper: Peppers are excellent sources of Vitamin C and Vitamin A (through concentration of carotenoids such as beta-carotene), two very powerful antioxidants. These antioxidants work together to effectively neutralize free radicals, which can travel through the body causing huge amounts of damage to cells. Bell peppers also provide fiber that can help lower high cholesterol levels, another risk factor for heart attack and stroke. Both Vitamin A and C protect against cataracts, rheumatoid arthritis, and Vitamin A promotes better lung health.

❁ Brown rice: Great source of fiber, which cleans out the intestines and helps protect you against colon cancer as fiber binds to cancer-causing chemicals, keeping them away from the cells lining the colon; plus, it can help normalize bowel function, reducing constipation. An excellent source of manganese, which helps produce energy from protein and carbohydrates and is involved in the synthesis of fatty acids – which are important for a healthy nervous system – and in the production of cholesterol, which is used by the body to produce sex hormones.  A good source of the minerals selenium and magnesium. Magnesium is a mineral that acts as a co-factor for more than 300 enzymes, including enzymes involved in the body’s use of glucose and insulin secretion; eating foods rich in magnesium lowers your risk of type 2 diabetes.  A study published in the British Journal of Nutrition suggests that diets high in brown rice protein can help protect against atherosclerosis by increasing blood levels of nitric oxide. It also has significant cardiovascular benefits for postmenopausal women.

❁ Meyer lemon zest: Lemons have anti-oxidant properties which are believed to fight off free radicals and cancer cells. Lemons are jam-packed with Vitamin C. A mere tablespoon of lemon juice has 7 mg of the vitamin. A half-cup of juice meets 100% of the RDA for Vitamin C. One lemon would also contain about 12 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of protein and 3 grams of sodium. Lemons contain no fat and no sugar.

❁ Onions and Garlic: Both members of the allium family, they are known for their anti-cancer properties. A study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that people who ate the largest amount of vegetables in the onion and garlic family were less likely to develop stomach cancer than those who did not.  Onions contain as many as 150 phytochemicals. The flavonoid quercetin, an antioxidant (phytochemical) found in onions, helps eliminate free radicals in the body, inhibits low-density lipoprotein oxidation, protects and regenerates vitamin E, and helps to circumvent the harmful effects of heavy metal ions. Onions are also known to raise your “good” cholesterol and prevent the biochemical chain of events that leads to asthma and inflammatory reactions.  Garlic contains the amino acid, alliin, which scientists say has antibiotic and bactericidal effects. It is believed to promote cardiovascular activity and have a soothing effect on the respiratory system. It is also an excellent source of manganese, a very good source of Vitamin B6 and Vitamin C. In addition, garlic is a good source of protein and thiamin (Vitamin B1), as well as the minerals phosphorous, selenium, calcium, potassium, iron and copper.

❁ Zucchini: High water content (more than 95%), zucchini squashes are very low in calories.  They contain useful amounts of folate (24 mcg/100 g), potassium (280 mg/100 g) and Vitamin A (384 IU [115 mcg]/100 g). Zucchinis are also an excellent source of Vitamin C.  Wash your zucchini but don’t peel because most of the nutrients are in the skin.

Sources: ( crimini mushrooms -> http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=97 ,http://www.dinnerplanner.com/how-to-cook-asparagus.htm, http://www.asparagus.org/maab/nutrition.html, http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=50 Bell Peppers), http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=128 Brown Rice, http://health.learninginfo.org/lemon.htm, http://health.learninginfo.org/onion-nutrition.htm, http://health.learninginfo.org/nutrition-facts/zucchini.htm, http://health.learninginfo.org/nutrition-facts/garlic.htm, http://health.learninginfo.org/nutrition-facts/zucchini.htm