Killer Risotto

I like good risotto, but most of the time it ends up feeling very heavy and well...just...ugh. However, tonight's attempt was phenomenal!

I had it in my brain the other day when I picked up some lobster mushrooms and Chinese spinach at the farmers market that I would make risotto this week. I had some crimini mushrooms just hanging out in the fridge needing to be used...and I always dried mushrooms in my pantry...triple mushroom risotto with spinach! And because I like to try new ways of making things...I made this one vegan. Totally. Killer.

Triple Mushroom Risotto with Spinach

4 oz dried mushrooms (I did a combo of shitaki and king oyster mushrooms)
1 cup boiling water
2 - 1/2 cups low sodium vegetable broth (I really like the low sodium veg broth from Trader Joe's...good flavor)
4-5 oz crimini mushrooms, sliced
4-5 oz lobster mushrooms (or some other flavor...chicken of the woods would be very comparable), sliced
2 Tbsp extra virgin coconut oil, divided
3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cups cleaned and chopped spinach
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 tsp pink Himalayan salt
1 cup uncooked Arborio rice
1/4 cup Shao Xing cooking wine (or Sherry)
1 Tbsp dairy-free margarine (I use Earth Balance)
1-2 Tbsp nutritional yeast

1. In a small bowl, combine the boiling water with the dried mushrooms, and let them soak, uncovered for 30 minutes. Drain 1/2 cup of the mushroom broth into a liquid measuring cup and add the vegetable broth, take out 1/2 of the soaked mushrooms, finely dice and set aside (keep the rest for another time). Heat the veg broth to a simmer (I do it in the microwave)

2. In a small bowl, toss the spinach, lemon juice and salt. Set aside.

3. In a medium size saucepan over medium heat, heat 1 T. of the coconut oil. Add the chopped garlic and onions, stirring occasionally, until the onions are tender and translucent, but not browned, about 6-8 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until soft, about 4 minutes more. Add the remaining 1 T. of coconut oil and the rice, and, stirring constantly, cook until the rice is evenly coated and sounds like crispy rice cereal in the pan, making snapping and popping noises, about 4 minutes. Add the Shao Xing, stirring constantly, until all of the liquid is completely absorbed.

4. Pour about ¾ cup of the hot broth into the rice and cook, continuing to stir, until most of the liquid is absorbed. Continue to add the broth in ¾-cup increments, allowing the liquid to be absorbed before another addition, until the rice is translucent around the edges but still solid in the middle and the rice is of a creamy consistency, about 20 minutes.

5. Add the spinach and cook for just about 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, or until the spinach is wilted and bright green. Stir in the dairy-free soy margarine and nutritional yeast. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

SO GOOD!

*I found this recipe online and modified it...of course.

Eating locally on a budget...the dollars and sense

With all this talk about eating locally, I thought I should touch on the dollars and sense of it all.

The other day, while at the gym working out on the elliptical machine, I caught the last half of an Oprah re-run. It was about kids and obesity.* One thing a mom of one of the kids said really got me thinking. She said they were on food stamps and that it was not always easy to pick the healthier option when on a tight budget. Really? While I can see how that is for some things, I am having a hard time believe that as a blanket statement.**

So I've started to do a little research on the subject of eating healthfully on a budget AND eating locally. I hit the grocery stores, co-ops and the farmers' markets. I won't bore you with all of the prices, but I will sum it up with you will, on average, spend less on locally produced food when comparing like foods (organic to organic and conventional to conventional).

First, if you have anywhere to plant anything edible...do it! Be it a few large pots on your patio, whatever, it's a start. It's as local as you can get...and quite inexpensive. The same day I saw the Oprah show I went to my monthly Master Gardener meeting and it was on Superabundant Small Gardens. In 2005 the presenter decided to really see how much her organic garden produced, not only in pounds but how much it would have cost her to buy it all at the time it was harvested.***

Her garden's expenses included: manure, other fertilizers, seeds and plants, potting soil, electricity and water, pots and supports and her community garden plot rental fee. It totalled up to be around $253.50. Her crop was valued at $1,408.65, minuses expenses...for a total value of $1,155.15. WOW! Now she follows a few simple rules that I personally abide by for my own garden...When you have a small space to garden, produce what you love and costs the most to buy. Of those things look at what takes up the least amount of space, grow up verses out. Love beans but you don't have a lot of room for a large crop? Plant pole beans! Have a fence and love cucumbers? Plant the vining variety and have them climb up your fence. Find compact varieties. Interplant your edible plants into your flower gardens. Eggplant are not only beautiful, but their purple flowers are gorgeous too. Peppers, especially the hot variety add a splash of color (habanero for fall, what could be better???)

Second, if you have access to a Farmers' Market...GO! Not everyone has the room or the time for a garden (or in my case I cannot grow as much as I use) but everyone can visit a farmers' market. Not only do you get the freshest fruits and vegetables picked at their peak, you also get contact with the people who grow your food and support your local community at rockin' prices! I did overhear one woman say, "If I wanted to pay this much for X, I could just go to the grocery store." I think she's missing the big picture, don't you?

Some of my purchases at the Farmers' Market included:
Red bell peppers - 16 lbs for $12 ($.75/lb)
Green bell peppers - 8 lbs for $4 ($.50/lb)
Eggplant - 21 lbs for $5 ($.24/lb)
Tomatoes - 60 lbs for $18 ($.30/lb)
Fresh onions - 5.5 lbs for $4 ($.73/lb)
Beets (red & golden) - 8 lbs for $4 ($.50/lb)

What did CiBaby and I make with all of this (and from our garden) food, you ask?

We made salsa...lots of salsa!...(both red and green...which we eat a lot and is an easy/good thing to bring to parties), pickled beets, ketchup, spaghetti sauce, raspberry jam, pear butter, tomato sauce, eggplant parmesan, moussaka and ratatouille. I also put away roasted eggplant, roasted red and yellow peppers, green peppers, zucchini, corn, sweet potato leaves, green beans and tomatoes for future cooking use...which saves me a ton of money and everything is still peak flavor.

You don't have to be a foodie, like me, to see why this works. It just makes [dollars and] sense.


*Ironic???
**Long ago I was a check-out girl at a grocery store and saw the "food" come through on food stamps...let's just say that a good majority of it was not what I would consider good choices.
***I forgot to ask her if it was just at the co-op/grocery store and didn't factor in the farmers' markets' prices.

*FM* - Fabulous Miraculous

Farmers' Market

What a year.

A morning at the market

This morning I had my first go round of the year at a Q&A table answering gardening questions.*

I love this time of the year. The hustle and bustle of the market. The flowers, the veggies, the sights, sounds and smells. And the people. I love the people. There are your Average Joes and Janes, burb dwellers, urban folks, your very "outside the box" people, kids and babies. But my favorite people are the farmers. I love leisurely strolling the aisles and looking to see whose new and whose back for another season. Thinking back to what I bought from each stand last year, what creation I came up with and what I'm going to do this year.

There's just something about it. Call me nostalgic, call me old fashioned, call me a farm-girl at heart (but born and raised in the city), but to me there's nothing better than soaking in and utilizing all of the sustainability that our city has to offer. It's just really cool.

*It was fabulous, by the way. Of course I didn't know every answer to every question, but knowing where to look or where to send the question-asker for the answer is almost as good.