Gluten-Free, Vegan Quinoa Risotto

Hi everyone! How is your evening going?  Mine has been good: work, gym, sauna, dinner.  It’s almost 10 p.m. and I still need to post.  Sometimes I wonder how the regular bloggers do it everyday?!  I love blogging, but sometimes it’s late at night by the time I finish my day and all I’m ready to do is relax. So, tonight’s post is just a pic of what I made for dinner along with the recipe that I used.

Normally I do not follow recipes. I either adapt one that I find or just make one up on the spot centered around fresh ingredients that I have on hand. I keep a collection of recipes that I clip from magazines and The Oregonian Foodday in a binder. Tonight’s recipe was clipped from Bon Appetite magazine found here.  I used 2x the mushrooms, added 2 small zucchini to the risotto and left out the cheese. It came out good, but maybe next time I’ll substitute the wine for chicken broth and add some lemon juice at the end. And, my serving tip is to drizzle each bowl of risotto with a little olive oil and sprinkle a little bit of coarse sea salt on top. Tonight I used Polynesian Black Sea Salt on ours.

Quinoa Risotto with Mushrooms and Thyme

Bon Appétit | January 2010

yield: Makes 4 main-course or 6 side-dish servings

active time: 25 minutes

total time: 25 minutes

• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove, pressed
• 1 8-ounce package sliced crimini (baby bella) mushrooms
• 6 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, sliced
• 3 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, divided
• 1 cup dry white wine

Bring 2 cups salted water to boil in medium saucepan. Add quinoa, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until tender and water is absorbed, about 13 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until onion begins to brown, 5 minutes. Add garlic; stir 30 seconds. Add mushrooms and thyme. Saut&eacutee; until mushrooms are tender, 6 minutes. Add wine; stir until wine is reduced and liquid is syrupy, 2 minutes.

Mix quinoa into mushroom mixture; season with salt and pepper.

Have a great night!