Mushroom Risotto

       This dish is delicious! It's a vegan dish, but my entire meatitarian family LOVED it (even the picky parents). Most people I know or I'm related to dislike (or hate) mushrooms, and those same people still love this dish!

       One thing you need to remember with Risotto- it needs some love and attention, and can take awhile to cook. 

       This is a large recipe, serving 6-8. You can half the recipe, and it still comes out marvelous.

Ingredients:

• 2        cups Arborio rice
• 1-2    tbs of olive oil
• 1/2     cup chopped mushrooms (you can use any kind you like- I love mini bella)
• 1/2     cup chopped onion
• 1        large garlic clove (it just isn't the same if you use the powder!)
• 6        cups water (or vegetable broth, if you don't use Better than Boullion)
• 1 1/2  tbs Better than Boullion (leave this out if you use veggie broth) 

Directions:

1: Saute the chopped white onion, diced mushrooms, and a clove of finely minced garlic in a large/deep pan with a liberal dose of olive oil until onion is transparent.

2: Pour in Arborio rice. Here we're using 2 cups of your average store-brand rice(I usually make this in large portions so that I can have leftovers or make suppli). Coat the rice in the olive oil/garlic/onion concoction and stir fairly regularly for between 1 and 3 minutes (this is supposed to help open up the rice kernal to more readily absorb liquid).

3: Add warm water, 1 cup at a time, waiting until ALL the liquid is absorbed before adding the next cup. You will be adding approximately 6 cups in total (3 cups for every 1 cup of rice, but make sure that you check with your rice package and compensate for your altitude) and stirring almost constantly with a wooden spoon. The best risotto gets its texture from this constant attention.

4 (optional): Add  Better Than Bouillion. Only do this if you aren't using vegetable broth in place of water!

5:  Once all the liquid from the 6th cup of water(/broth) has fully absorbed, and the rice has a nice, soft texture, spoon a large portion onto a plate. If you eat cheeses, this dish garnishes well with parmesan cheese and freshly cracked pepper. Enjoy!

*Some notes*

- This recipe is courtesy of Tiffany Valentine

- Better Than Boullion is an excellent base! Like most boullion, it is high in sodium. You can find Better Than Boullion in most health food stores, as well is in Harmon's; or you can order some here.