Thursday, December 04, 2008

RECIPE ~ Brown Rice Risotto with Asparagus


Traditonal risotto is made using arborio rice, which is white and glutinous and produces a very creamy rice dish. The trick to making a creamy and tasty brown rice risotto is to use short grain rice and lots of veggie stock. Pictured here with a spinach salad topped with sauteed apples.

3/4 cup short grain brown rice
2 cups vegetable or mushroom stock
1 Tbsp each butter (or ghee) and olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp dried basil
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and chopped
black pepper
grated parmesan or reggiano cheese


In a medium, heavy pot, heat the butter and olive oil. Add onions, garlic and red pepper flakes, sauteeing until soft. Stir in rice, basil and half the stock. Let simmer covered on medium for 20 minutes, then add remaining stock plus asparagus. Stir well, cover, and let cook until all the liquid is absorbed and rice is creamy (not firm or dry), about another half hour. If needed, cook in another 1/4 cup or 1/2 cup of stock to reach the right consistency. Stir in parmesan to taste and grind in some black pepper. Serves 2.

NOTE: Ayurvedically, cheese is not recommended as it is difficult to digest, but it also purports that black pepper helps make it more digestible.

FOR INDIVIDUAL DOSHAS
Great for all doshas. Pittas, omit or minimize garlic, dride basil, and red pepper flakes; Kaphas, omit or reduce butter and oil to 1 tsp each.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

hi, can i use jasmine rice instead of the brown rice for this risotto?

Claudia Davila (Fran) said...

Hi Senhal! I'm sure you can use any rice you like, though for a creamier dish it's best to use short grain rice (short grain brown rice is healthiest, short grain white rice is traditional risotto rice, and anything else would be a risotto-like rice dish which is fine too!). Let us know how it worked out for you!

Anonymous said...

hi,

just a note, if you can find cheese made from raw milk, or use goat cheese, these are easier to digest!

Dazy said...

This is a new one for me! Looks really yummy too..gearing up with recipes for the cold winter days
hopefully ahead!

AyurvedicNewbie said...

Hello All!! I am new to the site and am very anxious to try a new & healthy outlook on life! I will try this recipe 2nite!

albert said...

Whatever category pure basmati rice dish goes in – it looks like my sort of dinner / lunch / meal :)