Creamy Green Pea & Lemon Almond Milk Risotto

Saturday 22nd August 2020 is World Plant Milk Day!

"Numerous studies consistently prove that a wholefood, plant-based diet is best for optimum health, and it's also the single biggest chance we have in the fight against climate change. Plant milks require much less water and land to produce than dairy milk and given there are so many different delicious plant milks to choose from now it really is easy for people to try dairy-free alternatives," says Greg Steltenpohl, founder and CEO of Califia Farms. "Even a simple switch such as swapping out dairy from your daily coffee for a plant milk like our new Oat Barista Blend, goes a long way in helping the environment and your health."

CREAMY GREEN PEA & LEMON ALMOND MILK RISOTTO

Ingredients:
2 cups precooked brown rice
1 red onion (diced)
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
½ cup frozen green peas
Big squeeze lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

VEGAN CREAM:
⅓ cup cashews
1 cup Califia Farms Unsweetened Almond Milk
Juice half a lemon
1 tsp tahini
½ tsp paprika
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
Pinch of salt and pepper

Method:
1. Begin by placing all the cream ingredients in a high-speed blender. You can let them sit in the blender while making the rest of the dish to allow cashews to soak up the almond milk.

2. Dice onion and fry in a large pan with a little olive oil until translucent and beginning to brown, add crushed garlic and cook for a few more seconds until it becomes fragrant.
3. Add pre-cooked brown rice and stir through the onion and garlic. You can add salt and pepper as you go and adjust seasoning when the meal is finished.
4. Add green peas to the mixture and heat through.
5. Blend up the vegan cream in the blender until smooth and creamy and begin to pour over the rice a little bit at a time. Stir through the rice and allow the rice to soak up the cream. Continue until the mixture is used up and the rice is creamy. Adjust seasoning to liking.
6. Finish with a big squeeze of lemon and serve with sprouts, vegan parmesan, and fresh parsley.

Quotes:
"For this recipe, I wanted to create a vegan cream that would stand in the place of a dairy thickened cream in more traditional risotto. I knew Califia Farms Unsweetened Almond Milk would work really well in this recipe as it has a beautiful creamy texture. Most almond milk on the market is quite watery, but Califia has a thick consistency so when it's blended with the other ingredients in the vegan cream, the texture came out fairly similar to a traditional cream. It is also unsweetened so can work well in savoury dishes."

 

"What I also love about this dish is that it can easily be rolled up into balls, rolled into breadcrumbs, and baked or fried in an air fryer to make arancini balls. I often like to make a big batch of this risotto and use the leftovers for arancini balls which can be eaten as a quick lunch the next day."

More info:
Talida Voinea is a plant-based mum from Newcastle who is recovering from a life-threatening hormone imbalance through diet. Follow her Instagram here: @hazel_and_cacao