Pomegranate Vegan Risotto

Vegan Risotto

Pomegranate Vegan Risotto

HELLO Pomegranate Vegan Risotto! As I said in an earlier post I have loads of Pomegranates at the moment, I love to put them in salads but due to my over abundance here I am at it again with another recipe. my friends seem to rave other this one, so I thought I would share it. Originally I thought I would make risotto balls out of this but it doesn't stick together enough, but it is just great as Risotto. I like to top mine with homemade pasta sauce.

Pomegranates are also high in antioxidants, and are great for our heart health, they remind me a lot of cranberries but sweeter!

Heads up this Risotto takes about an hour or so to make, it takes awhile because we are making a brown rice risotto so it takes longer for cooking.

The basic premise of risotto is to create a soft and creamy dish, this is done by adding liquid in small doses and letting the rice absorb it before adding more. You will need to stay close to the stove, stirring often, and keeping an eye on the liquid absorption.

HOW TO PICK A RIPE POMEGRANATE:

First lets talk about how to pick a ripe pomegranate. So it's really important to pick out a ripe pomegranate, they aren't like apples in that if it's in the store it is ripe, which is a common misconception. The color itself of the pomegranate doesn't really matter what does matter is the feel. You want to be able to squeeze the outside gently and hear the seeds pop. You don't want to to be so soft that all the seeds are popping just some of them, If too many seeds are popping it is going bad, but if none or no seeds are popping it isn't ripe yet. It can be a little tricky to feel out at first but start to pay attention you will will notice the perfect one to pick

Make sure you hears the seeds "popping"

Ingredients:

4 TBLS. Olive Oil (Divided)
1 Small Onion Chopped Finely
3 Garlic Cloves Chopped
2 1/3c. Sweet Brown Rice
2 c. Low Sodium Veggie Broth (divided)
3 c. Water (divided) plus more when needed
3 Rosemary Sprigs
3/4tsp. Sea Salt
1/4 tsp. Pepper
1c. Pomegranate Seeds
1c. Daiya Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (or other favorite non-dairy cheese)

Directions:

1)Start by heating your oil in a medium sauce pan, add onion and garlic- saute for a few minutes, add rice, stir and let it toast for 2 min

2) Add 1c. Veggie Broth, 1 c. Water  and Rosemary Sprigs

3)Bring To boil then turn down to medium heat and let cook stirring often

4) Add more liquid by the  1/2c.  as it gets absorbed, alternating water and veggie broth, all the meanwhile cooking at a low boil

5) I like my risotto soft so I keep cooking and adding liquid till I get a soft cooked rice. This takes about an hour

6)Once rice is cooked turn off burner -add the cheese, sea salt, and pepper (you can adjust salt and pepper to your liking)

7)Then stir in pomegranate seeds, and olive oil

8) Its ready to serve

A sprig of rosemary is the "branch" basically it is about 3-4 inches long, so just use 3-4inch pieces of your rosemary. Since we discard later, i put mine in an empty tea bag that I use for loose tease at home and just staple the ends together or you can use a muslin bag too.

*this recipe is inspired by a Martha Stuart recipe...