Gloriously Green Creamy Vegan Quinoa Risotto
17Piggies! This is my one of my favourite healthy gluten free vegetarian recipes that I created using the amazing Square One Organics range of vegetable purees. Once again proving that baby food is not just for babies. It is also for healthy blender pigs! I don't know about you, but I love vegan quinoa recipes, and I am a big fan of quinoa risotto. It is one of those quick easy allergy free meals the whole family can enjoy, and best of all, nobody will know it is vegan! This quinoa risotto is so creamy and packed full of flavour, even your most skeptical dinner guests won't have a clue.
I had planned on posting this vegan recipe right after my vegan mango coconut panna cotta pudding and vegan chocolate spinach shake, which were also made with the Square One Products. But I mixed up my dates and had to start my fabulous "trough swap" week with the RAWkstar food bloggers from Uncooking 101. Oh, the life of a vegetarian food blogger! So, here it is now. Better late than never.
When I think about easy vegan meals I always go straight to vegan pasta and vegan risotto in the hopes of appealing to the masses. These easy recipes don't take a long time to prepare and have to be amongst the most delicious and satisfying healthy dinners out there. This recipe was inspired by a dish I have eaten many times at my one of my favourite restaurants, Hugo's. For those of you not living in L.A, Hugo's is an institution in the valley, known for it's large delectable menu and extensive vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options. This makes it the perfect restaurant for me! Seeing as I can't zap all of my beloved piggies to L.A to dine with me, I will bring a taste of the Hugo's magic to you! Or at least I will try….
What I love about this quinoa risotto is how surreptitiously jam-packed it is with green vegetables, making it one of the most fantastic healthy dinner recipes for kids! I have served this to a few children now and have received rave reviews. I don't know about you, but any excuse you can find to sneak more green vegetables into your children's meals the better! "Hooray" I say. This is one of those fantastic healthy gluten free recipes, and is also a fantastic option if you are looking for allergy free recipes. This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, egg free, nut free, soy free and sugar free. I am going to give this a go on my niece (who has multiple food allergies) when I head back to Australia later this year to welcome baby number two!!! I am SO excited!
Another wonderful piece of news is the launch of our new web design. I am so thrilled with it, and even more excited to share the new features with you: a "trough swap", "featured pig of the month", news and events blog, Vitamix love letters, s'blended piggy merchandise and piggy giveaway contests every week. All coming soon. There is also an expanded icon search feature which allows you to search for multiple categories at once, making it easier to find the recipes you need depending on your dietary restrictions or preferences. The piggy grunts (comments) section has also improved, where you can now follow threads and reply to specific posts from other piggies. Next year we will launch our forums, iphone-friendly version of the site, and cross platform app. Yes! We are coming up in the piggy world!
I would welcome any feedback you have with regards to this site. When I started this vegetarian recipe blog I wanted the site to be easy and fun for every piggy in the healthy blender world. I would love to hear any of your ideas as to how we can make it even better! I am off now to continue tweaking….more super easy recipes next week. Oink Oink!
Gloriously Green Creamy Vegan Quinoa Risotto
- 3 cups quinoa cooked in 6 cups vegetable broth (I use Massel when I can't make my own)
- 1/4 cup toasted minced dried onion flakes for garnish
- grated zest of two organic lemons
- 1 cup finely chopped continental parsley
- 1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
- a bunch of finely diced chopped asparagus (optional)
For the sunflower green cheese sauce:
- 2 cups raw sunflower seeds soaked for about 2 - 4 hours then drained and rinsed (soaking is optional)
- 3/4 cup filtered water as needed for desired consistency
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 Tbsp minced fresh garlic (about 4 cloves)
- 1 tsp Celtic sea salt or Himalayan salt
- 1 tsp granulated garlic
- 1 tsp granulated onion
- 1/2 cup spinach puree (home made or two 2 ounce packs of Square One organic spinach puree)
- 1/2 cup pea puree (home made or two 2 ounce packs of Square One organic pea puree)
- 1/2 cup broccoli puree (home made or two 2 ounce packs of Square One organic broccoli puree)
- Prepare the quinoa on the stove or in your rice cooker.
- Toast the minced dried onion flakes by stirring them on a low flame in a pan for about 1-2 minutes until just golden.
- Prepare your home made purees (instructions below) or just scoop out the the Square One packs and set aside.
- To prepare the sunflower cheese just place the sunflowers, lemon juice, salt, fresh garlic, dried garlic, dried onion and nutritional yeast and half the water in your food processor.
- Pulse until well combined then turn the machine to create as smooth consistency.
- Now add in the vegetable purees and pulse until well combined. Add in just enough water to get your desired consistency. You don't want it too runny.
- Stir this sauce through the quinoa and then stir through the half of the lemon zest and half the green onions. I like to stir through some diced asparagus.
- Serve topped with green onions, toasted dried onion flakes and a pinch of lemon zest. YUMMO!
**I have tested these recipes using home made purees.
Here's how:
To make home made organic broccoli puree: Steam 3 cups of raw chopped broccoli and then puree in your food processor with 2 1/2 Tbsp filtered water. This yields 1 cup of puree.
To make home made organic spinach puree: Lightly steam 8 cups baby spinach leaves until just wilted and puree in the food processor. There is no need to add water. This yields 1 cup puree.
To make home made organic pea puree: Boil 2 cups green peas, drain, and then puree in your food processor with 3 Tbsp filtered water to yield 1 cup of pea puree.
Piggy Cooking Tips
Avoid sticky garlic
When chopping garlic into fine pieces, it can leave you in a sticky situation. The garlic sticks to your knife, your fingers, and the board. To avoid this – simply rub a tiny drop of olive oil onto the blade of your knife and a few drops onto the garlic cloves. The oil coats the garlic and stops it from sticking.
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Piggy Grunts!
Add Your GruntI am making this tonight for dinner with potato and bean pancake on the side. This looks so yummy!
I love this method of making Quinoa something special. I made the veggie purees as instructed, but I had to modify the recipe a bit. I didn’t use nutritional yeast or onions. Yet, the quinoa came out divine. This one is a winner!
This recipe makes a very big batch, so plan on having leftovers or invite lots of your friends to share in the green love!
I am so glad you liked this with your changes. YUMMO!
Delicious, how can something so healthy be so good. Thanks Blendergirl!
SO glad you are all enjoying this risotto.
I LOVE this recipe. It is so full of goodness and flavour. Oink Oink :)
So delightful. I made the quinoa and purees the night before then did the rest when ready to eat. SO delightful. Very fresh and delightful.
Thank YOU!!
GREAT idea. Then it is so much quicker the next day. So glad you enjoyed this.
This is JAM PACKED full of hidden goodness.
Yay! Risotto! Can’t can’t wait to try it! Thanks Tess