Don't make me "Beet" the Risotto Outta Ya!.....Vegan Beet Risotto

Gorgeous, vibrant and show stopping!  You start out by making a traditional risotto and end up with a bright, nutty, creamy, earthy mouth-gasm.

Like all recipes I do, a lot of love goes into them.  But, similar to most Italian recipes, you really must commit and bring love and finesse.  It really shows when you make a risotto properly.  So lets just jump into this non-traditional bad boy!

I'm going to do this a bit differently than most posts.  First, list ingredients and then go into the process, along with including some tips and interesting facts along the way.  Hope this is fun and informative!

Ingredients
1 large beet peeled (or 2 small beets)
2 c arborio rice (or whatever rice you prefer)
1/2 c dry white wine
2 c vegetable water
2 c water
1 medium onion diced
2 garlic cloves chopped
1/4 c nutritional yeast
1 tbsp evoo
s+p

First off, a few tips when dealing with beets:
a.) wear gloves (if you don't have gloves, cover hands in plastic bags and work that way)

b.) No gloves? No plastic bags?  Rub cooking oil on hands, so as not to dye your hands red.

c.) Try not to handle beets on wood cutting board.  Wood is very porous and will absorb the red juice.  Use a plastic one instead.

d.) No plastic board?  Have a stain on your wooden cutting board?  Use Grandma's trick: rub salt and soda water on stain and scrub!!!

So, there are a few ways to treat your beet when making this risotto.
1.)  use raw grated beets
2.) use cooked, pureed beets
3.) combine the two.

I chose the ladder option.  But, the choice is yours.


So here are the directions:
Start off with preheating your oven to 375.  Peel beet ( mine was the size of a softball, so I used one; if medium sized use 2).  Decide which route you would like to go....if you want raw....grate the beets.  If you would like cooked beets, oven bake for one hr. and puree.

Once you have either your grated beets, pureed beets or the combo, set aside and start the risotto.

In one pot, heat vegetable broth with the 2 c water and simmer.  In another large saute pan, heat evoo  and saute onion and garlic until translucent.  Add in rice and toast for roughly 3 minutes.  Remember to continuously stir throughout this entire process!  Slowly add in white wine, stir until almost evaporated.  Then laddle in broth/water, 1/2 c-1 c at a time.  Stir until that gets absorbed and repeat until all broth is gone.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add in beets until completely covered red and then mix in nutritional yeast.

Seems difficult, but it's really not.  And, it's all worth it!  Top with vegan blue cheese and serve with herbacious garlic bread for a fantastic meal!

Vegan Beet Risotto