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This is another dish that I made for this week’s Menu Plan.  Success! It was inspired by the Rice Diet Cookbook (again). I love this book.

I’m known for rarely eating rice.  I don’t like white rice (never have), and I don’t usually feel like brown rice is “worth it” because there are so many other things that are more exciting.  But this risotto is very exciting, and I loved it! The mushroom flavor penetrates the rice and every bite is savory and delicious.  Usually risottos are heavy and have lots of cream and dairy, but this risotto is vegan.  I hope you try it!

Maggie’s Mushroom “Risotto” with Brown Rice

Ingredients

• 1 cup brown rice (dry measurement)
• 2=3 teaspoons sesame oil
• 3-4 scallions, chopped
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 1.5 – 2 cups of brown mushrooms, quartered (more or less is fine – I love mushrooms so I would put in more next time)
• 1.5 teaspoons spices – garlic powder, chili powder, oregano, or other spice mix (I used something called “American Midwest Seasoning” – salt, garlic, pepper, onion, chili pepper)
• 2-3 cups of water
• nutritional yeast, for topping (a few teaspoons per person) (optional)
• salt & pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Cook the rice and set aside.  You can do this in advance.  1 cup of dry rice will expand to about 2.5 -3 cups when it’s cooked, so if you want to use precooked rice and you didn’t measure the dry amount, try to use about 3 cups of cooked rice.
2. Heat the oil in a large wok or saute pan over high heat.  Saute the scallions and onions for 2-3 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and cook for another 4-5 minutes.
3. Reduce heat to medium and add the rice.  Cook for about a minute, then add a cup of water and the spices.  Continue to stir, letting the water be absorbed by the rice.  Keep adding water, about 1/2 cup at a time, until the rice is nice and puffy.  This should take 15-20 minutes longer.
4. Serve, topped with nutritional yeast (optional) and salt and pepper, to taste.

Enjoy!  What’s cool (and SIMPLE, and FRUGAL) about this recipe is that you use pre-cooked rice.  You could use leftovers, or you could set the rice cooker up in the morning and come home to easily throw together the meal after work.  Speaking of leftovers, this dish only gets better with time.  The mushroom flavor intensifies!  I had this for lunch the day after I made it for dinner and I was so satisfied.

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