Cheesy Mexican Risotto with Green Chiles

So the lovely people at Chicago Soy Dairy sent me some "Teese" vegan soy cheese to experiment with and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.

First, I'm not a fan of vegan cheese products. Second, I am not a big fan of packaged and processed items unless I find I REALLY love them, or find they are possibly a bit necessary (like margarine or coconut milk) And third, I thought I had tried Teese some time ago and put it on the reject list in my brain.

Well, I'm glad to report I was wrong on all accounts. The Chicago Soy Dairy people actually make a fairly good vegan cheese product, (one I apparently had NOT tried before, because I really didn't recognize the little tube-like packages that came in the mail).

Well, I'm not exactly sure where my mind was, because I opted for the "Nacho Cheese Sauce" product, something I wouldn't have eaten even back in my "real" cheese days. What to do, what to do? I called upon the creative brain-power and vegan cooking skills of my friend Shaun, and we put our heads together and came up with a lovely (and very UN-Nacho-like) Risotto. I am now SO glad I chose this variety!

Yes, I realize risotto isn't typically "Mexican" but vegan risotto is a specialty of Shaun's, and we had a plethora of "Mexican" type ingredients to complement the "Nacho Cheese" - so away we went. The end result was creamy, flavorful and had me creeping back to the 'fridge in the middle of the night to scarf down the leftovers. Perfect with grilled portabellos and roasted asparagus, prepare to be amazed.

Cheesy Mexican Risotto with Green Chiles

About 3 cups vegetable broth
3 teaspoons margarine, divided
1/3 cup diced onions
1 cup small diced red bell pepper
1 cup roasted New Mexico green chiles, well drained (We used Bueno Foods frozen New Mexico green chiles, thawed and drained in a sieve, adding any liquid to the above broth. If you have access to fresh fire-roasted green chiles, by all means use them!)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup Arborio rice
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/2 a package Teese Nacho Cheese Sauce
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper

Heat the stock in a saucepan and keep hot over low heat.
Heat 1 teaspoon margarine over medium heat in a small skillet or frypan. Add the onion and cook until it turns translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the red peppers and cook until tender crisp. Set aside.
In a separate pot, melt two teaspoons margarine, add rice, stir and turn the heat to low. Add the white wine and cook until the wine has reduced by half.
Add about 1 cup of the hot stock to the rice mixture, and stir slowly until the stock is absorbed. This is the time-consuming part of making risotto.
Continue to add the stock 1 cup at a time, stirring slowly, letting the rice absorb the stock before adding more. After 15 minutes, add in the red peppers, onion and drained green chiles. Continue to cook.
The risotto is cooked when it is creamy on the outside and slightly firm (al dente) in the center, about 20 to 25 minutes, maybe longer.
Stir in the Teese Nacho Cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. If the risotto is too thick, add a little more stock until it becomes creamy.
Divide the risotto into serving dishes and sprinkle with the chopped cilantro.

DEEEEELISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holiday Rice With Fruit and Nuts

This has been a staple on my Thanksgiving table for over 20 years. It was my late Mother-in-law's favorite and she requested I bring it every year. She'll be missed this Thanksgiving.

Maple-Sage Holiday Rice with Fruit and Nuts

1/2 cup uncooked wild rice
1 1/2 cups vegetarian "un-chicken" broth
1 cup apple juice or orange juice
3/4 cup uncooked jasmine rice (white or brown)
2 Tablespoons Earth Balance
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pistachios, pine-nuts, pecans or hazelnuts

1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup dried cranberries or dried cherries
2 Tb. minced fresh sage (please use fresh if at ALL possible!!)
1 tsp. onion powder
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 tsp. all natural maple flavoring
1 Tb. brown sugar

*optional - 2 links Field Roast Apple-Sage Vegetarian Sausage, crumbled and browned

Rinse wild rice in fine strainer under cold running water. Drain. Combine wild rice, veg-chicken broth and apple juice in 2-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Reduce heat to low; simmer, covered, about 45 minutes or until rice is tender. Drain.

Meanwhile, cook jasmine rice with as much water as needed, in whatever manner works for you. (Sorry that's vague, the only way I can cook rice is in my rice cooker).

Melt Earth Balance in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion; cook and stir 10 - 12 minutes until tender and browned. Stir in nuts and sage. Cook and stir 2 minutes.

Add rice mixtures to skillet. Add remaining ingredients; cook and stir over medium heat about 2 minutes or until heated through, taste and adjust seasonings if needed.

This can be kept warm in casserole dish in the oven for an hour or so. The dried fruit will get a bit softer and less "chewy", so I usually add it right before serving, but that's a personal preference.

Middle Eastern Rice Pilaf

Dinner the other night seemed to have a Mediterranean twist without any particular planning ahead. First, I'd found several amazing artichokes at the market and simply trimmed and steamed them. If you don't know how to trim artichokes, there are many tutorials online, but usually they trim off WAY more leaves than we prefer. Basically, mine looks like THIS before I put 'em in the pot...

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Well, artichokes take a while to steam, and I had a starving 9-year-old "Sprout" bouncing around the kitchen anticipating her favorite veggie, so I decided to distract her by having her help make a rice pilaf-type thingy to go with.

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Since Sprout was assisting me in the kitchen, the rice ended up with several of her OTHER favorites, garbanzos and pistachios. And it turned out GREAT! The combination was such an accidental hit with my kids, I made it for a potluck yesterday and again, it disappeared quickly.

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The secret to our rice is a spice blend called za'atar. Za'atar is generally prepared using ground dried thyme, oregano, marjoram, or some combination thereof, mixed with toasted sesame seeds and sometimes, salt. I prefer the version that also has sumac, and is more tangy and reddish in color - TOTALLY delicious stuff. I discovered it several years ago and use it often in roasted veggies, potatoes and hummus. You can find it at Middle Eastern markets and specialty grocery stores. (You CAN sub some thyme, oregano, sesame seeds and a squeeze of lemon juice if you really have to).

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Middle Eastern Rice with Za'atar and Garbanzos

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1 cup long grain white rice

1/2 cup vermicelli crumbled into 1 inch long pieces (or angel hair pasta, or orzo)

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1 1/2 cups chicken-style, or vegetable broth

1 cup cooked garbanzo beans

1/2 cup water

2 tsp za'atar Mediterranean seasoning blend

1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup chopped pistachios

Put vermicelli and oil in a deep, covered pan suitable for cooking rice.

Heat until the vermicelli is golden brown. (Just like you were making "Rice-A-Roni" if you've ever done that...)

Add rice, broth, garbanzos and water and mix well. Bring to a boil and then lower heat and simmer for 25 minutes until rice is cooked, checking once or so to make sure it's not sticking. Turn heat off and let sit a few minutes. Stir the pilaf, add seasonings and serve garnished with pistachios.

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My 'Sprout' loved breaking up the angel-hair pasta into small bits (we did this over the sink, because the stuff flies EVERYwhere..) as well as opening the can of garbanzos, draining them and dumping into the rice. She also chopped the nuts and shook in the spices.