Mushroom Tri-Colour Lentil ‘Risotto’

Risotto is traditionally an Italian rice dish cooked in broth and wine to a cream consistency. I think I’ve only had risotto once, but it was delicious. The flavours of the wine and broth in the rice pair really well together.

Of course, you might be thinking how you could possibly make risotto out of lentils, but I did! Aaaand, it’s a more low-carb option compared to the traditional risotto, as well as an added protein benefit. Oh, and there’s no gluten! Talk about clean eating.

I had been thinking of making this  ever since my sister told me about making risotto with alternative ingredients. If you may or may not have noticed, I recently gained membership into the Food Bloggers of Canada, and saw an ad for a lentil recipe challenge by Canadian Lentils. I saw this as the perfect opportunity to cook up this recipe for the challenge! I thought I’d submit an entry that was a main dish, but I must say, there are some creative people out there making desserts out of lentils!

I definitely wanted to showcase the lentils in this by using three different colours of lentils. And everyone loves mushrooms, so I threw those in there. The result? An amaaaaazingly healthy, gluten-free, low-carb risotto packed with protein. Did I mention that this recipe is also vegan? Well, now I did.

Enough of me talking already… let’s get to it!

Ingredients
Makes about 6 servings

• 1 small onion, diced
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
• a couple sprigs of thyme (~1 tbsp of leaves)
• 2 bay leaves
• 10-12 white mushrooms, sliced
• 2.5 tbsp oil (I used a combination of avocado and olive oil)
• 2/3 cups red lentils
• 2/3 cups green lentils
• 2/3 cups brown or black lentils
• 1 cup white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
• 2 cups of vegetable broth (low sodium)
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley, for garnish
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp of vegan butter (or regular for non-vegans)

Optional add-ins

• parmesan cheese (for non-vegans)

———

Using a pot on medium-high heat, add the oil, along with the mushrooms, onions, garlic, thyme, and bay leaves. Sautee these for about 3-4 minutes until onions become translucent and the mushrooms soften, stirring constantly. Water from the mushrooms will come out, so let most of the water evaporate.

Add the lentils and stir to coat with the mixture that has been sautéing. Lower the heat to medium, and add the wine, stirring until the wine has begun to be absorbed by the lentils.

At this point, add the broth about 1/2 cups at a time, stirring constantly to prevent the lentils from burning.  Let most of the lentils soak up the broth before adding more each time. After about 15-20 minutes, the lentils should have absorbed most of the liquid and have become tender, cooked to al dente.

Remove the bay leaves, and finish off with vegan butter. Garnish with the parsley. For non-vegans, you can add parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Notes

• For vegans: make sure the brand of wine you use was prepared vegan! It’s possible some companies may use animal products when processing.
• If you want to make it extra creamy, you can add a splash of non-dairy milk, but I don’t think it needs to!

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