Nava’s Thanksgiving Risotto: Recipe Review

It's that time of year when my Mom & begin frantically testing veg-friendly Thanksgiving recipes! Thanks to the brilliant spreads in both VegNews & Vegetarian Times we have a lot of inspiration to draw from. Yet, as we are both admitted obsessive cookbook collectors, we have a lot to pull from there as well. We thought we were getting a head start a few weeks ago when we whipped up this lovely “Baked Thanksgiving Risotto” but time has a way of getting away from you! With Thanksgiving in a brief 2 weeks, we need to get cooking & settle our menu.

This glorious risotto comes from Nava Altas’ Vegan Holiday Kitchen, which is full of wonderful vegan recipes for every occasion. There are some scrumptious recipes in the Thanksgiving chapter, but the risotto really called out to us.

Nava’s comforting risotto is given a festive seasonal spin with the “Three Sisters” of the natural harvest - corn, squash, & beans. We chose butternut as our featured squash, however, she also recommends that you may use delicata or golden acorn. We followed the directions to the letter & our end result was a perfectly creamy & decadent dish. While a baked risotto does take a bit of patience & care, it needs not nearly as much TLC as a stove-top version.

To accompany our risotto, we created this festive fall salad with arugula, red pear, pistachios & a maple-dijon vinaigrette. The combination of flavors - the juicy pear, with the peppery arugula, & sweet & zesty vinaigrette - was perfection.

The two dishes combined were the essence of warm fall flavors & gorgeous color. Either, or both would be a welcome addition to a vegan-friendly holiday menu!