I feel at my best when I cut dairy out of my diet. Upon eating dairy I get extremely phlegmy will start to cough and get congested. I used to ignore my body and eat it anyway. But more often than not I now look to alternatives. It simply has reached a point of not worth it.

This is a super delicious recipe and takes under an hour to make. I hope you like it. It is dairy free and uses roasted carrots, tahini and nutritional yeast to create the creaminess that you would traditionally get from cheese.

Here is what you will need for Ingredients

• 1 cup of risotto rice
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 lbs of carrots ( about 5 or 6 large or 6 or 8 small ) cut in sticks
• a healthy handful of fresh thyme or lemon thyme
• 3 cups of water**
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tbsp of tahini
• salt and pepper to taste
• piri piri or hot pepper ( such as cayenne ) to taste

Preheat oven to 425 F. Prep and take out ALL of your ingredients. Risotto does not wait for you 🙂 so it is important to get everything ready first. Measure out: Risotto. Wine. Water. Take out of your cupboard: tahini, nutritional yeast, salt pepper and cayenne. You will also need a food processor or blender. Get that out as well. Chop your carrots into evenly shaped match sticks. Place in a bowl. Add 1 TBSP of olive oil. And a nice chopped handful of fresh thyme. I had some lemon thyme on hand so I used that. Spread on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Sprinkle with salt / pepper. place in oven. Cook for 20 min, remove 1/2 to make a sauce for your Risotto. Place remaining carrots in oven for 5 or 10 more minutes until fully roasted. Remove.

To Make The Carrot Sauce for Risotto:

• Add 1/2 or roasted carrots to blender or food processor.
• And 1 cup of your water, slowly until fully blended.
• Careful not to add the water too fast. You could have an orange mess all over your kitchen 🙂
• Set aside for easy access when making risotto.

To Make the Risotto:

• In a dutch oven pan , over just over medium heat
• Add the remaining TBSP of olive oil
• Add in garlic, cook for 30 seconds
• Add onions, cook stirring until translucent (about 1 min )
• Add in risotto, cook stirring quickly so it does not stick
• Continue until risotto is nicely coated with onions and garlic. (About 1/2 min)
• Add wine and continue quickly stirring until Wine is fully absorbed.
• Add one cup of water
• Continue stirring until water is absorbed completely
• Add carrot sauce
• Once mixed in / absorbed fully Slowly add as much additional remaining water as needed
• Careful to not add to much too quickly or add more than is needed
• Once risotto reaches your desired doneness remove from heat
• If a creamier consistency is desired you may want to add a bit more water
• Finish by stirring in other half of your chopped roasted carrots. tahini, nutritional yeast. add salt pepper and hot pepper to taste
• Top with fresh Thyme. Would also be great with: fresh Cherry tomatoes, avocado slices, chopped pistachios or a lime squeeze