Lemon Asparagus Buckwheat & Quinoa Risotto

By Mom_s

Ingredients

• 2 tsp coconut oil
• 1/2 cup dry, hulled buckwheat groats
• 1/2 cup dry quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups asparagus, cut into 2″ lengths
• 1 cup veggie stock
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/3 cup dry white wine (optional)
• 1-2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, roughly chopped
• Cream Sauce
• 1/3 cup macadamia nuts
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds, soaked 2-4 hours
• 2/3 cup pure water
• 1 tsp fine ground sea salt
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Preparation

Step 1

Soak the buckwheat and quinoa overnight rinse and drain well—you want the seeds as dry as possible.

Wash your asparagus. Bend the stalks until they snap naturally towards the end of the stalk.Repeat until all stalks are freshly trimmed and slice into 2″ lengths. Set aside.

Remove leaves from thyme and give them a rough chop to release essence. Prepare lemon zest with zester or knife. If you are doing it by hand, simply slice off the rind, trying to shave off only the yellow—the white pith is bitter. Chop up well.

Warm broth in a saucepan over medium/low heat. You just want it warm, don’t let it boil.

In your stock pot (where the magic happens)……warm coconut oil over medium heat and cook onion for 5 minutes (below, top left). Stir constantly. Add zest, 3 tbsp of lemon juice, buckwheat and quinoa and cook 2 more minutes, stirring constantly (below, top right). Add wine and cook until liquid is nearly absorbed (below, bottom left), stirring constantly. You can just skip on to the next step if you are going sans wine. Add broth to the stock pot, stir well and cover (below, bottom right).

Once covered, reduce heat to medium and cook for 7 minutes. Toss in asparagus, cover again and cook 3 more minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed.

While cooking, place all cream sauce ingredients in the blender and mix on high until ultra smooth.

After the 3-minute mark with the asparagus addition, stir in cream sauce and thyme and cook 3 more minutes. Then you’re done.

Sauce thickens as it cools so serve warm. If you need to extend the time, add a few tablespoons of broth and stir.