Easy Vegan Chicken and Kale Risotto

Risotto has never been so easy or fast! Just a couple stirrings over 20 minutes in a dutch oven on the stovetop and you’re pretty much done. I love the addition of vegan grilled chicken strips and fresh garden kale for protein. Vegan cheese and butter, and nutritional yeast lend the exact creaminess of dairy-based risotto so you won’t be sacrificing anything at all, but I still keep this risotto healthy!

I think risotto may be the ultimate fall comfort food.

This could not be more delicious and it is essentially one pot, super quick (about 30 minutes), and Scout’s honor you only need to stir it twice. Seriously! Did I mention there’s only 2 tbsp of vegan butter? Healthy to boot!

As soon as I grab the camera, Oliver goes running around looking for his. Sometimes it’s in the study in the china cabinet, and sometimes it’s on his bookshelf. He’s never sure which at first and to see him slightly panicked, scurrying around, not wanting to miss out on the food photography is so cute. This time he literally couldn’t wait to sample the subject of our shoot. Taking bite after bite he exclaimed, “Yum! This is tasty!” Then proceeded to fill himself up, dropping much of the risotto off the fork accidentally, and ultimately didn’t end up sitting down to eat dinner at the table because he had already eaten. LOL. Such is life with a wee one.

In the photo down below you’ll see he’s wearing his Let It Snow shirt. We actually got snow nearby and should have some at our house in just a couple weeks I reckon! Bring on the skis and sleds. We can’t wait!

Were you wondering how we did keeping our grocery bill under $150 (in Alaska!!) for the month of September? Umm…. we freaking nailed it guys! We used up stuff we had in the kitchen along with buying really cheap eats: store-brand canned beans and frozen fruit and veg that was sale, and bulk lentils and oats, etc. I am ashamed to admit that almost half of that ($60) was literally Silk unsweetened soy milk. #lifewithatoddlertho #theboylovessoymilk #notsponsered #wishweweretho

Easy Vegan Chicken and Kale Risotto

By Katie Henry - Produce On Parade

Risotto has never been so easy or fast! Just a couple stirrings over 20 minutes in a dutch oven on the stovetop and you’re pretty much done. I love the addition of vegan grilled chicken strips and fresh garden kale for protein. Vegan cheese and butter, and nutritional yeast lend the exact creaminess of dairy-based risotto so you won’t be sacrificing anything at all, but I still keep this risotto healthy!

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp vegan butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped fine
• 1 medium garlic clove, minced
• 1 tsp table salt
• dash of white pepper (black pepper will do)
• 2 cups Arborio rice, dry
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 5 cups very hot vegetable broth
• 4-6 oz (about half of one 9 oz package) of vegan grilled chicken strips
• ½ cup shredded vegan mozzarella
• 1 cup of chopped fresh kale, tightly packed
• 1 ½ tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley leaves

Instructions

1. In a large dutch oven, heat the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper; saute an additional minute. Add the rice and cook about 3 minutes; stirring frequently, until the grains are translucent around their edges.
2. Stir in the wine and keep stirring until it’s all evaporated, about 2 minutes. Stir in the vegetable broth; reduce to a simmer, cover and allow to cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring twice during cooking until the rice is al dente and most of the liquid is gone.
3. While the rice cooks, cook the vegan chicken according to package. Chop into bite size pieces on the bais when cool enough and set aside.
4. When the rice is done, stir in the cheese and once melted stir in the remaining ingredients including the vegan chicken. Add enough hot water or broth to get the desired consistency of the risotto before serving; salt and pepper to taste and serve hot.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 00:30
Total time: 00:35
Yield: 4-6 servings

Save Money!

I buy my arborito rice here, at less than half price. It’s only $0.16 per oz versus $0.34 per oz at our local grocery store!

I buy my nutritional yeast here. It’s only $9.55 per lb versus $13.99 per lb in the bulk bin (!) at our local grocery store!

I used to buy the store brand liquid vegetable broth in the carton but now I buy a German powdered broth here for seven times less!!

It’s only $0.10 per 1 cup versus almost $0.70 per 1 cup at our local grocery store.

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Vegan Spinach Fettuccine Alfredo

This is an easy and simple vegan spinach fettuccine alfredo made with a deliciously creamy cashew sauce. It’s a healthy and light alternative to it’s very rich counterparts made with cheese and heavy cream, but is still just as tasty!

Todd and I have been on a super frugal grocery budget challenge this month. Like… under $150! I had no idea how it would go but we are 19 days into a total of 30 so far for September and we are looking good. We’ve spent $95 out of the $150 I budgeted for us.

I see two potential obstacles to our challenge however. The first is that we of course live in Alaska where food is priced a lot higher than most other places in the states. We are almost on par with Hawaii (though they get all that wonderful fresh fruit which is not the case up here). If you’ve ever bought groceries there; you may have had sticker shock! The second is that Oliver drinks his weight in soy milk. And we can’t buy off-brand soy milks because they all have sugar added. Silk is the only brand I have found that offers an unsweetened version and it comes at a premium for the brand-name. We are trying to get him to drink less milk and eat more. It’s going… so so.

I think the problem is that he has inherited my gene for being constantly thirsty and Todd’s gene for not caring about food whatsoever and also somehow being a picky eater. The middle bit of that ven diagram of those two proclivities is, yep, milk. So, our soy milk budget is kind of eating up the vast majority of our grocery budget. Alas, I’ve been finding ways to make it work.

This is a somewhat wallet-friendly vegan dish. Cashews are pricey but we still try to get a variety of nuts in our diet and I use less than 1/2 cup in this recipe; that’s less than one serving of nuts per serving of this meal. Everything else is dirt cheap. We buy whole-grain pasta which normally costs slightly more than regular white pasta but we get the store brand so it ends up being about the same: $1.20 per box. If you so choose you can use olive oil (or no fat at all) to replace the butter, and bottled lemon juice is always less expensive than fresh lemons. There are lots of ways to save and we are challenging ourselves to rediscover them all!

What are your frugal food tips? Would you like to see more budget friendly recipes and be updated on how we do with our $150 per month grocery budget? What are your favorite cheap meals?

Let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear from you.

Vegan Spinach Fettuccine Alfredo

By Katie Henry - Produce On Parade

This is an easy and simple vegan spinach fettuccine alfredo made with a deliciously creamy cashew sauce. It’s a healthy and light alternative to it’s very rich counterparts made with cheese and heavy cream, but is still just as tasty! Adapted from The Vegan 8.

Ingredients

• 8 oz dry fettuccine
• ½ tbsp vegan butter
• ½ large white onion, diced
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp onion powder
• 1 ½ cups vegetable broth, divided
• Scant ½ cup raw cashews
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp salt
• Dash of ground white pepper (black pepper will do)
• Dash of freshly ground nutmeg
• 1 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the pasta. Cook according to package until al dente. Reserve ½ cup of the cooking water; drain pasta and return it to the pot; set aside.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat and stir in the onion. Add 1 cup of the broth and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in the garlic and onion powder. Reduce over medium-high to high heat until all the broth has dissipated, about 10 minutes; stirring occasionally.
3. To a blender add the remaining ¼ cup broth through the nutmeg. Add the onion mixture when done cooking and blend on high for about 1-2 minutes until very smooth and creamy.
4. Pour the sauce over the pasta, add the spinach and pasta water and stir until well combined. It will look like a lot of sauce, but let the pasta rest for a couple minutes; this will allow the noodles to soak up the sauce. Serve hot.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 00:15
Total time: 00:20
Yield: 3 servings

Save Money!

I’ve been using this vegetable broth and I really like it. I get it here. It’s way more economical than buying fresh broth and it also has less impact on the environment.

I pay $0.57 per one cup of broth that I usually buy from our local grocery store, Fred Meyer but one cup of this broth equals only $0.10!

More Creamy Pasta Recipes

Creamy Lemon Cashew Pasta with Kale

Creamy Fettuccine Miso Alfredo

Creamy Vegan Mac and Cheese

Avocado-Cilantro Cream Angel Hair

Thai Curry Turmeric Rice Noodles w/ Grilled Tofu

Rice noodles and sauteed veggies simmer in a deliciously creamy, coconut Thai curry turmeric sauce topped with grilled tofu. A hint of sweetness and spice, this is a super fast and easy dish that’s perfect for a weeknight.

I’ve employed the best wee assistant photographer ever. Just look how cute! I mean, come on… he even did double duty as a little sous chef, helping me pick the snow peas from the garden for this dish.

We’ve been doing lots of very quick meals lately that are really cheap and super easy. Those are always the best ones though, right? The dishes that most folks make, most of the time. Sometimes food bloggers can get carried away in the beauty of the unique and the original (guilty) but honestly, the beauty of a tasty dish that can be done in 30 minutes flat after a busy day at work can be just as beautiful. Especially when you have a little one constantly pulling on your arm to please, '“Come play trains!” (he’s obsessed with these) or “Come play the wrestle game!” (the latter is just him jumping up and down on us on the bed…), because those playful moments with the munchkins are the truly beautiful moments you don’t want to miss.

A word to the wise: be careful when eating this one. Turmeric will stain the shizz out of anything and everything. It’s incredible for inflammation though! I ensure Todd gets a lot of it in his diet because of his rheumatoid arthritis. I put it in everything. Be sure to add a dash of pepper when consuming turmeric because it super boosts the absorption rate.

Thai Curry Turmeric Rice Noodles w/ Grilled Tofu

By Katie Henry - Produce On Parade

Rice noodles and sauteed veggies simmer in a deliciously creamy, coconut Thai curry turmeric sauce topped with grilled tofu. A hint of sweetness and spice, this is a super fast and easy dish that’s perfect for a weeknight.

Ingredients

• 6 oz rice noodles (I like the wide ones)
• 1 14 oz package of firm tofu, drained and cut into four rectangles
• ½ tbsp coconut oil (or olive oil)
• ½ medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, smashed and thinly sliced
• 1 ½ tbsp Thai green curry paste
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• Dash of white pepper (black will work)
• 1 medium carrot, julienned
• 2 medium celery stalks, cut on the bias
• 1 15 oz can full-fat coconut milk
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• ½ tbsp brown sugar
• Small handful of snow pea pods, whole
• Sprinkling of sesame seeds, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil for the noodles. Cook until al dente, drain and set aside.
2. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat and coat with a nonstick cooking spray if needed. Grill each tofu piece for 5-8 minutes on each side, until grill marks appear. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. While the noodles and tofu cook, heat the coconut oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic; saute 2 minutes. Add the curry paste, ginger, turmeric, and pepper; saute 2 minutes. Add the carrot and celery; saute 2 minutes.
4. Stir in the coconut milk, soy sauce, and brown sugar; reduce heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes. When the noodles are done stir them into the pot with the pea pods, remove from heat and let rest for additional 3 minutes so the noodles can soak up some of the sauce.
5. Serve the noodles hot, topped with grilled tofu. Drizzle some sauce over the tofu and top with sesame seeds.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 00:15
Total time: 00:25
Yield: 3 servings

Save Money!

I buy my nutritional yeast here. It’s only $9.55 per lb versus $13.99 per lb in the bulk bin (!) at our local grocery store!

I buy my canned coconut milk here, at half price almost. It’s only $2.12 per can versus $3.99 per can at our local grocery store!

More Curry and Thai Recipes

Delicata Squash and Broccoli Coconut Curry

Healthy Tofu Curry

Effortless Thai Pasta

Thai Coconut Curry with Kelp Noodles