Fennel Risotto and Salisbury Seitan

If you are starting to crave lighter foods, like I am, this is a nice one to make. I had to use up the fennel I bought from the farmers market.

Fennel Risotto

2 T. olive oil (more may be needed)
1 medium fennel, thinly sliced
1/2 C. onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 C. risotto
1/3 C. white wine or marsala
4 C. vegetable broth, hot ( may need more)
S & P to taste

Heat a bit of olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat and add fennel to saute until somewhat soft. Once done take out the fennel and put in a seperate bowl and set aside. Next add more oil to pan and saute onions and garlic until soft. You may have to add more oil to pan if dry and add risotto, stir until light brown. Once lightly browned add the wine and stir until hardly any liquid is left. Next start adding the warmed vegetable broth 1/2 C. at a time, stir, and once the liquid is almost soaked into the risotto is when you add the next 1/2 c. of broth. It's possible you made need more liquid. Keep the process up until there is no more broth. Once the risotto is done you can stir in the fennel. Season to taste.
If you want you can add a Tablespoon of Earth Balance just to give it a more creamier texture. You can also add a dab of Tofutti cream cheese or any soy cream cheese.

The Salisbury Seitan recipe is from The Real Food Daily cookbook. For this dish I also use their seitan recipe. It has a softer, spongier texture that is perfect for this. The one thing I do change with the Salisbury recipe is that the sauce asks for 1/2 c. oil, too much oil for me! I only use like 1 Tablespoon of oil and add more water and a bit more soy to thin out. The sauce just soaks into this seitan. This is a good recipe for people who are transitioning into vegetarianism/veganism. My husband loves this! The seitan looks like it is dry but it's not, believe me. Although I usually have extra sauce in the pan, I halved the sauce recipe that why there isn't any extra to spoon on top. You can also make gravy to put on this or just make more sauce and heat it in a pan. Serve with a nice green salad and you are good to go!