Brown rice takes a long time to cook, but it results in a much more satisfying dish than white arborio rice commonly used for risotto. Brown rice isn’t as starchy as arborio rice at first, but it will get creamy after about an hour’s cooking. I’ve heard about brown arborio rice as well, but I don’t think it’s available in Helsinki. So, I didn’t feel like a heretic when I poured most of the cooking broth in the pan right at the beginning and covered the pan – I just let the brown rice reach the starchy stage this way, and once it was almost done, I started stirring in order to produce a nice and creamy risotto.

My Risotto Ingredients (serves 2-3):

• 2 and 1/2 dl short grain brown rice (soaked for 2 hours)
• 2 medium beets, peeled and chopped
• 1 small parsley root, scrubbed and chopped
• 3 spring onions, sliced
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 dl flat leaf parsley (lightly packed), chopped

The Cooking Broth:

• 5 dl mild vegetable stock
• 1/2 dl mirin (or white wine)
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• (additional water/stock to add later)

The Lemony Tofu:

• 200 g firm tofu
• juice of 1 small lemon
• 1 large clove of garlic
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

First, I placed the rice in a small bowl and covered it with water, and let it soak for about 2 hours. Then I mashed the tofu with a fork and combined it with the lemon juice, garlic, sugar and salt. I placed it in the fridge to marinate while I was cooking the risotto.

Then I made the cooking broth by combining the hot veggie stock with mirin and soy sauce.

I heated the olive oil in a frying pan and fried the spring onions until soft, then added the root parsley and the beet cubes and fried for a few more minutes. I rinseed the rice and fried it for a few minutes as well, and then started adding the liquid to the pan.

Pretty soon I realized that I’d have to hang around the stove for a very long time if I was to make the risotto correctly, and it was lunch time after all. So I decided to make things easier and added all the broth in the pan at once, lowered the heat to a light simmer, covered the pan, and set the kitchen alarm to 30 minutes.

After the first half an hour had elapsed I checked the risotto every now and then, stirring each time, until it started to thicken. I needed to add some more water toward the end of the cooking, maybe 3-4 dl altogether – it all depends on how runny you want your risotto. During the last 15 minutes I started stirring the risotto continuously while adding a little bit of liquid to get the consistency I wanted, and it was ready after about an hour and a half of total cooking time.

When the rice was soft and creamy, I stirred in about two thirds of the lemony tofu and the chopped parsley, and saved the rest for garnishing purposes. I also crackled some black pepper over my lunch portion.

Here’s my scrubbed parsley root, alongside some of its leaves.

We had the leftovers for lunch on the next day, and the flavors had blended a little more than I’d have liked. So in case of leftovers I recommend storing the lemony tofu and the risotto in separate containers, and only combining them right before serving!

The ingredients:

• 4 sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 dl sunflower seeds
• 1 teaspoon harissa
• 1 ½ tablespoons lime juice
• 5 tablespoons water
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon frozen parsley

First, the sunflower seeds need to be toasted, which is the easiest thing in the world; we just heated them in a dry frying pan, and toasted them, stirring with a ladle every once in a while, until they had browned lightly. When the sunflower seeds were ready, we placed them on a plate to cool down a bit.

Then we mixed everything up in our electric grinder, until the spread got lighter in color and was very smooth, which took maybe about 3 to 4 minutes or so. We adjusted the amount of water while mixing, adding it half a tablespoon at a time, until the spread had a creamy and easily spreadable consistency.

Here’s what I used:

• 2 dl cooked black eyed peas
• 2 dl red cabbage, thinly sliced
• 2-3 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried dill (or 1 tablespoon fresh)
• 3 tablespoons frozen parsley
• 1 big garlic clove, pressed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

I mixed everything in bowl, and then refrigerated the salad for an hour or so to let the tastes develop.

I also drew a tutorial on how to cut cucumbers in triangular shapes.

Fava beans have a distinctive taste, nutty and strong. That’s why I didn’t mess up the recipe with too many spices. I added a bit too much cooking liquid to the puree, and it ended up too soupy, so I had to add a can of chick peas. They didn’t affect the taste too much, but using only fava beans would result in a creamier consistence.

• 1 small onion
• 3oo g dried split fava beans
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 dl olive oil
• 1 dl frozen parsley
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• some cooking liquid for the consistence
• 1 (400 g) can of chick peas

I soaked the beans overnight, and then cooked them in plenty of water. In the cooking water, I added one sliced onion, two sliced garlic cloves, some salt, and a few teaspoons of olive oil. Then I cooked the beans until they were mushy, for about one hour.

Now, I pureed the beans in some cooking liquid, and as it became clear that the dip resembled a soup more than a puree, I had to add a can of chick peas to make it firmer. To prevent this procedure, I would omit adding cooking liquid at this point, and instead mash the beans in the olive oil and lemon juice required in the recipe. Then, I would add some cooking liquid as needed. It is always possible to add liquid in a dish, but removing it is considerably trickier.

I seasoned the dip to my taste, refrigerated it for a few hours, and served with some crackers and freshly baked bread. The photo above was actually taken the next morning, when we had this for breakfast on some Finnish sour rye bread.

What I used:

• 1,5 whole wheat bulgur (medium coarse)
• 5 cm piece of a slim leek, only the white part
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 dl olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teapoon salt
• 1/2 cucumber
• 1 red bell pepper
• 3 teaspoons dried mint
• 1/2 dl raisins, minced
• 1 dl fresh parsley, chopped
• freshly ground black pepper

I rinsed the bulgur thoroughly in a shifter, until the rinsing water remained clear. Then I chopped the leek finely, and cut the cucumber and red bell pepper in small cubes. Now, I just mixed everything up in a bowl, and stored in an airtight container in the fridge overnight. Next day, I adjusted the taste, added a little more lemon juice, and served the tabbouleh in a bowl lined with lettuce.

This is what we used:

Mashed potatoes:

• 10 potatoes

• some vegetable margarine

• 3-4 dl plain soy milk

• salt, white pepper

For the tofu:

• 500 g firm tofu

• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke (bought at Behnford’s in Helsinki)

• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Also needed:

• 1 red bell pepper

• a bunch of spring onions

Sauce:

• 2 dl oat cream

• 1 dl plain soy milk

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke

• 2 teaspoons dried dill

• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh parsley

• salt and white pepper to taste

First, I put the oven on 225 degrees celsius. I peeled and sliced the potatoes, and cooked them until soft. While I was preparing the tofu, Heikki mashed the potatoes with margarine and soy milk, and seasoned them with salt and white pepper.

I sliced the tofu less than 1 cm thick, wrapped the slices in kitchen roll, and pressed gently to remove excess liquid. Then I mixed the lemon juice with the liquid smoke, and brushed this on both sides of the tofu slices. Finally, I sprinkled the slices with some salt and some freshly ground black pepper, and let them marinate for a while.

Then I cubed the red bell pepper and sliced the spring onions, and sautéed them in a spoonful of olive oil until a little softened. I removed the veggies, and prepared the sauce in the same pan.

For the sauce, I heated the oat cream and soy milk until they started to bubble, added lemon, dried dill, and liquid smoke, and let this cook on low heat for a few minutes. (We have an electric stove, so I actually turned it off at this point.) Then I removed the sauce from heat and added the rest of the seasonings.

Now, I greased a round baking dish with some vegetable margarine, and Heikki smoothed the mashed potatoes in the dish. The potato should cover the sides of the dish a little like a pie crust. Then we placed the tofu slices on top of the potato, spread the spring onions and bell pepper cubes on top of the tofu, and poured the sauce on top of it all. Then we put the dish in the oven for half an hour, until the potatoes had gotten a little brown and the sauce had thickened.

This recipe makes enough for four people, or you can do as we did and have it for both lunch and dinner, in which case there’s just enough for two!