Maya Angelou on Taking Your Meals From Your Garden

Red Wine Mushroom Risotto with shrimp, recipe below

Poet Maya Angelou was born in 1928 in St. Louis but she spent the majority of her childhood in Stamps, Arkansas where her grandmother and uncle raised her and her brother in and around the family business, the Wm. Johnson General Merchandise Store. “Throughout the year” says Angelou, “we took our meals from . . . the little garden that lay cousin-close to the Store. . . . ” Her family raised the usually suspects in a southern garden including, green beans, collards, cabbage, tomatoes, beets, berries, “and every fruit grown in Arkansas.” Here’s a link that tells you the produce that is in season in your area and therefore less expensive http://www.sustainabletable.org/shop/eatseasonal/. One of the definitions of soul food found in my book Hog and Hominy http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-14638-8/hog-and-hominy/excerptis, is soul food is a fabulous-tasting dish made from simple, inexpensive ingredients. In my metro area mushrooms are in season so here is a recipe that I would recommend to those who also have mushrooms in season where you live.

Red Wine Mushroom Risotto Recipe

Ingredients
1 package Arborio rice, about 1 1/4 cups
1 large sweet onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced finely
1 cup dry red wine
About 12 leaves fresh basil
1 small package local mushrooms in season
1/2 cup grated vegan or regular Parmesan or Romano cheese
1/2 lb fresh spinach
2 tablespoons vegan butter
Olive oil
Kosher salt
About 6 cups vegetable stock, simmering
Peeled shrimp (optional)

Method
Bring stock to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. Preheat a large skillet. Drizzle with olive oil. Add onions and a little kosher salt. Add Arborio rice, and more olive oil. You will need to add quite a bit of oil, enough so that every bit of the rice is wet with oil. Sauté the rice until the edges are clear. Add garlic. Add the red wine, and stir until the rice absorbs it. Then add enough stock to cover the rice. Turn the heat to low. Stir the rice frequently, to prevent sticking and develop creaminess. Add the mushrooms and stock. Continue to add a little stock at a time, as the rice absorbs it, and until the rice is tender. When the rice is tender, and has absorbed the liquid, add shrimp. When the shrimp turn pink, add fresh spinach. Stir until floppy. Add butter and cheese. Stir to combine and melt cheese. Finish the dish by stirring in the fresh basil at the very end.