It’s officially the first day of spring! I can’t tell you how excited I am to trade in my winter boots and puffy coats for sunglasses, flip flops, and my new hot pink J.Crew chino shorts (more on that later this week).

As soon as the snow started melting and the sun started shining, I began to crave asparagus, spinach, sprouts, and all of the amazing green foods that pop up in the next few months. I’m already sick of my go-to roasted asparagus recipe so I opened up a beautiful cookbook, a gift from my friend Hilary, Simply Organic. The book is divided by season so I checked out the “early spring” section and found this incredibly decadent (but simple and healthy!) risotto recipe. It’s creamy without dairy and flavorful without too many ingredients. White truffle oil is expensive but totally worth it. I bought a teeny tiny bottle for $10 but will use it in small doses for numerous dishes.

Ingredients:
-4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
-2 tblspns olive oil
-4 green onions, chopped
-1 cup brown rice (the original recipe calls for Arborio. I used brown and cooked it for about 30 minutes before adding to this recipe)
-1 large bunch asparagus, cut into 2-inch pieces
-2 tblspns unsalted butter
-1tspn freshly ground black pepper
-1 tblspn truffle oil
-1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:
-Bring broth to a boil in a small saucepan, lower heat and cover, maintain a simmer
-Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat
-Add cooked brown rice and green onions
-Cook for 5 minutes, stirring once or twice
-Begin adding broth, 1/2 cup at a time and cook for 20 minutes, stirring constantly
-Make sure that all broth is absorbed into the rice and risotto becomes creamy
-With the last 1/2 cup of broth, add the asparagus, butter, and black pepper
-Stir in truffle oil and parmesan and serve