Anniversary Risotto

I whipped up this recipe to celebrate our big five months. We have a new love for risotto. Love it's creamy texture, due to the high starch content in the Italian Arborio rice. I added plenty of veggies to make this a meal in itself. You can substitute any veggies, I often use asparagus, and proscuitto on top is also really tasty. I always play around with what I add, but the basic format is always the same.

Anniversary Risotto

3 cups reduced sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup broccoli florets, cut small,
or 12 spears of asparagus cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup red bell pepper, diced
3/4 cup mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 onion
1/2 toasted pine nuts
3/4 cup Arborio rice
3/4 cup champagne or dry white wine
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbs. butter
Extra virgin olive oil

In a medium saucepan, bring stock to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Blanch the broccoli or asparagus in the broth for about 2 minutes. Remove vegetable and set aside, keeping broth at a low simmer. In another medium saucepan, melt the butter and add the onion and red pepper and cook a minute or so. Then add the mushrooms and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat in the butter. Toast the rice, stirring constantly, for about 3 more minutes. Add the champagne or wine and simmer, stirring, until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add 1/2 cup of the simmering broth, and stir until liquid is almost completely absorbed, around 2 minutes. Continue cooking the rice with this method- adding broth 1/2 cup at a time and cook and stir til it is almost completely absorbed before adding the next 1/2 cup. This should result in a creamy texture and the rice should be tender to the bite, around 20 minutes total. Remove from the heat and add the broccoli, asparagus, or whatever vegetable you have prepared. Stir in Parmesan, salt, and pepper. Garnish with a crostini, the toasted pine nuts, and a few shavings of fresh Parmesan or Pecorino Romano.

* If you agree with me and wonder why the crostini looks bizarre in this photo... We are very into this Balsamic Garlic Olive Oil combo.

Thai Soup

We are always looking for new, exciting, and flavorful vegetarian or 'pescetarian' dishes. This one I adapted from Vegetarian Times Magazine- a great place for such ideas.

Tom Kha Tofu

4 cups vegetable broth
1 3/4 14-oz. can light coconut milk
2 stalks lemongrass, smashed and cut into
3-inch pieces, or zest of 1 lemon
1 2-inch piece fresh ginger, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups broccoli florets
3/4 cups green cabbage, thinly sliced
1 medium zucchini, cut into discs (1 cup)
3/4 crimini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 1/2 Tbs brown sugar
2 Tbs tamari (or low sodium soy sauce)
1 Tbs mirin (optional)
6 fresh kaffir lime leaves or zest of 1 lime
8 oz. baked tofu, cubed
1 pkg. pad thai noodles

Bring vegetable broth and coconut milk to a boil in saucepan over medium heat. Add lemongrass and ginger, reduce heat to medium, and simmer 10 minutes. Strain broth and remove lemongrass and ginger with slotted spoon, or strain through mesh strainer into bowl. Discard lemongrass and ginger. Add vegetables, tamari, brown sugar, mirin, and lime to broth. Bring to simmer and cook 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a separate pan, cook pad thai noodles according to package directions. Remove lime leaves and add tofu. Cook 3-4 minutes more, until tofu is heated through. Add noodles and serve.

I used low-sodium broth, which I usually use to control the amount of salt in my dishes. However, we ended up adding a lot of salt to season the soup afterwards. It was slightly bland, we thought, without the salt. So, I recommend salting and peppering to taste.

Gotta Love Carney Food

*special thanks to Ali Ito for the help with photography