Risotto

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+ This

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Risotto is probably a dish we have 1x a month in our home. If we are entertaining, we make this. If we need a last minute side dish, we make this. If we are hungry, we make this.

Don't let the rumors fool you... it is an easy meal to cook and although time consuming stirring over the stove, completely worth it.

Here's the recipe:

4-6 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup water

2 cups diced onion

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 tsp sugar

8 oz of sweet Italian sausage

1/8 cup chopped shallots

1 cup Arborio rice

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 cup arugula leaves or to taste

1/2-1 cup fresh parmesan-reggiano

-Heat chicken stock and water in a large saucepan and keep warm

-Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat and add sugar and onions to pan. Saute until golden brown and very soft and then set aside in a small bowl.

-Remove sausage from the casings and cook until browned.

-Add shallots to the pan of sausage and saute about 2 minutes. Add rice and saute 30 seconds. Add white wine and stir until absorbed into rice. Add warm broth 1/2 cup at a time and stir until each portion is absorbed before adding the next. This takes about 20-30 minutes until rice is tender and creamy. Remove from the heat and stir in the arugula, caramalized onions and parmesan. Voila!

Variations:

• Vegetarian Risotto: Replace chicken stock with vegetable stock and omit sausage.
• Mushroom Risotto: Saute mushrooms (combo of cremini, shitake, porcini, etc) in place of sausage with 2 tbsp butter until soft. Remove from pan and set aside and proceed with above recipe. Add mushrooms at the end with parmesan.
  

You can thank me now.

muffin muffin, who's got the muffin? {Recipe of the week}

Have I got a muffin recipe for you!

It's light, good for you, and doesn't taste like it. At all. Once you start becoming a "gotta lose the fat while saving the taste and nutrition of the muffin" connoisseur like me, you realize that certain ingredients or techniques allow you to do just that.

For instance, reducing the butter and adding yogurt allows you to retain fluffiness while reducing fat and increasing nutrition. Adding things in a certain sequence creates a better texture and composition. High quality ingredients increase flavor and stamina. You know, things like that.

Want some? Here goes...

Light Blueberry Muffins (adapted from America's Test Kitchen)

Ingredients:

3 cups whole wheat pastry flour plus 1 tablespoon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon raw sugar

4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, softened

2 eggs

2 teaspoons juice from 1 lemon

1-2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups low-fat plain yogurt

2 cups fresh blueberries

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Sift the 3 cups of flour,baking powder,baking soda, salt, and 1/4 cup of the sugar together and into a medium bowl and set aside.

Beat the rest of the 3/4 cup of sugar with the butter until creamy and fluffy (a few minutes). Add the eggs in while mixing on low one at a time, and then add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla.

Add the flour mixture and yogurt alternately (1/3 of each mixture at a time) while mixer is still on low speed.

Mix the additional 1 tablespoon of flour into the blueberries to coate, and then lightly fold into the batter.

Scoop into muffin cups and sprinkle the 1 tablespoon of raw sugar throughout the tops of all the muffins.

Bake 25-30 minutes.

Yum!

Hints and tricks:

• To make these into a lemon-blueberry muffin, change the plain yogurt to lemon. It's delish.
• Fact, these are not the high fat super light and angel fluffy muffins that you might be used to. They have substance (the whole wheat flour), so if you DO want those kind, use all purpose and/or cake flour.
• I use really small blueberries (my favorites are the wild boreal blueberries from Trador Joes). I think it distributes the flavor better and makes eat bite more simple and less intense. The ones you pick yourself are always the best, though!
• Using yogurt when baking is a HUGE way to substitute the fatty ingredients (like oil), not to mention it helps create a fluffy texture. Most of my recipes have yogurt and/or applesauce for that very reason.
• Since you're going lighter on this muffin, give yourself permission to use that real butter. It's worth it. Then go running. Like, far.