Monday, November 9, 2009

two peas in a pod

I don't know where the time has gone. It feels like just yesterday I was suffering through morning sickness and now here I am getting ready to put my little boy in daycare. It's a bitter sweet feeling. It's sad because I am going to miss spending all day with him, but I'm also a proud mama because I know that this will be a whole new chapter...he is going to love daycare - and I know they are going to love him there.

So, with this new chapter comes a whole new dynamic in our lives. Suddenly, I'm a working mom. I need to balance work with my responsibilities at home. How does everyone do it? I'm going back to work in about a week and I'm already stressing about what time I'll need to get the little guy up and running, how will I manage to make dinner every night, how will I juggle time with my son, how will we make the most of our short weekends, and the list goes on and on. BUT the good news is that I am up for the challenge!

One of the things on my to do list is to get organized about dinners. The last thing I want is to come home after a long day of work and slave in the kitchen, especially knowing that I will only have a small window of time to spend with Lucas. My strategy is to make simple yet healthy meals.  BUT in the meantime, I plan on cooking up a storm this week...sort of a way to relieve all my cooking desires.

Up first, a delicious Parmesan, Parsley, and Pea Risotto...



Ingredients:

  • 8 cups chicken stock
  • 2 onions, peeled and chopped
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • 2 cups Arborio rice
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 1 bunch chopped parsley
  • 1/2 cup grated Grana Padano Parmesan cheese
  • Salt and pepper

Directions:

  1. Heat chicken stock in a saucepan.
  2. In another medium saucepan, sauté the onions with the olive oil over medium high heat until softened.
  3. Add garlic and Arborio rice and stir until the grains are well coated with oil and slightly toasted, about 3 minutes.
  4. Add wine.
  5. Stir until the wine has been absorbed by the rice.
  6. Begin adding the heated stock, one ladle-full at a time, allowing it to be absorbed by the rice, before adding more.
  7. Continue adding stock, stirring frequently until the risotto is tender and creamy.
  8. Season with salt and pepper and add peas, parsley and cheese. Stir well.

This was really good and just a small amount was sufficient. I highly suggest this recipe because although risotto seems challenging, it is quite simple to make with everyday ingredients. Simple, yet elegant.


Welcome back….we hope you’ll join us on this new journey.

6 comments:

Vincci said...

Dina! It's so nice to see you posting again! I hope you, Mony and Lucas are all doing well :)

The Cooking Photographer said...

I remember going through that too. It was happy and sad, but my daughter adored daycare. She is an only child and it helped her socially so much.

It really got me using my crockpot too after I went back to work.

A happy challange and I hope you enjoy the adult world again!

Laura

The Cooking Photographer said...

And the risotto looks fantastic!

Annie Ruok said...

Looks delicious! Can u make this ahead? Freezable?

dina (Lucas' mom) said...

Thanks everyone! We are really gonna try hard to keep up with the blog.
Laura -- everyone says I need a crock pot now....but I have no idea what to make in one!
Jenn -- I wouldn't freeze rice but definitely you could make it on a Sunday and have it for the week. You would just need to thin it out a bit with stock once you reheat it.

ima said...

Welcome back !!!!!!