The Weather is Frightful

On my way home from work last night, the radio informed me that temperatures in Albany this weekend are going to be freeze-your-face-off cold with a wind chill of 15 to 20 below zero. Read that again: below zero.

Fun.

I hate the cold. It makes me feel hopeless. How do I cure these chilly and depressing feelings? With a hot dinner that sticks to your ribs, of course.

I cooked up a hearty risotto for my rumbling tummy and the roommates (who are currently on break from school and can therefore spend their weekdays sitting on the couch watching South Park while I brave the cold to go to work all day. I only mention this because I am jealous and bitter, not because it has any relevancy to risotto). Risotto is indescribable. I could eat buckets of it every day for the rest of my life. I’ve decided it’s my desert island food.

I started off with a little olive oil and a lot of butter melting together in a pan. Don’t they look happy?

Then I added half a chopped onion and let it soften.

Next one head of chopped radicchio and about a cup of sliced mushrooms made their way into the pan.

These cooked all together until the veggies were soft. A cup and a half of Arborio rice was next.

The original recipe called for 1/2 cup of white wine, but we drank it all didn’t have any so I added a splash of rice wine vinegar for a little zing.

If you read my risotto recipes from before or if you’ve made risotto yourself, you know the drill: add 1-2 ladles of broth to the rice and stir so that it does not stick to the pan.

When the liquid is absorbed, add another ladle. Continue this until the rice is fully cooked, which should not take more than 10-15 minutes.

Add salt, pepper, and a sprinkle (or five) of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Do not expect any leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

For some veggie power, we threw together a couple of salads. Mine had romaine, cucumbers, mushrooms, and olives.

I topped it off with homemade vinaigrette. I didn’t measure the ingredients, but it had juice from one clementine, olive oil, a little dry mustard, pepper, and balsamic vinegar. I keep my dressings in an old agave nectar bottle which makes it easy to pour. Clever, huh?

Want to see this post in simple recipe form? Check out the link for Radicchio Mushroom Risotto on my Recipe page. You can also find tomato basil risotto and pumpkin risotto.