I managed to pull off a tasty dinner last night after all: veggie risotto.
I started with a mirepoix (carrots, celery, and garlic sweating in butter):
Next I added the rice and sauteed until it was slightly translucent and began to smell toasty. Eggplant joined the party:
(Check out those eggplants! I love the farmer’s market.) I also added a liberal 1/2 cup of white wine and a bit of olive oil. WB kept me company in the kitchen for the next 20 minutes of stirring and adding veggie broth 1/2 cup at a time. Just before the risotto was done I added some peas, the yellow tomatoes (photographed with the eggplant above, in their cute paper bag from the farmer’s market), about an ounce of manchego, and some salt and pepper. This wasn’t just any salt, of course:
World, please meet my truffle salt. It was an excellent addition to the risotto.
The finished product:
So creamy! The eggplant mostly melted into a creamy sauce-like texture.
The cocktail, courtesy of WB, was some cava mixed with Odwalla pomegranate-lime juice.
The whole thing only took about 30 minutes from start to finish, which is about as long as it takes us to choose a restaurant. Plus, I got to use up tons of produce so that the fridge would be ready for this weekend’s trip to the farmer’s market.
This morning I was still uninspired – breakfast didn’t sound appealing, but I didn’t want to eat cheese and crackers again. I killed some time by taking the rest of the produce in the fridge:
Arugula and lemon (and pecans, though I didn’t use that entire huge bag)…
…into the food processor (the first “green machine” of the day) with some manchego, two bunches of basil that were close to their final days, and a drizzle of olive oil…
Ta-da! Arugula-pecan pesto. I can’t wait to eat this with some quinoa pasta, or maybe even on a pizza…or both! I ended up with about 1.5 cups of pesto.
I also prepped my kale for my green monsters. I always prep my kale ahead of time because it stays fresh longer and I’m much more likely to make my smoothies in the morning when the ingredients are ready to go. Everything takes me longer when I’m still the “walking dead” – coordination is not my forté before 5:45 a.m.
Step 1: Wash and trim the kale, then pat it dry on a clean kitchen towel:
Step 2: Roll up the towel and stick it in the crisper!
Adorable, isn’t it? Another time-saver for my smoothies is to freeze my bananas ahead of time.
I peel them and freeze them in a single layer on a baking sheet, then bag ‘em and refreeze. Fewer stumbly moments in the morning and fewer fruit flies (another inevitable Southern treat, it seems, especially on organic bananas).
After all that prep, I was finally inspired to make myself a green monster for breakfast:
In this beautiful concoction:
- 2 leaves of kale
- 1 frozen banana
- 4 frozen cherries
- 2 frozen strawberries
- almond milk
- a splash of coffee
It was quite a green morning with this smoothie and the pesto whirling away. I ended up with 24 ounces of smoothie! That was too much for one of us….
Not sure what the afternoon holds other than folding some laundry – hopefully something fun and exciting! And probably some yoga.