Italian al dente

Well it doesn't get much more italian than risotto. For those with a risotto-less palate, this is kind of like the child of a marriage between pasta and rice. Delicioso. You can either find a box of parmesan risotto mix on the rice aisle or make your own using arborio rice. This is a great dish to "hide" vegetables in. Dice up your favorite veggies to make this a greener dish.

Ingredients:

4 cups of chicken broth or stock
4 TBSP of butter
3 TBSP olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1.5 cups of arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
pinch of pepper
1/2 cup parmesan
Vegetables of your choosing: shallots, zucchini, squash
Directions:

1. Heat broth over medium heat in a saucepan.
2. In another saucepan heat the olive oil Add the vegetables to this (onion, garlic, and whatever else you want to throw in), let them cook until they look tender. Then add the rice and cook for 3-4 minutes.
3. Add the wine to the rice and cook until absorbed.
4. Now add a ladle full of the hot broth at a time to the rice and stir. Keep doing this until the mixture feels about the consistency of heavy cream.
5. Remove from heat and add butter, parmesan, and herbs al dente

Simple Stir Fry

What to do with a zucchini, bell peppers, and onion you say? Stir fry!
These ingredients were sitting in my kitchen, teasing me with their quickly approaching expiration date. This dish is a great way to incorporate colorful veggies without feeling like you are chomping on raw produce. You can make this with any vegetables but this is what I had on hand. I took one medium sized zucchini, a red bell pepper, a green bell pepper, a small onion, and went to work. Dice the vegetables and put them in a skillet over medium heat with 1 TBSP of canola oil. If you don't have this handy then olive oil will work, it's harder to heat though unless you use extra virgin. Stir the contents with a spatula, season with salt, pepper, lemon pepper, and whatever seasonings you fancy. I added 1-2 Tablespoon of soy sauce. You could use teriyaki if you are not a fan. I continued to stir these for about ten minutes. I added grilled chicken to this. It made for a very fresh, light, and colorful meal. You could serve over rice, pasta, or tortillas.

I will be trying this on Hudson tonight, I will let you know how it goes......

Absence

I am such a flake for making a blog and then taking a hiatus! Sorry for all of those people who are on the edge of their seats waiting for my next post. (that was sarcasm) Nursing school has taken over life for the past two weeks. We are currently in the grand finale of our first year that has fondly been named "boot camp." It is comprised of three days in a row of 12 hour shifts, and then a conference on the 4th day. This hasn't been all that bad, and is truly the work schedule of a floor nurse, however, when I arrive home in the evenings, the thought of opening my computer, or cooking for that matter does not even cross my mind. There was one point this week where Hudson got home and I was lying on the floor of our living room, in my pjs, in a blanket, with Bear on top of me..... and he made me some left over hamburger. It was a sad scene. I couldn't even heat up the hamburger.