Two Risottos

In an attempt to manage our food budget and make room for fresh foods in our cupboards and freezers, I am still looking for recipes to use items that I already have on hand.  It is amazing how many meals you can find in your house without making a trip to the store for special items.  So here is a little creativity and an adaptation of a recipe from a magazine!

A month or so back, I decided that I wanted to create a hearty one-pot meal.  I had a bag of barley pearls in the cupboard.  I tossed about half of the bag into some water and soaked in the frige overnight.  The rest of this is from memory.....I am trying to be more diligent about taking notes as I play in the kitchen so that I can share the recipe and make the same thing again later!

Mushroom-Barley Risotto

1 stick butter

1 medium onion, chopped

12 oz sliced mushrooms

1 cup white wine

soaked barley

water

In a skillet, melt butter and add onion and mushrooms with stirring.  Add wine and saute for about five minutes.  Add barley and one cup water.  Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally and adding water as needed.  Continue until barley is tender and onions and mushrooms are cooked, about 45 minutes.

I am positive I took pictures of the process and the final product.  Can't find them now!  I will post pics next time I make this risotto.  This dish was really hardy and rich.  Great for a fall or winter evening.  I served it with mashed sweet potatoes that were left over from another meal.  A nice combo!  This dish reheated very nicely and was just as good the second day.



I had a bag of pre-cooked shrimp in the freezer that were showing signs of freezer burn.  I had fresh snow peas from the garden.  This recipe looked so tempting!  Shrimp and Spring Vegetable Risotto

I didn't have any asparagus but I did have a green-turning-orange bell pepper that I substituted.  This is a great recipe to add veggies to, increasing the nutritional value.  I enjoyed the hot meal even on a 90+ degree evening.  Fresh, this was very creamy but reheated for lunch today, it lacked that creaminess.  The arborio rice had absorbed much of the excess liquid so adding more water or broth when reheating may help to enhance the textures and traits of a typical risotto.

Blueberries

I headed out early this morning to pick blueberries.  No, we haven't added blueberry bushes to our "farm".....yet!  I picked at a local farm with a huge patch.  About an hour and a half and $15.89 later, I had 9lbs of berries!

Gotta love this color!

I headed home to escape the sun and heat.  I froze three cookie trays full of berries for later use in baked goods and smoothies.  My afternoon project was a batch of jam.  I love the pinging sounds as the jars seal.  Such a great way to preserve and enjoy food :)

While picking, I decided we need to plant a few bushes in our yard.  I would love to be able to pick fresh each morning for cereal or other treats.  Justin and I had talked about it last year but never figured out where we wanted to put the blueberries.  Now that we have a designated "orchard" in the yard, I am thinking that would be a great place to consider.

First Summer Harvest

Lots of gardening to be done over the last week!  We planted some brussel sprouts and jalepeno plants that we had started from seeds in the house.  We were able to get some more seeds in the ground: corn, green beans, and cabbage, for late season harvesting.  Cross your fingers with me that we will not be fighting the tomato rot this year.  Last year I had black tomatoes, this year I want red!  My husband fertilized with extra calcium and we have several baby green Romas starting.  I hope to be canning them soon!

Last year, my favorite treat was the early snow peas.  They are so tasty fresh from the garden, steamed for dinner, or frozen and added to stir fry over the winter.  This season, our snow peas have not thrived as they did last year but I was still able to pick about 4 quarts the other day.  I should have another good harvest today or tomorrow so that I can pack the freezer with fresh veggies.

We have some beautiful lettuce that has been the base for salads this week.  I hope it lasts through this heat so we can eat up those greens for the next few weeks!  One of our favorite salad meals is Greek Chicken.  We marinate chicken in Greek dressing and then grill it.  Enjoy it with fresh lettuce, tomatoes, olives, onions, and feta cheese.  Delicious! 



More Bermuda Pics

I got distracted.....

I had two Trash the Kitchen days this week where I cooked up a storm before heading to work.  A few mornings were spent in the garden weeding, planting some late crops, and tending to what is already growing!  With that and working full time at the lab, I haven't gotten back to my picture posting.  Here are some more of the highlights from Bermuda :)

Life on the Celebrity Summit

Views of Bermuda