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| Recipe of the week... ... Green Risotto & Pan Con Tomate |
Ingredients: 30g 3 seed mix, 20g fresh basil leaves, 2
ciabatta rolls, 40g Italian hard cheese, 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine, 1
vegetable stock cube, 160g arborio rice, 1 brown onion, 3 garlic cloves, 10g
fresh parsley leaves, 3 tomatoes, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, olive oil, salt and
pepper
Time taken: 40 minutes max
Serves: 2 super filing, super healthy, super tasty portions
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Hi readers,
Hope this finds you well? And feeling like a funky Friday
chicken, ready to spread your wings wide, fly the coop and strut your way towards
the wonderful weekend? That’s right, as I write, we are once again wearied by
the week and ready for couple of days’ respite. It’s Friday, readers, and I
feel some gentle yoga and soft pyjamas coming on!
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| And red red wine |
This week at work’s been HEAVY for me, sure you know the
kind. Like – the kind of workload that has you messing up basic phrases (How’re
you going? What? Doing! What? Doing what? I mean how are you doing? Um… fine.) and
clueless as to whether there may be milk in the fridge / change for the meter /
repercussions if you buy a one-way ticket to Canada.
Although I did learn to knit, sort of. It took a few nights
of gritty determination to last out the American youtube tutorials. But now I’m
at it without them (thankfully) and in the process of knitting a holey square, proud
as punch. And my cousin had a baby and I got to hold him and he’s smaller than
I’ve ever been. Melting still. He’s a warm, wriggly fellow.
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| Three days' knitting progress |
And yes, readers, we made it to Friday… let’s have high
fives all round. So, how’s your week been? Is it the kind that’s flown by –
blink and you miss it – or are we crawling over the finish line of an epic five
days? Because, either way, without fail I savour that finish line feeling on a
Friday when you bust out of the place and you’re heading towards two days of who
knows what! Unknown wonderfulness.
Last weekend I made it down to London for a reunion with some
fabulous uni friends, with cocktails and much chatter, afternoon tea and champagne,
hugs and catch ups. It all was most lovely. Although the loooong coach journeys
wiped me out, as anticipated, so this weekend I’m planning a much more low-key
affair. But how about you, readers? Big weekend plans? Will you be living it
large and busting a move or two??
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| Take me back |
Though the very thought exhausts me – I wish you well! Go
shake and shimmy what yo mamma gave you, kids. Sing and dance. Stay out late, get
in early. Think not of work, care not for the Catalan people. Get yourself the
chips and sod the high heels, take them off.
Meanwhile, on the topic of food-related thinking, readers,
I’ve been giving this headspace again over the past few days. Following on from
the past few blog posts, in which I’ve been pondering the thought processes behind
emotional eating – as a habit that loops and that perpetuates as a response to
a certain cue, I’m thinking in my next few posts it would be good to look
forward to the ways to overcome an
emotional eating habit loop.
In the re:wellbeing program that I’ve been following
recently, Rachel suggests three possible ways to overcome this loop…
- Address the cues
- Increase wellbeing
- Change the behaviour
If I start today with addressing the cues. By this, I mean
addressing the cues that trigger emotions and cravings. How can you avoid
getting into a situation, or falling into a thought process, which creates
emotions… that then trigger cravings making you want to eat?
If you’ve followed my last few blog posts (or you can catch
up on them now!) then maybe you’ve identified the situations or your thought
patterns, which can prompt an emotional response, triggering a craving to eat,
and keeping you stuck in the emotional eating habit loop – maybe? So, the next
step moving forwards could be to change the cues that start this whole cycle
off – give it a try!
Changing some of the cues could be simple and you could get
rid of them in a single action. For instance, unfollowing accounts on social
media that make you feel bad about yourself (even if they’re health and
wellbeing accounts!). And making your favourite comfort foods harder to access.
Rachel at re:wellbeing recommends you try moving foods away from where it is
that you find yourself eating. You eat in bed? Then – for real – no keeping
treats in your bedside table! Kick them out.
On the other hand, some cues may take longer to change and
require more steps to remove from your life. For instance, thought patterns –
as it’s hard not to fall back into these. You could use a mantra to steer
yourself away from the thought patterns you’d like to shake off – every time
you find yourself thinking these unwanted thoughts you can overcome them by
reminding yourself of a powerful message – although this takes time and
consistent practice.
What do you think are the most important cues that influence
your emotions, and make you want to eat? How could you remove, change or
respond to these? Bear in mind your surroundings, your thoughts and life
experiences, your knowledge and skills, and family and friends. Are there any
barriers that might stop you? If there are, how could you overcome these
barriers? Might there be something that’s keeping you stuck? Might you need
help?
As Rachel points out, if you can't remove a trigger
completely or replace it with something different, then this is still okay. It's
just important to be able to recognise and deal with the situation before it
influences your emotions and behaviour. For example, say you’re going through a
stressful time at work, then take 10 minutes to relax by yourself when you walk
through the door in an evening. This could prevent emotional snacking or
overeating at tea.
As Rachel also makes clear, “It would be overwhelming and impossible to address all of the things
that you have identified above at the same time.” Focus your efforts on
addressing an important cue first, the one which you think has most influence
on your emotional eating, and see if the changes you make are having a positive
impact on your emotions and your behaviour. Maybe you’ll find there’s something
you’ve overlooked, an important factor that means you need to rethink? No
worry! Start afresh if you need to. There’s plenty of time.
Food for thought, readers! One to ponder while crunching
leaves and breathing in crisp fresh air.. on an autumnal walk this weekend,
perhaps? That’s my plan, anyway! It’s beautiful out and about in and around Sheffield
this time of year, with our many trees. AND a big walk call for hearty plateful
of food upon your return SO – without further ado – I give you our recipe of
the week.
This week, readers, I’m sharing with you a Gousto recipe for
Green Risotto & Pan Con Tomate. A
warming bowlful of tasty Italian grub to fill your boots up even after the
trekkiest and hilliest of walks. Here’s the recipe in just 12 simple
steps…
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Recipe: Green
Risotto & Pan Con Tomate
1.
Set some funky tunes playing in your kitchen and
turn them UPUPUP. Gather your ingredients all together on the counter, set the
kettle boiling and heat the oven to 220C. Dissolve the vegetable stock cube in
700ml boiled water.
2.
Heat a big non-stick frying pan over a
medium-high heat, add the 3 seed mix and toast for a minute or so until the
seeds are just starting to brown and pop. Then remove from the pan and set them
aside to cool.
3.
Peel and finely dice the brown onion, and return
the pan to a medium-high heat with either a splash of cooking oil or a knob of
butter. Once the pan is hot, add the onion and cook for 5 minutes until the
onion’s softening but not yet coloured.
4.
Then add the arborio rice to the pan and stir
briefly to coat the rice grains in oil. Add the Shaoxing wine and cook for a
minute or so until this has almost all evaporated from the pan. Next, add a
third of the jug of stock, along with a pinch of pepper.
5.
Keep an eye on the pan and, once this dose of
stock has absorbed, continue to add the stock a little at a time until you’ve
added it all. Keep stirring the contents of the pan every minute or two to
prevent any from sticking to the base of the pan.
6.
Meanwhile, as your risotto cooks, you can be
making the pesto. Begin by peeling and finely chopping 1 clove of garlic. Then
roughly chop the basil and parsley together, including the stalks.
7. Add
the toasted seeds, basil, parsley, oregano, chopped garlic, 3 tablespoons of
olive oil, a splash of water, and a pinch of salt and pepper to a food
processor. Blitz to a coarse paste – this is your pesto.
ChefBeHere Top
Tip: If – like me – you don’t own a food processor then you can either add
everything to a smoothie maker to mix, you can crush it all in a pestle &
mortar, or you can just pop everything in a bowl and try to mash together using
a fork.
8.
Next, slice each ciabatta as you would a loaf of
bread. Lay the slices flat on a baking try and drizzle with olive oil. Carefully
transport the tray into the oven for 5 minutes or so, to toast the bread.
ChefBeHere Top
Tip: If you remember, turn the ciabatta over half way through toasting. You’re
aiming for both sides to be nicely toasted with no burning smell filling the
kitchen.
9.
While your ciabatta slices toast, peel the
remaining 2 garlic cloves and cut them each in half. Slice the tomatoes in half
then grate (using your largest grater) into a bowl.
10. Returning
to your risotto pan, once all the stock has absorbed and your rice is cooked,
then you can stir the pesto through the risotto. Taste and add more salt and
pepper if needed. Once you’re happy, remove from the heat and turn your hob
off.
11. When
your ciabatta slices are nicely toasted, safely remove them from the oven and
turn the oven off. Rub some garlic on each one and spread with grated tomato,
then season with salt and pepper – this is your Pan Con Tomate.
12. Spoon
your risotto evenly between two bowls and grate the Italian hard cheese over
the top to garnish. Serve your risotto with Pan Con Tomate on the side – time
to tuck in to your tasty, warm tea.
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| Check it out! What a wonderful bowlful of food |
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In the words of
Gousto…
“The base for this risotto is a pesto made from 3 seed mix, parsley and
basil. It forms a soothing fragrant rice dish, accompanied by ‘pan con tomate’,
which is a Spanish tapas side and translates to ‘bread with tomato’, just in
case you were wondering. Italian and Spanish…. we think it works, just don’t
tell either!”
And that’s all there is to it, readers! What do you think? Is
this a recipe you’d take on? Because you don’t have to give up too many minutes
of your weekend – this recipe is cookable and eatable in under an hour – and you’ve
only a couple of tricky ingredients to source from a supermarket of the bigger
kind (I’m thinking Shaoxing wine and arborio rice).
So, it’s a doddle really! A fun recipe to keep you occupied and
enjoying your time in the kitchen. And then some super tasty food to enjoy for
your tea after all that hard work – what’s not to like? I always feel fancy
eating a risotto at home and there’s a definite moment of pride spooning it out
of the pan when I’ve taken care to stir, and it’s not cemented to the bottom!
Readers, whether or not your weekend features green risotto,
I do hope you have a splendid time and soak up some of the autumn scenery
outside. And if you try this recipe – lemme know how it goes. Best of luck
cheffing!
Toast safely,
Hayley
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An informative footer
I’d like to note, the above is part of a series of posts that I’m
currently having fun writing, while undertaking a fresh start with food. Food
bloggers can’t admit they got bored with food, you say? Well, I beg to differ!
In August 2017, I made two wonderful decisions; I signed up for Gousto – a food
delivery company who send recipes and ingredients in the post – and I began a
health & wellness program to transform my food habits, with Rachel of
re:Wellbeing. In this blog post, and others like it, I share one of the
wonderful recipe that I’m taking on, and an idea that I’m exploring as part of
this fresh start.
If you would like to find out more about Gousto, please visit https://www.gousto.co.uk/
(I have a sneaky discount code! If you’re new to Gousto, then click
HERE for 50% off your first 2 boxes and I’ll get a discount too for referring
you… so errrrybody wins)
And, if you would like to learn more about re:Wellbeing, then visit https://www.rewellbeing.com/
