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| Recipe of the week... ... Hello Fresh Dairy Free Risotto |
Ingredients:
10g fresh sage, 200g butternut squash, 1 teaspoon vegetable stock powder, 1
onion, 1 garlic clove, 20g hazelnuts, 1tsp Italian herbs, 175g Arborio rice, 1 tablespoon
white wine vinegar, 125g fresh spinach, 1 lemon, 40g rocket, salt and pepper,
oil (or Frylight if you’re on Slimming World – like me!)
Serves:
2 decent portions
Time
taken: 30 mins or so
Dietary:
Vegan (and just 3 syns on Slimming World, if you use the Frylight instead of oil)
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Hi
readers,
And
happy Saturday!
Welcome
to the weekend… I’d like to say an especially warm hello to anyone who went
back to work this week after Christmas break. You’ve got the first day back in
the office out of the way – and you’re powering on!! That’s a big victory in my
books so BIG well done to you.
Whether
you’re happily picking up those projects and emails you left before Christmas
and settling into your working life for 2019. It’s comforting to get a normal
routine back up and running! So… sink into it, find your feet again. Now all
the festive fuss has died down, you can rediscover all the parts of your
everyday that you most enjoy.
Or,
if there’s a new year new you in store. If you’re joining a gym and filling up
on salad, cutting out alcohol and going vegan maybe, firing off CVs and putting
your house up for sale, booking the holiday of a lifetime and planning a
proposal, or planning to grow your family in 2019 perhaps?
These
are exciting times! Embrace them, enjoy them. Be excited about it all, you’re
allowed to be! Shout about it from the rooftops. Take photos to help you
remember this time in years to come. Readers, if you’re kick starting your way
into 2019 with a fresh start of some kind, I’m wishing you the best of luck
with your new venture. You can do it!!
--
- Food
for thought -
This
week, readers, I have a few cultural tit bits to recommend for you. I hope
these might brighten your new year! Over the past week or two, I’ve been…
Listening
To some tracks which were listed either as the
highlights of 2018 or to look out for in 2019
This
last week, Ive been enjoying ‘Khruangbin – Maria También’, ‘Unknown Mortal
Orchestra – Hunnybee’, and ‘King Princess – Pussy Is God’. These tracks all make
for decent background music while I’m getting stuck back into boring everyday
chores… like laundry!! And ‘Jax Jones – Play ft. Years & Years’ is my fave
song to run to right now… so feel good!
Watching
E.T.
There
are so few films that I can watch again and again, and not be bored. ‘The Vow’
is one, with Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams, I don’t know why this rom com
beats all others for me. It’s a mystery. And ‘Chicken Run’ I’ll endlessly watch
– because it has to be one of the best films ever made, right? Then ‘E.T.’ came
on this New Year’s Day and we sat, in our terrible hungover state, happily
watching. There’s something about that little alien.
Reading
A
Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult
And
I’m determined to finish this weekend! I’ve had this book on the go since
attending a Jodi Picoult book talk in Autumn, and it’s been my mission to
finish it over Christmas break. Running a little behind with that, but I’m nearing
the end of the book and really enjoying it. The story follows a shooting in an
abortion centre in America, and it’s written in reverse chronologically so we
begin with the attack and then work backwards. I’d recommend!
Enjoying
Slimming
World
I’m
sure I never thought I’d write that I’m enjoying Slimming World! But it’s true.
I’ve signed up this January, readers, in the hope of shedding some weight ahead
of a summer holiday we have booked for June. Fingers crossed, please! The first
meeting this week was a little scary, but I’m excited to give it a try and hope
I can use this blog to dish out recipe inspiration for any slimmers out there.
Surely, we can eat well and slim at the same time. SURELY?!
Wondering
Why
are we here? Why do we get up every day? Why do we go on?
Yes,
it’s that time of year again readers. Looking ahead with another 365 days to
come I’m sure I’m not the only one grappling with an existential crisis on
their hands. What is a year? What do we celebrate them? What are we
celebrating? Why do we look back and look forward? Where is it that we are now?
What is this planet? Who am I? … And so on. Usually resolved with a cup of tea,
an animal to stroke, and some time on a yoga mat, I find.
 |
| @northernletterboxsociety @angusmcbeagle @katarzyna.zet @mumshatfactory @elliefoden |
--
-
Feeding a friend -
So,
time for the food! YES. My recipe this week, readers, is one I cooked along
with the Mr last night. We enjoyed a sober Friday night in, just the two of us
playing scrabble and watching shit TV, without a drop of wine in sight. And it
was enjoyable, readers. It was. It’s a bit of an adjustment, I won’t lie, after
about two months straight with a boozy beverage most days. But we’re cutting it
out and having fewer crazy times for a little while. At least, that’s the plan.
So,
what was on the menu last night? Well. This week’s recipe, readers, is one for a
Dairy Free Risotto with Butternut, Sage,
Caramelised Onion and Hazelnuts, and this comes from a Hello Fresh box which we’ve been gifted from the Mr’s family. It
feels like such treat for us to have all our ingredients boxed and ready to go –
this certainly makes it easier to prepare a proper meal, when the stress of a
supermarket is taken out of the equation.
Readers,
whether you have your ingredients delivered by a stork, a bolt of lightning, or
a supermarket guy wearing a fleece, here’s the recipe for you in just eleven
simple steps…
--
- Dairy
Free Risotto -
Ingredients:
10g fresh sage, 200g butternut squash, 1 teaspoon vegetable stock powder, 1
onion, 1 garlic clove, 20g hazelnuts, 1tsp Italian herbs, 175g Arborio rice, 1 tablespoon
white wine vinegar, 125g fresh spinach, 1 lemon, 40g rocket, salt and pepper,
oil (or Frylight if you’re on Slimming World – like me!)
1. Set
some calming, wavy music playing, and pour yourself and tall cool drink. Clear
your work surfaces and wipe down, then gather together all the ingredients.
Take a big stretch! Maybe put your phone on flight mode for half an hour, no
interruptions?
2. Heat
your oven to 200°C. Pick the sage leaves from their stalks and finely chop
(discard the stalks). Pop the butternut squash on a lined baking tray and drizzle
on a splash of oil (or squirt with Frylight). Season with salt and pepper and
sprinkle on half the sage.
3. Use
your hands to rub the flavours all over the squash. Roast on the top shelf of
your oven until soft and golden, which should take around 20 minutes. Turn
halfway through cooking.
4. Fill a
large saucepan with 750ml water and pop onto a medium heat to slowly come to
the boil. Stir in and dissolve the stock powder. Meanwhile, halve, peel and
thinly slice the onion. Peel and grate the garlic (or use a garlic press).
Roughly chop the hazelnuts.
5. Heat a
splash of oil (or some squirts of Frylight) in another large saucepan on a
medium-high heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir and cook
until the onion is soft and caramelised, which should take 5 or so minutes.
6. Stir
in the Italian style herbs and garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Pour in the
rice and stir together. Cook and stir for 1 minute so the rice is coated in the
garlicky oil. Add the white wine vinegar and allow it to evaporate.
7. Add a
ladleful of the stock and stir. Once the rice has absorbed the stock, add
another ladleful and repeat. Continue adding ladlefuls of stock, stirring
regularly until it has all been absorbed by the rice. This should take 20-25
mins. Make sure to let the rice absorb each ladleful of stock before adding the
next.
8. When
the squash is ready, remove from your oven and transfer to a bowl. Use a fork
to mash it to a rough purée. Add to the risotto as soon as it’s ready and keep
cooking and stirring until all of the stock has been used.
ChefBeHere Top
Tip: When you remove your squash from the oven, don’t turn your oven off
straight away. Once you begin squashing with a fork, you’ll likely find that
either your squash purées perfectly, or it isn’t cooked enough and won’t squash
at all! If that’s the case, pop back in the oven to cook for another five
minutes.
9. The
risotto is done when the rice is ‘al dente’ – cooked through but with a bit of
firmness left. Time for a taste test! Once your rise tastes al dente, stir the
baby spinach in a handful at a time until wilted, then add the remaining sage.
10. Warm a
couple of deep bowls in the oven (now switched off). Pop the rocket in a large bowl
and drizzle on a splash of olive oil (or squirt with Frylight!). Halve the
lemon and add a squeeze of the juice. Toss and get ready to serve your dinner.
11. Add a
squeeze of the remaining lemon juice to your risotto. Stir through and then
remove from the heat (remember to turn your hob off). Spoon the risotto into your
warmed bowls and top with the rocket. Drizzle with a sprinkling of hazelnuts.
Enjoy!
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| A good sized bowlful, to tuck in to! |
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- Recipe
round up -
And,
that’s all there is to it! What do you reckon, readers, would you take this
recipe on? How does it compare, in your mind, to the likes of a regular risotto
with dairy inside? Would you be open minded (and bellied) to trying out a
risotto vegan-style? I’d love to know your thoughts on this!
For
any Slimming World readers out there, I had been concerned that this Hello Fresh box would arrive, and I
wouldn’t be able to eat any of the meals in the recipes because they’d all be
too high in syns. Or I’d eat them to save there being food waste but ruin my
first week on Slimming World in the process with lots and lots of syns! Not to
worry though – I switched oil for Frylight when we cooked last night and only
had to use 3 syns in the end for the hazelnuts in the dish. What a result!
I
even enjoyed a fun size bag of Maltesers afterwards – my treat for surviving
the first week back to work. How have you rewarded yourselves, readers? I’m
wishing each and every one of you a relaxing, calming weekend ahead – it’s well
deserved! Take care, eat good food and hug your loved ones. I’ll be in touch
with an exciting new recipe soon. Until then…
Spoon
safely,
Hayley
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-
Closing thoughts -
If
you’ve been inspired to give this recipe a try, readers, whether I’m speaking
to you on the day of this post or you’re reading some far out time in the
future... please drop me a line to let me know whether it went okay. I’d love
to hear how you got on in the kitchen and your thoughts on this dish. Plus,
it’d be fab if you’re able to share any tips you have for success, or your
suggestions to improve the recipe? Please send your wisdom my way.
Thank
you for reading!
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