Beetroot Risotto

I had quite a lot of raw beets in my fridge since Tuesday, and after lots of deliberation I opted to go the risotto route.
You can use raw or cooked beets. If you are using cooked make sure you use ones that aren’t pickled or in any form of juice. If you can use raw then please do. they are so tasty and all those nutrients will get sucked up by the rice. After all isn’t the the beetroot of of these new “superfoods”

Ingredient

550g raw beetroot (once peeled about 460g)
5g butter
3 shallots (or medium onion)
2 garlic cloves
small glass white wine (optional)
1ltr Veg Stock
50g grated mozzarella
couple of handfuls of spinach
Thyme

1. Finely dice the shallots/onion and garlic.

2. Now dice the beetroot into small cubes. If you are using raw beetroot, you will need to peel them first. Some might wear gloves to do this as they don’t want stained fingers. However, if you are like me and you are never that organised to have gloves in the kitchen to use for this sort of thing you need to be a bit more careful. SO, if you hold the beetroot by the root you can peel them quiet easily with a peeler and get very little juice on your fingers. Then still holding the root you can slice the beetroot into rings and then slice into small cubes.

3. Heat a large non stick frying pan and add the butter, onions and garlic. Cook until the onions start to go clear.

4. Add the rice and stir in to the onions, after a few minutes it too will start to go a little opaque. add the white wine if you are using it, if not add a ladle of the stock. Cook for a couple of minutes.
5. Add the beetroot. You will see that straight away the beetroot juice will bleed into the rice as you stir it in. Also add the thyme leaves. 6. Pour in a some of the stock, just enough to cover the rice. Stir and let it simmer until the stock is absorbed into the rice, then gradually add more stock.
Keep doing this until the rice is cooked. As it cooks you will see the rice take on a deeper red colour. It is so pretty, pity it hasn’t come out very well on my phone camera, so you will have to cook it yourself to experience the lovely colour for yourself. Don’t let it dry out, it is meant to be a little “sloppy”, but be careful you don’t give it too much stock and it becomes a soup!

You want the rice to retain its shape and texture, not to just be sloppy and over cooked so make sure you keep an eye on it. Depending on how small you have diced the beetroot it will either be soft or still have a little bit of crunch. Either way it is lush!

7. This time I have used some cheese. Mozzarella has about 100cals less than Parmesan per 100g. Adding 50g to the risotto adds about 31 calories per person. I will go all stringy as you stir it in but will soon melt into the risotto. Add the spinach stir in and let the heat wilt it.

So, there you have it, a lovely ruby red, tasty filling risotto. Serving it up to 4 people gives you 346 calories per portion. It is less than 5% fat.

Enjoy and let me know what you think.

Squash and Green Lentil Soup

I know I have done a squash soup before but this one is different. Just as yummy and perfect for those cold winter evenings. Supper healthy and ubber low in fat and calories. The the fennel seeds add a subtle aniseed twist which compliments the taste of the squash. It’s not a delicate soup but a thick homely bowl of goodness.

Ingredients
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
2 dried chillies
1 tbls ground fennel seeds
1 medium squash
180g green lentils
Oil spray

1. Finely chop the dried chillies, onion and garlic. I use whole fennel seeds and grind them in my pestle as I love the aniseed smell that you get. But the ready ground stuff is ok.

2. Spray a large pan with oil add the garlic, chillies, onions and fennel seeds. Cook them off.

3. Peel and deseed the squash. You can use any squash and on this occasion I used a very small butternut squash and a small green kabacha squash that I had in my fridge and needed using. Once peeled cut it into small chunks.

4. Add the squash and lentils to the pan. Stir in and heat through. For a minute or two.

5. Pour water over until it just covers the squash and lentils. Simmer on a medium heat for about 40 minutes until the squash and lentils are soft and cooked.

6. Take a potato masher and gently mash the squash so it breaks down a little.

7. Season with some salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Enjoy! It’s thick, hot, very filling and very tasty.
It makes about 6 servings, depending on the size of squash you use. It works out at around 100 calories for a decent serving.

As before, give it a go and let me know what you think.