Mushroom Risotto

Have you all heard of Color Me Rad and Color Run? Now that I am more fond of running- I've been thinking of registering for one of these runs. They are both really similar-- a run where you get color thrown at you as you run the course. Really the whole things reminds me of Indian Holi. Color Me Rad and Color Run are about 2.5 miles (5K)-- meaning pretty do-able for me. See, I am definitely not a "runner" who can run miles and miles without stopping. I am your recreational runner that celebrates at two miles :)

I really enjoy the concept of getting color thrown at you throughout your run. Why? Because in the end you look like a celebration! Both runs are held across the United States on different dates. The hubby and I live close to Austin and Houston-- both of which are having runs in March. I have done some reading online and found that Color Me Rad actually "throws" more color and hence makes you look more colorful-- so I am leaning towards Color Me Rad in Austin :) Any suggestions?

Onto food: another recipe I attempted this past weekend was risotto. When I was growing up-- and my mom went out of town-- my dad would always make "risotto" for us (good memories). And for my dad that meant, egg, rice and cheese mixed together; and it was actually quite delicious. Now that I have realized that- that in fact was not risotto, I really wanted to try to make an actual risotto. Risotto does take a lot of patience and concentration. You cannot just put rice in a pot, let it boil and add a few things. You need to watch, slowly add ingredients and stir constantly to cook the rice. But all, in all-- it did not take a ton of time and it was absolutely delicious!!!! 

Definitely one of my favorite recipes! I love how the mushrooms and risotto tasted together...mmmm. The hubby is not even a huge fan of mushrooms but ate this up :) Though this is not technically a traditional risotto because I did not use Arborio rice- instead I used Jasmine rice. If you also do not have Arborio rice-- do not fret-- any long grain rice that tends to absorb a lot of liquid, will work fine :)

MUSHROOM RISOTTO

Adapted from Gimme Some Oven

INGREDIENTS

4 c. of chicken broth

2 tbsp. olive oil 

1 regular carton of fresh mushrooms

3 green onions, diced

1 c. rice (Arborio preferred, long grain rice as substitute)

1/4 c. cooking wine

1/2 c. Parmesan Cheese

DIRECTIONS

In a pot, bring chicken broth to a boil, then reduce heat and keep warm over low heat. 

In a skillet, heat 1 tbsp. of olive oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, toss in mushrooms and saute until tender-- about 8-10 minutes. Empty mushrooms onto plate or container and set aside. In the same skillet, heat another 1 tbsp. of olive oil over medium heat. Add green onions and saute until fragrant and translucent, about 3-5 minutes. Add in rice and stir well to coat with olive oil-green onion mixture. Cook rice for an additional 3 minutes, stirring only occasionally. 

Next add in cooking wine and cook until all the wine is absorbed-- stir constantly. Continue to cook rice by adding 1/4 c. of warmed chicken broth at a time into the rice, stirring continuously until broth has been completely absorbed (Gimme Some Oven had the great suggestion of using a ladle and that is exactly how I added the chicken broth). Do not add more broth until the previous amount has been entirely absorbed by the rice. Continue adding increments of chicken broth and allowing rice to absorb all the broth-- do this until all the broth has been used and rice is cooked through (add more broth if rice needs additional cooking). 

Once risotto is cooked add in Parmesan Cheese and then mushrooms, stirring until well combined. 

Enjoy,

Chika