Risotto with Swiss Chard

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cups Basic Vegetable Stock or reduced-vegetable broth
• 1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 1 1/3 cups Aborio rice
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 bunch Swiss Chard, cleaned and chopped
• 2 tbsp. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 tsp. freshly grated black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg 

Makes 4 Servings (1 1/2 cups per serving)

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the stock to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer.
2. In a medium saucepan, heat the oil. Saute the onions until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the rice; cook, stirring until transluscent, about 1 minute.
3. Add 1 cup of the stock; cook, stirring, until the stock is absorbed. Add the wine; cook, stirring; until the wine is absorbed. Stir in a handful of the chard. Alternate adding the remaining stock, 1/2 cup at a time, with the chard, a handful at a time, stirring until the stock is absorbed before adding more, until the rice and chard are just tender. The total cooking time should be about 25-30 minutes. Stir in the cheese, pepper, and nutmeg. Serve at once.

WW POINTS VALUE: 7 pts.

 

Note: This recipe appears in the WW New Complete Cookbook. Risotto is the ultimate comfort food of Northern Italy. This is a wonderful dish to make on the weekend and serve to family and friends. I highly recommend using 2-3 cloves of minced garlic in your risotto because garlic always makes everything taste better. You can serve this as a main meal or as a side dish. You can serve this with seasoned proteins such as chicken, turkey, or fish. You can also use escarole, kale or spinach in place of the Swiss chard and your dish will still taste good. Also, if you want to serve this dish to kids, you can use vegetable stock in place of the wine for a more vegetarian flare.



Asparagus Risotto

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tsp. salt (for water)
• 1 pound uncooked asparagus, trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces
• cooking spray
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter   
• 3 small shallots, minced
• 1 cup uncooked Arborio rice 
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese 
• 1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste 
• 1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste     

Makes 6 Servings

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with ice water. Add asparagus to pot; blanch for 2 minutes. Immediately remove asparagus from pot and place them into ice water (to stop them from cooking and help retain their bright green color); set aside.
2. Coat a medium pot with cooking spray and set over medium heat; melt butter. Add shallots; cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add rice and toss to coat; cook for 2 minutes. Add lemon juice; cook, until all lemon juice has been absorbed, stirring continuously so rice does not stick to sides of pot, about 1 minute.
3. Meanwhile, bring broth to a simmer; keep warm.
4. Add 1/2 cup of hot broth to pot at a time; stir until absorbed. Repeat with remaining broth, making sure each addition of broth is absorbed before adding more. This process takes about 20 minutes.
5. When rice turns creamy and just done (should be slightly chewy and not mushy), remove pot from heat; add cheese and stir well. Stir in asparagus; season with salt and pepper.

WW POINTS VALUE: 5 pts (1 scant cup per serving)

 

Note: This recipe appears on www.weightwatchers.com. Rice is such a delicious comfort food especially when it's done right. Risotto is an Italian rice dish that is cooked in broth (meat, fish or vegetable-flavored) with onions, wine and butter cooked to a creamy consistency. Risotto also contains Parmesan cheese and Italian herbs which are key ingredients to making it creamy. Last night, I had baked halibut seasoned with bread crumbs, lemon juice, salt, freshly ground black pepper, Parmesan cheese and parsley and it was delicious. I wanted a delicious side dish to go with the fish and this risotto looked to good to pass up.  I love risotto and this asparagus risotto hit the spot. I used vegetable and turkey broth in this dish and the flavor was so heavenly. I also added dried herbs such as parsley, basil and majoram as well as garlic to this dish for a more Italian flavor. This dish also reminded me of the risotto I had at Magnolia's in Charleston, S.C. and I think I perfected the dish to a T (but added with asparagus). This dish is great as a main dish, side dish or even as a heavy snack. I highly recommend adding garlic and herbs because garlic and herbs always make a dish better. This dish goes well with fish, chicken, turkey, veal or even duck.

 

Risotto Milanese

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
• Pinch saffron threads
• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 cup Aborio rice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2  tbsp greated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tsp butter
• 2 tsp grated lemon zest
• Pinch freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Makes 8 Servings

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the stock to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer.
2. In a small bowl, dissolve the saffron in 1 cup of the stock.
3. In a large nonstick saucepan, heat the oil. Saute the onion until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the rice; cook, stirring until translucent, about 1 minute.
4. Add the wine and 1/2 cup of the stock; cook, stirring, until the liquid is absorbed. Continue adding the stock, alternating between plain stock and saffron stock, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until the stock is absorbed before adding more, until the rice is just tender. The total cooking time should be 25-30 minutes. Stir in the cheese, butter, lemon zest, and pepper; serve at once.

WW POINTS VALUE: 3 pts (1/2 cup per serving)

 

Note: This recipe appears in the WW New Complete Cookbook. Rice is a wonderful comfort food when it's seasoned with the right flavors. Risotto is what I like ot think of as the official rice dish of Italy. It is so rich and creamy it melts in your mouth. The saffron and lemon zest add flavor and color to this dish.I used a special kind of olive oil in this dish: Milanese Gremolata Infused Olive Oil from The Imperial Olive in Williamsburg, VA. I think that particular olive oil gave this disha real, authentic Italian flavor. This side dish is wonderful with seafood, chicken, turkey and even lamb and veal. I made this risotto with the Lobster Milanese and they worked so well together. This dinner was so deliciously rich it filled me up. I didn't even have dessert the dinner was so filling. I highly recommend serving this dish for a special occasion because it's just as good as going out to a really nice restaurant and ordering an expensive dish.

 

Zucchini Risotto with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cups reduced-sodium vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup tomato juice
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 6 shallots, finely chopped
• 4 medium zucchini, chopped
• 1/2 dry white wine
• 1 1/3 cups Aborio rice
• 16 sun-dried tomato halves (not oil-packed), finely chopped
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh majoram, or 1 tsp dried
• 2 tbsp grated Parmesean cheese
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
• Chopped fresh parsley, to garnish

Makes 4 Servings

1.  In a medium saucepan, combine the stock and tomato juice; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer.
2. In a medium nonstick pan, heat the oil. Saute the shallots until soft, about 2 minutes. Add the zucchini and wine; cook until the zucchini is softened, about 5 minutes longer. Add the rice; cook, stirring, about 1 minute.
3. Add 1 cup of the stock mixture, the sun-dried tomatoes, parsley and majoram; cook, stirring, until the liquid is absorbed. Continue adding stock, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until the stock is absorbed before adding more, until the rice is just tender. The total cooking time should be about 25-30 minutes. Stir in the cheese and pepper; serve at once, garnished with parsley.

WW POINTS VALUE: 7 (1 1/2 cups per serving)

Note: This recipe appears in the WW New Complete Cookbook. If you ever saw the photo for this recipe, you would want to cook it too. I have never  made risotto before and I was dying to try. This dish looks complicated but it it very easy to make. Just remember to have all your ingredients in place an follow the directions step by step. If you want an alcohol-free risotto, you can substitute nonalcoholic dry white wine or vegetable broth for the wine and it tastes just as delicious. The serving size is 1 1/2 cups but you will be just as full with 1 cup because it's so good.