Very Veggie Risotto

I'm trying to cook better on the weekends. I find that I eat better on the weekdays with the discipline of an 8 hour job with probably the most expensive food in all of New York. It forces me to bring food from home, and thus I have started bringing those healthy pre-made meals. I guess that is an oxymoron, but it beats getting a bagel with cream cheese, like I used to at my previous job.

The good thing about weekends, though, is that you have the time and inclination to make a lot more food than you would eat, and freezing the rest. I created a Weight Watchers-friendly risotto for lunch today, and happily froze three portions for those days that I don't want to eat a ready made meal at work.

Very Veggie Risotto
POINTS® value | 5
Servings | 4

Ingredients

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic
5 oz mushroom
1 medium scallion
2 Tbsp parsley
1 small sweet potato
200 gm arborio rice
2 cube vegetable bouillon dissolved in 1 liter boiling water (or 1 liter vegetable stock)
1/4 cup white wine or vermouth
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

Sweat the chopped vegetables and parsley in the oil in a little bit of sea salt until they are soft.

Add the rice and mix so that the grains are glossy. Add the wine, turn up the heat and let it bubble away until it evaporates.

Slowly add stock, a ladleful at a time, until the rice is al dente. Turn off the heat, add the parmesan. Let it stand for a few minutes and serve.

The servings should each be around 8 ounces in weight. I'm a bit attached to my scale at the moment. A healthy eater's best friend!

I realize what a 180 I have done from my previous posts of cakes and cookies and the like. I have not defected from the Nigella camp entirely! I am trying to find the balance of eating well and indulging myself too. When I go out to dinner, I don't tell myself to order salad and that's it. I know I go out very rarely, so I let myself have pizza or pasta or whatever else. Life is too short to never eat another piece of chocolate cake!