Spring Chicken & Vegetable Risotto
Often risottos are full of cream, butter and cheese, making them less desirable when you are changing your food options to match your new Life Journey.
I adore this particular recipe for a couple of reasons,
- firstly, it contains asparagus, which I really enjoy in springtime
- secondly, it only has 6g of fat, up to 19g less than standard risottos
- thirdly, it is < 600 calories for a serve (actually 590!)
Borrowed from lovefood.com
We made this recipe last week, however I forgot to take a photograph, so I’ve found one and borrowed it just for this blog. It’s very similar to the final recipe, except we grate parmesan over the top when we serve.
To serve 2 people
Ingredients:
- olive oil spray
- 150g chicken breast fillets, thinly sliced across the grain
- 115g frozen peas
- 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed (woody ends trimmed off) and cut into 3cm lengths
- 1/2 onion, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1T water
- 750ml (3 cups) chicken stock
- 63ml (1/4 cup) white wine
- 220g (1 cup) arborio rice
- 1T fresh thyme (1/2 tsp dried)
- salt & freshly ground pepper
- 10g (1/8 cup) finely grated parmesan cheese
Directions:
- Heat a non-stick frying pan, medium heat, spray with olive oil spray. Add the chicken and cook for 4 – 6 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through. Transfer the chicken onto foil and fold to keep in the juices and heat.
- In the non-stick frying pan, add the onion, garlic and water, cook, stirring occasionally for 3 minutes, until the onion softens.
- Meanwhile, put the stock and wine into a saucepan and heat until just coming to the boil. Cover and reduce the heat to low to hold at a gentle simmer.
- Add the rice to the onions and stir until well combined. Add a ladleful of stock to the rice mixture and stir constantly with a wooden spoon unitl the liquid is completely absorbed. Continue to add liquid and stirring until the liquid is absorbed, and repeating this until approximately 1 – 2 ladefuls are remaining. Add the asparagus and peas to the stock to cook for 2 – 3 minutes. In the last few ladefuls the asparagus and peas will be added to the rice mix. Cook the rice until it is just tender but firm to bite and the risotto is creamy (approximately 20 minutes).
- Add the chicken and 1/2 the fresh thyme (if using dried thyme, add it all to the chicken stock when you add the asparagus and peas), stir to combine. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
- Spoon into bowls and serve with the parmesan and remaining fresh thyme.
Natures Healing 