Wannabe Creamy Risotto-Rice

This is such a pleasure, the opportunity to blog twice in a week. Since school starts soon, I take it with open arms and without questions. I mean, I cannot put it past me to go through a non-creative spell pretty abruptly. You know how you come up with all your brilliant ideas right when you are about to go into deep sleep at night? This one happened to me yesterday as I was dozing off. Well, the recipe might not be a brilliant idea or an original but I fell in love with it and decided that I had to try it as soon as I could. So the rice thingamajig was “born”.

This is a quick, easy recipe. So easy that the most difficult part to me was coming up with a name. I couldn’t call it a risotto unless I wanted to earn the wrath of Italians, Italian cooks and Italian food lovers. I didn’t want to call it fried rice because it was too mushy to be a success. I could not bring myself to call it Cauliflower Kalandha Sadham (mixed rice in Tamil) because I was afraid I would anger my late grandma, father and aunt so much that they would refuse to come to my aid when I invoke their spirits in the kitchen (ha ha). Hence, I decided to stop trying to be creative and called the big pot of creamy rice what it was- Creamy Cauliflower-Broccoli Rice… I still feel it could have made a beautiful risotto. Oh well, whatever!
Creamy Cauliflower-Broccoli Rice

Ingredients:
Onc cup brown rice (Sushi quality works the best)

Quarter head of cauliflower, chopped into rough florets

One head of broccoli, chopped into rough florets

Ten large cremini mushrooms (chop all but three)

One medium-size onion, chopped

Six pods of garlic, chopped

Two cups vegetable stock

One cup milk

A few strands of thyme

Half cup low-fat cheese (Italian blend)

Three Tbsp olive oil

Two Tbsp butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Cook the rice. Boil the cauliflower, broccoli and three whole pieces of mushrooms in salted water. When done (which takes roughly ten minutes), process it in the food processor along with milk, thyme, salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a pan. Melt the butter in it and add the onion and garlic to it. Cook it on medium heat. Once done, Add the creamy gravy and then the rice. Stir to mix completely. Add on the vegetable stock to give it a loose, risotto-like consistency. Finally, stir in the cheese and switch off the heat.

Like risotto and Sambar rice, this tastes best when eaten immediately. The hub added some store-bought croutons since he felt it missed that crunch factor. I am thinking of adding walnuts next time.

Ps: This dish might lack in the looks department but dig deeper. It has a wonderful flavor that will not disappoint.

Fennel Virgin and a Pot of Soup

It took me three years to muster up enough courage to buy a bulb of fennel. Normally, I steer clear of a particular set of vegetables and this licorice-flavored little veggie has always topped the list. So this week on my trip to the grocery store, I stopped at the greens isle for a minute longer and picked up a bulb of fennel. I was planning to roast it along with carrots, asparagus and make a salad but stopped myself in time. I wanted to do something more adventurous so I decided on a pot of soup (see, that is me trying my hands at subtle sarcasm).

The verdict: I loved it! I am generally not a fan of celery, the other veggie known for its licorice flavor but this was more peppery and my taste palate-friendly. Will I buy it again? For sure but this time I should find better ways to use fennel.

This is how I made my pot o’ soup…

Roasted Tomato-Fennel Soup

Ingredients:
Five Roma tomatoes, halved, seeded and cored

One medium-size head of fennel, cleaned, cored and diced into chunks

Half a huge white onion, diced into chunks

Five pods of garlic

Two Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

One Tbsp chopped fresh thyme

One tsp fresh lemon zest

Four Tbsp low-fat cream cheese

Scant half a cup reduced fat milk

Two cups water or low-sodium vegetable stock (I used the former)

A pinch of chili flakes

Half a tsp chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (optional, recommended for heat-seekers)

One tsp brown sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

Three Tbsp good olive oil

(Phew!)

Method:
Pre-heat the oven at 400°F. Prepare two sheet trays. Arrange the tomatoes and fennel in one. Pour olive oil on the vegetables, one Tbsp of rosemary, little salt and pepper. Arrange the onions and garlic in the other sheet pan and replicate the seasoning. Roast the onions in the oven for twenty minutes and the tomatoes and fennel for ten minutes more. Once done and cooled down, transfer to the blender, add the thyme and lemon zest and blend it well.

Pour the soup in a pan and heat it. Add the rest of the flavorings, milk and water and let it come to a boil. Reduce heat and add the cream cheese and whisk it until thick and creamy. Check for seasoning. Serve with a dollop of cream cheese, a splash of olive oil and grilled cheese sandwiches. Ooh, yumm!!

Serving Size: half a cup

Total carbs: 16.9g

With sandwich: 40g