Seafood Risotto

I love risotto. Today I made mine with seafood, because I still had some left in the freezer from the spaghetti dish I had the other week, but it works equally well with other meats and veg. A particular fave of mine is chicken and asparagus.

Ingredients (serves 1)
100g Arborio Rice
120g cooked seafood
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 mushrooms, sliced
1 veg stock cube, made up to 1 pint
1 tbsp grated parmesan to serve

* heat 1/2 tsp oil in a pan and soften the onions for 5 minutes or so, until they start to go translucent
* add the garlic, mushroom and rice and mix thoroughly, then add enough stock to cover the rice
* simmer, stirring frequently adding more stock whenever the pan starts to look a bit dry. Continue until the stock has been absorbed and the rice is cooked. It'll take about half an hour
* when the rice is almost done stir through the seafood and heat
* add parmesan to serve

Nutritional info

Calories: 506, Carbs: 84g, Fat: 4g, Protein: 24g 

Cauliflower Rice

I've come across cauliflower rice on a number of websites lately. The idea is to use cauliflower as a lower calorie and lower carb alternative to rice, so I thought it was worth a try. The version I used came from nomnompaleo although I used sunflower oil rather than coconut.

Ingredients (serves 1)
1/2 cauliflower (approx 200g) chopped into medium chunks
1/4 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp sunflower oil
Salt/pepper

* heat the oil in a pan and saute the onion and garlic for 5 minutes until translucent
* grate the cauliflower. Blitzing it in a food processor would be quicker, but I don't have one.
* add the cauliflower to the pan, season and stir well then cover and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally
* serve in place of rice

Obviously it doesn't actually taste like rice, it tastes of cauliflower, but the texture is pretty good.

Nutritional info
Calories: 92, Carbs: 11g, Fat: 5g, Protein: 3g

Gammon Risotto

I had a load of gammon left from a roast, but obviously this would work just as well with other meats, or just use more mushrooms for a veggie option.

Ingredients (serves 2)
150g arborio rice
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 mushrooms, sliced
600ml vegetable stock
30g sweetcorn (optional)
150g cold roast gammon, cubed
Black pepper

* heat a little oil in a pan, add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the garlic and mushroom and cook for another minute
* add the rice and cook for 30 seconds, then pour in about 100ml of stock and the sweetcorn and stir.
* cook gently, stirring frequently, and add more stock whenever it starts to look a bit dry.
* when the rice is almost cooked stir in the gammon and season well with plenty of pepper.
* top with a bit of grated cheese to serve if you like.

Chicken with rice and peas

Ingredients (serves 2)
4 chicken drumsticks
1/2 bottle reggae reggae sauce
150g rice
Tin of coconut milk
1/2 tin kidney beans
Small onion, chopped
Salt/pepper

* marinade the chicken in the reggae reggae sauce for a couple of hours
* heat the oven to 200C and bake the chicken for 30 minutes, turning regularly
* tip the coconut milk into a large pan and top up with water
* Add the onion and season well
* bring to the boil then add the rice, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes
* Add the kidney beans and continue to simmer until the rice is cooked
* Drain, and serve with the chicken

Jambalaya

Probably not remotely authentic, but it tastes good to me.

Ingredients (serves 2)
150g long grain rice
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 small onion, chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
4 sausages, chopped
1 tin chopped tomatoes
Splosh of white wine
1tsp paprika
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp lazy red chilli
1 tsp olive oil

* heat oil in a pan and add the vegetables. Cook for a minute or so
* Add the chunks of sausage and cook for another minute, then add the rice and herbs/spices
* Add a good splosh of wine, then the tinned tomatoes. Add some water if it looks too thick
* cover, and cook until most of the liquid had been absorbed and the rice is cooked.

Also works well with chicken or prawns.

Egg Fried Rice

Ingredients (serves 2)

100g Long Grain Rice

Handful frozen peas

2 Spring Onions, chopped

1 egg

1 tbsp Soy Sauce

Ground Black Pepper

1 tsp olive oil

• Cook the rice in advance (earlier in the day, or even the night before), drain, rinse under cold running water and leave to cool.
• Heat the oil in a wok and lightly fry the spring onions for a minute or so
• Add the rice and peas and cook for a few minutes until heated through.
• Beat the egg with the soy sauce and pepper, then pour over the rice and stir continually until the egg is thoroughly mixed into the rice and cooked.