Child Friendly Risotto

Bacon and Courgette Risotto with Parmesan Cheese

After a day at home feeling like poo (I have caught my son's virus) I picked up my children from school and kindergarden, and asked them what they'd like for dinner.  'Rice' was the response.  My youngest would live on boiled rice given the opportunity.  How boring but I can understand the appeal of steaming bowl of rice.  Then it dawned on me that I had not infact made a Risotto for a very long time.  And that my children should expand their eating horizons.  So a look through the cupboards found some arborio rice (a must for an authentic risotto), some bacon and courgettes.  As my children are allergic to all things green, I ended up peeling and grating the courgettes in an attempt to disguise them. 

Arborio Rice for making authentic Risotto

Bacon and Courgette Risotto

Ingredients
1 onion chopped
1 tablespoon garlic oil
2 courgettes peeled and grated
100g bacon pieces (fat removed)
200g arborio rice
4 cups warm chicken stock
knob butter
parmesan cheese

Method
Saute the bacon, onions and courgettes in the garlic oil until soft.  Add the rice and fry for a minute or so until the rice is coated.  Slowly start adding the stock a soup ladle at a time, stirring until the stock is absorbed before adding the next ladle full.  It should take 20 minutes for the rice to absorb all the stock.  Once the risotto is fully stocked, add a knob of butter and stir through until melted.  Check the flavour.  It may not need salt as the bacon and stock are quite salty.  It should require a grind or two of black pepper.  Serve in a bowl with grated parmesan cheese sprinkled over the top.

Risotto before adding the Cheese

As I felt the need for greens myself, I ended up adding some chopped baby spinach leaves to my bowl.

Risotto with baby spinach leaves added

Top 5 Teriyaki Chicken

When I say 'Top 5' I mean it makes the top 5 of my children's 'top 5 dinners of all time' list.  They would eat this stuff every night given half a chance.  It is so delicious with the balance of sweet and salty and with sushi rice what more could I hungry child want? 

To make the Teriyaki Sauce simple mix together the following ingredients:
1/4 cup light soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons crushed fresh ginger(out of a jar)
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Then marinade enough diced skinless boneless chichen thigh or breast meat for 4 people (about 500g) for about an hour.

Using a slatted spoon remove the chicken from the marinade and transfer into an oiled frying pan and fry until brown.  Then pour over the marinade and fry until the chicken is cooked (5-10 minutes).  Then remove the chicken from the frying pan using a slatted spoon and continue to simmer the sauce until it thickens.

Serve the chicken on top of rice (sushi rice works fantastically and I use the leftover to make teriyaki sushi) and pour the thickened marinade over the top.  Garnish with some toasted sesame seeds.

Tonight we are having teriyaki chicken on sushi rice with some greens asian style.

Ingredients
1/2 sliced onion
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 teaspoon crushed ginger
1 sliced courgette
handful green beans
1 tablespoons soy sauce

Method
To make the green beans, trim and cut in half.  Blanche in boiling water for 1 minute.  In a hot non stick wok toss the onion, garlic and ginger in a little oil until soft.  Add the beans, courgettes adn soy sauce and stir fry for another few minutes.  Serve steaming hot.

Simply Sushi Salad

This was such an obvious combination to put into a salad, I don't know why I never though of it before especially considering that I eat sushi as often as possible. Tastes like sushi but without all the fuss of rolling it (although that is something I really enjoy but only when I'm in the mood). My 5 year old won't usually eat salads, but has now changed his mind. I will have him eating greek salads by the end of the summer.

Sushi Salad

2 cups basmati rice

3 tablespoons sesame oil

3 cloves garlic finely chopped

2.5cm piece ginger finely chopped

1/2 cup soy sauce (tamari, kikomen)

3-5 chillis finely chopped(optional)

3/4 cup rice wine vinegar

8 nori sheets cut into small strips

150g smoked salmon

1/3 cup toasted sesame seeds

1/2 bag baby spinach leaves

1 avocado (optional)

Cook rice according to packet instructions. Heat sesame oil in pan and fry garlic, ginger and a dash of soy sauce for a couple of minutes. Put rice in bowl, and pour over the aromatics, left over soy sauce and vinegar. Add remaining ingredients and mix together garnishing with chopped avocado. Would also be lovely with garlic prawns, roast peppers or cucumber.