Day 8: Cook A Food That Scares You & Plant/Buy Fresh Herbs

Day 8: Cook A Food That Scares You & Plant/Buy Fresh Herbs (Tuesday 9/8)

I love eating out.

There is nothing like sitting down to a delicious meal at a nice restaurant with the knowledge you will not have to cook or clean at all. There are foods I love and would have NO CLUE how to cook and the thought of attempting to cook it gives me hives. One of these foods is risotto.

(In case you didn’t know Risotto is a traditional Italian rice dish according to Wikipedia.)

Risotto is usually creamy, cheesy, goodness with some vegetables and proteins mixed in. I have always been under the impression that it is both unhealthy (due to the creamy, cheesy goodness) and impossible to make (due to the technique). When I found a recipe on Weight Watcher’s etools for only 7 points for 1.5 cups I summoned my inner Italian for a night of what I thought might be culinary hell.

The process of making risotto is very detailed and time consuming. I am not a parent but feel it might be like watching a two-year-old in a house of breakable figurines – you must be in a state of constant vigil! The process took about 40 minutes and involved a lot of stirring (does that count as strength training) and adding in chicken broth, then stirring again. Basically there is not one second during the cooking that you can stop stirring. When I thought my arm could not make one more rotation I was done. With a mixture of fear and excitement I tasted the finished product only to discover that I too could create creamy, cheesy goodness! Not only was it delicious but it was healthy.

Last night I looked fear (in the form of rice) in the face and came out the other side a master of Italian cooking – or maybe just a ordinary girl who can now add risotto to her culinary repertoire. I felt good! (See pictures below. The Risotto is paired with Scallops.)

The second new thing on my list was to plan fresh herbs. Herbs can make all the difference when cooking healthy because they add so much flavor with no additional calories or fat. So why not have my own supply of fresh herbs?

The answer is that I have a brown thumb. Literally I kill all green things I come in contact with including cacti. This combined with living in a city high-rise persuaded me to buy already potted Basil and Mint plants from the grocery store.

At first I felt that I had cheated a bit but I realized that this was still new to me and would be a huge challenge to keep them alive. Once we got home Chip said to me; “in the spirit of the blog I am not going to touch those plants” then gave me a look a parent gives to a 7-year-old when they get their first goldfish. As he witnessed the cacti’s slow and painful death I guess he can judge me.

I am confident that with the help of the directions that came with Mint and Basil I can keep them alive and use their little flavorful leaves in recipes to come. That doesn’t mean I would refuse any blog comments questioning their health or reminding me to water them.