My friend Amy is trading me fresh vegetables for coffee grounds and peanut shells for her compost. I leave the compost materials on the back porch and she leaves me a surprise assortment of veggies and herbs. We are practicing good social distancing. Sometimes it’s from her garden. Today it’s from the farmer’s market, mostly. It’s easy for me because I drink coffee every morning, and every evening my cat and I sit on the couch eating roasted peanuts and pretend like we’re at Blank & Co. I looked up a few squash recipes and finally found one that I liked and had ingredients for.
I didn’t have all the exact ingredients, but it was close enough. I halved the recipe, which meant I needed about 1/4 cup of peas, which I shelled. I didn’t have any broth, so I made my own, using some slightly wilted leaf vegetables and green onions, an old carrot, some potato peels, garlic peels, etc. boiled on the stove top. I even added the pea shells to the homemade broth.
I sauteed some onion and garlic. While that was sauteing, I strained the broth and got the peas and squash ready to go in.
But first, I had to cook the rice. I used regular store-bought white rice. After a minute, I began to stir in the broth 1/4 cup at a time, as it cooked down.
I had enough broth left over to store for later!
I finally added the squash and peas. Some dried basil would have to do today, with a little salt and pepper and a little parsley. I added just a splash of apple cider vinegar to take the place of the white wine (Sorry Justin Wilson!). After a few minutes, the risotto was almost done. I cooked it a little longer than the recipe said to make sure the peas were done in the middle.
Just a little more butter and it should be done. Honestly, I’m not sure what good risotto is supposed to taste like, but this was pretty good for quarantine cooking. It looks ready to eat. But first, I have to save some for Amy.
And the rest is for me!! I added some lemon wedge like the recipe suggested. Not a bad lunch. But there’s something else I have to do before I forget.
I have to get more grounds to leave in the basket! And in a couple days I’ll leave it out with her portion of the risotto. She’d better not be late, it can’t sit out forever! What will I get this time? Maybe fresh basil? I hope there is some Thai basil soon. I can definitely trade that to my brother for something good. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.
If you enjoyed this post, you might enjoy this Cooking With Centaurs video on YouTube. Dollar store gnocchi. You can’t beat it!
