Spring has sprung and the weather was a barmy 24° on Saturday and Sunday. My friend and I decided it was a good time to leave the city and go away for the night. On Saturday we did some short bush walks across the west coast of Tasmania then on Sunday we hired toboggans and headed for some sand dunes. At the end of our trip I’m fairly sure I had half morphed into the sandman, with tiny grains of sand lodged into every pore on my white pasty body. But the laughs and the tumbles were worth every penny.
I love when the weather warms up. There is always an expectation or excitement in the air. My expectations were exceeded this weekend with a lovely meal I enjoyed at a local cafe in the small town where we stayed. With not many options of places to eat we decided to go to a place called the Bushman’s Bar & Cafe. With a name like that I was expecting nothing but steak on the menu, and preparing myself to have yet Another large serving of hot potato chips as my main. I was however pleasantly surprised, after a quick discussion with the staff about my dietary requirements the chef said it would be no problem to whip up something separate. What I got was possibly one of the tastiest risottos I had ever had, topped with crunchy spinach leaves. I doubt I’ll ever have it again because it wasn’t on the menu. I did however send many compliments to the chef and let’s hope that they’ll consider having something gluten free, vegetarian and dairy free on the menu. I do wish more places would consider at least one option.
Last night I whipped up a risotto in memory of the sunny weekend because now it’s overcast, using one of northern Europe’s favorite herbs, Dill.
Vegetable Risotto with Dill Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups of risotto rice
- 1 medium brown onion (finely chopped)
- 1 heaped tablespoon of minced garlic
- 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
- 30g of nuttalex
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1/2 red capsicum (finely chopped)
- 2 carrots (finely chopped)
- 1 celery stalk (finely chopped)
- 3 1/2 cups of massels chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
- 2g of fresh dill (roughly chopped)
- 1 end of a sping onion (finely sliced)
- salt and pepper to taste
Let’s Cook!
- In a medium size saucepan heat nuttalex and 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium heat
- Once nuttalex has melted saute brown onion and garlic till onion is soft and garlic is fragrant, add dill and stir for another 2 mins
- Next add rice, apple cider vinegar and 1 cup of stock, stirring continually over a low heat until liquid is nearly absorbed into the rice
- Then add carrot, celery, capsicum and spring onion with another 1 1/2 cups of stock, stirring continually till liquid is nearly absorbed
- Lastly add remaining stock, tomato paste and lemon juice and 2 table spoons of olive oil
- Stirring until the last of the stock is absorbed into the rice
- Salt and pepper to taste
Apple cider vinegar can be replaced with white wine, plus cooking with wine is nearly always more fun!
Health and Happiness,
Katri x
The GF Vegetarian 