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I couldn’t do a series on beans and pulses and not have an Indian dish! India is on the forefront of my mind right now as it is my next travel destination (pending funds, time and company). The country excites me with its beautiful culture, delicious vegetarian food and warm people. I think the excitement is infections, because I have somehow persuaded my German housemate (who usually refuses to do anything semi-cultural with me) to attend a Bollywood  party and feast in Amsterdam next weekend. So who knows, I may pick up a few tricks on Indian cooking and and a few Bollywood dancing moves…

I often cook a lot of Indian food, but as I have been away it has taken me a while to stock up on all my spices. So despite the fact I am leaving Amsterdam in a few months, I now am the proud owner of a large spice pantry (customs will let me take it back into Australia, right?).

So, to begin my Indian cooking and finish off my ‘Deconstructing beans and pulses series’ I have decided to cook a very easy and delicious Indian meal: dhal (dal, dalh or daal). Dahl is a way of cooking pulses that have had their outer hulls removed and are split along their natural seam. In short, this means they are perfect to cook with because they don’t require too much cooking time! Often dahl is served as a side dish or with rice and naan. Now I know, buying naan seems like the sensible decision but I seriously couldn’t believe how easy it was to make something similar: the Indian chapaiti! Substitute this for your fork and lup up all the last bits of food from your plate

Dahl with fried spiced onions
(Cooking time: 30 minutes)

Ingredients
3 cups of yellow split peas
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 cinnamon sticks
3 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
2 slices of peeled fresh ginger
1 onion, sliced
1 tablespoon of ghee or butter
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of coriander
1 red chilli, finely chopped or 1 tsp of chilli powder
½ teaspoon of ginger, grated
1 garlic glove, finely chopped
1 teaspoon caster sugar
Salt and pepper to season
A handful of coriander, roughly chopped

Method
Before cooking pulses, you should usually give them a clean. So firstly clean your split peas. Then, put them in a medium sized saucepan and pour in around 5 ½ cups of water. Add the turmeric, cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods and ginger and bring to the boil. As soon as the water starts boiling, reduce the heat to a very gentle simmer and cook for 25 minutes or until the split peas are tender. If they need more time, add a bit more water and cook until the liquid is fully absorbed. Add half a teaspoon of salt to season (salt can often prevent the split peas from softening so try to avoid putting in salt at the beginning of cooking).

While the split peas are cooking, create your spiced onions. Melt the ghee or butter in a frying pan, add the onions and a pinch of salt. Cook over a medium heat until tender but not coloured. At this point add the cumin, coriander, chilli, ginger, garlic and sugar and cook until caramelised and fragrant.

Serve with chapatti (recipe below) and roughly chopped coriander.

Spiced chapatti
(Preparation time: 25 minutes, cooking time: 5 minutes)

Ingredients (makes 8 chapattis)
4 cups whole-wheat flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of coriander powder
3 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
Salt and pepper

Method
In a bowl, mix the flour, coriander, salt and oil. Slowly add in small amounts of water until you can form a tight dough ball. Put aside for 20 minutes.

After this time, break your dough into small balls around the size of a lime. Roll each ball out into a round shape, trying to get them fairly thin. Sprinkle the sesame seeds, cumin seeds and season each chapatti with salt and pepper. Use your rolling pin and gently roll the seeds and seasoning into the dough so that it sticks. Turn them over and repeat on the other side.

Turn a saucepan on high heat with a tablespoon of oil. Once hot, fry the chapattis for about a minute on each side or until golden brown. Serve warm.

I have been away from Sydney for about five months now which means I have been deprived of my mother’s cooking for five whole months! Thankfully she is sweet enough to respond to my email requests for recipes that she has cooked for my sister and I in the past.

This dish is something she whipped together whilst we were on holidays down at Gerroa. She made this in a huge whopping dish, I think with the hope to spread it over two dinners. However, it was so good, we literally could not stop eating it and despite growing fullness pains, we managed to eat the whole dish. How could I not recreate this for my beans series?

The cannellini beans I used for this dish, I started from scratch. I soaked them overnight and was amazed at the transformation they undertook. After about five hours, they became wrinkly and funny looking. Then, the next morning they were almost double their original size and smooth – incredible! Next, I simmered them for about 1 hour and 45 minutes until they were soft. Only then could I include them in my dish. No doubt they were lovely and wholesome but very time consuming. So certainly, feel free to use canned cannellini beans (I probably will next time as well…).

Cannellini beans are full of nutrients and a great bean to include in any soup, stew or casserole, especially ones with Italian flavours. They are low in fat, high in fibre and apparently have twice as much iron as beef!! Bingo! Whatever you do with this dish, make sure you make it large, because you’ll want there to be seconds!

Baked cannellini beans with potatoes and parmesan
(Preparation time: 10 minutes, cooking time: 30 minutes)

Ingredients
2 potatoes, washed and cut into thin slices
1 red onion, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 can of chopped tomatoes
½ cup of vegetable stock (if needed)
2 cups of cannellini beans (soaked overnight and precooked or canned)
2 handfuls of chopped basil
1 handful of parmesan, grated
Salt and pepper to season

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees. Begin by cooking your potato slices, they will need about 10 minutes in boiled water or until they are slightly tender. Drain and put aside.

Next, on a low-medium heat, fry the onions in a good amount of olive oil. Once they start softening after 5 minutes or so add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the canned tomatoes and let this simmer for a few minutes. Add the cannellini beans, turn the heat down and leave to simmer for another 5 minutes minutes. Add ½ cup of vegetable stock (or the potato water) if you need extra liquid.

Once the potatoes and your tomato/bean mix are ready, start to assemble your dish. A good lasagne dish will work (which I didn’t have so ignore my mini casserole dish). Layer your bean mix and slices of potato sprinkling with the remaining basil and parmesan in between each layer. Your finishing layer should be the bean mix, a generous sprinkle of basil and parmesan and a seasoning of pepper and salt.

Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until your bake is bubbling and golden on top. Enjoy with a fresh slice of bread or with a salad.

Puy lentils are the most amazing, quick to cook, food. Apparently they have the third highest level of protein by weight, of any plant food (soybeans and hemp beat it). Plus they are high in fibre and iron so essentially they are perfect little balls of rocket fuel.

So, when I saw this lentil Yotam Ottolenghi recipe, I couldn’t go past it. Some of the flavour combinations felt a bit bizarre, but of course Ottolenghi, never fails, and this beautiful fresh salad dish was a great new way to showcase the amazing puy lentils.

I didn’t follow his recipe to the tee as for some strange reason I couldn’t find radicchio. It can sometimes be quite bitter so no worries if it is left out. However, I will give you the full recipe and you can decide whether to include or not.

Lentil, herb salad with honey roasted walnuts
(Preparation time: 5 minutes, cooking time: 25 minutes)

Ingredients
200g puy lentils
2 bay leaves
100g honey (manuka preferably)
¼ tsp flaked chilli
½ tsp ground turmeric
Salt and black pepper
About 1 tsp water
3 tbsp red-wine vinegar
90ml olive oil
100g walnuts
½ medium-size radicchio
60g pecorino, or other mature ewe’s or goat’s cheese
20g each of basil, dill and parsley, roughly chopped

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 150 degrees celsius. Place the lentils in a medium saucepan, cover with plenty of water, add the bay leaves and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the lentils are tender.

While the lentils are cooking, prepare the walnuts. In a bowl, combine half the honey, the chilli, turmeric and a quarter of a teaspoon of salt. Add about 1 tsp of water or enough to create a thick paste. Coat the walnuts in this paste, then roast them on baking paper for 15-20 minutes, until golden and crunchy.

Once the lentils are cooked, drain and return to the pan. In a bowl, whisk together the vinegar, half the oil, the remaining honey, half a teaspoon of salt and some black pepper. Stir this into the lentils whilst they are still hot. Discard the bay leaves and leave the lentils to cool.

Pour the remaining oil into a frying pan and place on high heat. Cut the radicchio into eight wedges and place these in the hot oil, sprinkling them with a little salt. Cook for a minute on each side, then transfer into a large bowl.

Add the lentils, walnuts, thinly sliced pecorino and herbs. Stir gently and taste to season. Enjoy!

Ok so beans don’t really need deconstructing, we all know they are there in their nice, easy to use cans. However, when it comes to the real deal, I often can’t remember which beans need soaking and which can be cooked straight away. It’s best to do your research otherwise you will end up doing what I did once and make your dinner guests wait until late into the night for dinner because you chose the wrong bloody beans which refused to soften up.

Considering that beans are the most amazing food in terms of nutritional content and taste, (especially if you are vegetarian/vegan) I really want to understand how to use them better.  The best way to do this I figure is to get down to basics and start from scratch. So I am going to avoid the highly tempting canned beans and buy beans in their raw form. I hear that this not only tastes better but turns out to be more economical as well! Perfecto!

Each bean has its own unique quality, taste and cooking time, so I have attempted to break down the most common beans into two categories: short preparation time and overnight preparation time. So choose which beans you want to cook depending on how patient/organised you are :

Quick beans and pulses
The following beans are perfect to incorporate into your cooking more as they are quick and easy to use. Have a read to see how to cook them and why they are good for you.

Aduki beans are the beautiful looking reddish/brown beans. They are high in protein and easier to digest than most beans. As they have a slightly meatier taste they are great as a meat substitute and also taste good with brown rice, potatoes or as a paste. They need to be simmered for half an hour.
Black beans need to simmer for 1.5 hours to soften however it is worth it as these beans have a delicious taste and are great for South American and Mexican dishes.
Black-eyed beans always crack me up because they look so damn cute. They are a great flavoursome bean to use and need to be cooked for approximately 1.5 hours. They are nutty in flavour and great in salads, casseroles and Latin American dishes.
Puy lentils or French green lentils are brownish green in colour and are said to have the greatest amount of flavour out of all the lentils. They hold their shape well so are great for salads or recipes that require the lentils to stay firm. They need 35-45 minutes of cooking.
Red split lentils are the vibrant orange lentils which turn golden when cooked. Are great for dahls or soups. The best part, they only need 20-25 minutes of cooking!
Yellow/green split peas are dried peas that have been split along their natural seam allowing them to cook faster.  They take about 45 minutes to cook and are perfect for soups, purees and curries.

Beans that need overnight soaking
Unfortunately a lot of beans require forward planning and need to soak overnight. Your best bet is to soak 500g of beans with 10 cups of water. Cover and leave overnight. However, if you are in a time pickle, there is a speedy shortcut to this method. Bring 10 cups of water to the boil and add in 500g of your beans. Boil for a couple of minutes, then cover, take off the heat and leave for one hour.

Butter beans are the most beautiful tasting bean and as their name suggests, have a lovely buttery flavour. After overnight soaking, you need to simmer for one hour. They are perfect for soups and casseroles.
Cannellini beans again have a great buttery, rich texture. These beans need to cook for about 1.5 hours and can be used in soups and Italian dishes.
Chickpeas are so easily bought in cans but cooking them from scratch really pays off taste wise. After an overnight soak, cook for 1.5-2 hours then use them to make your own delicious humus or include in a tagine or curry.
Borlotti beans are the lovely red and white speckled beans. They are often used in Italian cooking but also work well in casseroles and salads. Simmer for 1.5-2 hours.
Red kidney beans are the red brother of cannellini beans and also need 1.5 hours of cooking. Great for Mexican dishes such as chilli con carne and other rice dishes.
As part of my deconstructing beans series, I will be attempting to cook a variety of beans from scratch and including them in the following recipes:

-       Lentil, herb salad with honey roasted walnuts
-       Baked cannellini beans with potatoes and parmesan
-       Fragrant dhal

Stay tuned!

I have decided to use polenta to complete my ‘Deconstructing Grains’ series. Unfortunately polenta doesn’t seem to have a good rep, I keep on seeing it being referred to on the internet as ‘mush’, ‘gruel’ and ‘peasants food’.  And I’m sorry ‘elegant mush’ does not make anything sound better. However, polenta, is so much more than this and is increasingly appearing in many dishes at all types of restaurants!

Polenta is a really great filling and wholesome grain that can be used as a base for casseroles and stews or can even be incorporated into sweet dishes such as crumbles and pancakes. It is made from ground corn meal (or occasionally semolina) so is perfect for vegans or anyone who is gluten free.

By far, the most fun dish you can do with polenta is polenta chips! It is quite a nice quirky entrée dish and much more creative than normal potato fries. After cooking the polenta, you must fridge/freezer the mixture in order to cut out your fries. From much experience of not being patient, it is well worth your while to wait until your polenta is set – as frustrating as it may seem

Polenta chips with rosemary and sea salt
(Preparation time: 5 minutes, cooling time: 1 hour, cooking time: 40 minutes)

Ingredients
4 cups of vegetable stock
2 cups of polenta (you can get precooked polenta, but it is much tastier if you buy the fine meal and cook it yourself)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon of butter
Fresh rosemary, leaves torn from the stalk (I used dried rosemary as it was out of season in Amsterdam and this works just as well)
Sea salt

Method
Heat the vegetable stock in a large saucepan. Once the stock has boiled, add the polenta slowly, stirring continuously with a balloon whisk to avoid lumps forming. Turn the heat down to medium and continue stirring until the polenta thickens to a nice gooey paste. After five minutes of cooking or until you achieve a nice thick consistency, take the pan of the heat and stir in the parmesan and a tablespoon of butter.

Lay some baking paper on a tray and pour the polenta evenly onto it. Use a spatula to spread the polenta in a rectangular shape of even height so that you get smooth and level chips. Chill in the fridge for at least an hour or until the polenta is firmly set.

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius. Take your polenta out of the fridge and with a sharp knife cut it into your desired chip shape. The easiest way to cook these babies is to whack them in the oven, however you can also fry them with butter in a frypan. To bake them, spread the chips out on a tray that has been greased (or use baking paper). Sprinkle your rosemary leaves and salt on one side of the chips and place in the oven. After 20 minutes take the chips out of the oven, turn each chip over with tongs and sprinkle with more rosemary leaves and salt. For extra tastiness, melt some more butter and brush the chips with this. Place the chips back in the oven and cook for another 20 minutes. The polenta chips should be a golden brown colour on both sides. If not, continue cooking until you achieve a rich colour and crispy outer layer.

These are delicious on their own but you could always create a dipping sauce like an aioli or a spicy tomato sauce. Enjoy them!

I am living in Amsterdam now which is a pretty incredible experience. I moved here to work for a Dutch NGO called Fairfoods, which aims to make the food industry more sustainable. So it is amazing learning about a completely new city and broadening my understanding on sustainability within the food industry.

After many trials and tribulations in finding a house, I found a nice little apartment to live in with two guys, one German and the other Spanish. They are lovely guys but we are at completely different ends of the spectrum when it comes to food and cooking. Due to their meat abundant backgrounds, both have the impression that eating a vegetarian meal leaves you somewhat less than satisfied. So…I challenged my new housemates that I would cook them something vegetarian which would leave them completely satisfied.

When I told them we were eating quinoa accompanied with wild mushrooms and cranberries, their faces looked at me with concern. “What the hell is keenwaaa?” – I could tell they were sceptical. I instructed them to just eat and luckily for me, they did a complete 180 and happily ate every last grain of quinoa! Yay – mission achieved!

Quinoa is the most incredible super food. It is super high in protein, is gluten free (and therefore easy to digest) and is packed with antioxidants and phytonutrients. I have never cooked it before as it has always seemed a bit foreign and daunting. But after tasting how good it was and learning about its health benefits, I am definitely a quinoa advocate! This recipe is an adaptation of Alice Hart’s who always combines amazing ingredients and flavourful food.

Quinoa with wild mushrooms, hazelnuts and cranberries
(Preparation time: 5 minutes, cooking time: 25 minutes)

Ingredients
300 grams of wild mushrooms, sliced (any type of mushrooms will do, the recipe will be more interesting with at least two different types)
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 cups of quinoa
4 cups of vegetable stock
A good pinch of salt
1 large handful of parsley, finely chopped
100g cranberries
75g of roasted hazelnuts (can roast in the oven or fry in a pan with some butter)
Half a lemon

Method
Using half the butter and half the oil, sauté the mushrooms for a few minutes or until the mushrooms are cooked but not soggy. Place aside on a plate.

Put a large sized saucepan on medium heat. With the rest of the butter, cook the chopped shallots for a few minutes. Then, add one of the garlic cloves and cook for another minute making sure nothing burns. Add the quinoa and stir with the shallots and garlic for about 5 minutes or until the quinoa starts to golden. After this, add the pinch of salt and the vegetable stock to the pan. The veggie stock should be approximately double the amount of quinoa. Leave for 18-20 minutes until you can taste the quinoa is not hard and cooked through. Add more liquid if the quinoa still needs more cooking.

Whilst this is cooking, prepare the other components of this dish. Make sure you have roasted your hazelnuts – this will really add to the dish. Then, chop up ¾ of the parsley finely and in a small bowl and mix it with the remaining oil and garlic, somewhat like a parsley pesto paste. Season to taste.

When the quinoa is cooked, take the pan of the heat, add the cranberries, the mushrooms, the parsley mix and the juice of half a lemon. Mix everything through gently. Serve up on individual plates and sprinkle the roasted hazelnuts and the rest of the chopped parsley on top. Enjoy!

In my first ‘deconstructing grains’ recipe I have used bulgar. I can’t believe I have never tried this very lovely grain before in my cooking. The cracked wheat resembles couscous, but has a slightly different and richer taste. Plus I am living opposite all these Turkish shops in my new home in Amsterdam and bulgar is everywhere! However, if you don’t have Turkish shops nearby, you should be able to find bulgar in the natural section of the supermarket and if not, health food shops should stock it.

For this dish, I have used a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s recipe, he is part of the River Cottage family and has amazing recipes, all promoting ‘real food’ and is a great advocate of cooking with many vegetables.

Turkish bulgur and red lentil soup
(Preparing time: 5 minutes, cooking time: 20 minutes)

Ingredients
For the soup
100g of red lentils
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves (dried will also work)
A large pinch of salt
3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 litre of vegetable stock
50g of bulgur cracked wheat (make sure you don’t buy bulgar grain which can take up to an hour to cook. Bulgar cracked wheat looks very similar to couscous and takes a quarter of the time to cook).
1½ tsp sweet smoked paprika
1-2 tbsp of thick yoghurt
For the flavoured oil
3 tbsp olive oil
20g butter
1 tsp dried mint (I used parsley which also worked well)
½ tsp sweet smoked paprika

Method
Place the lentils in a sieve and rinse well. Put the oil in large saucepan on medium heat. Saute the onion with the thyme and a good pinch of salt until the onions soften up and turn golden. Add the garlic and sauté for another minute. Add the tomato puree, stir, then tip the vegetable stock, bulgar, lentils and paprika. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Cover the pan and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the lentils and bulgar are very soft.

While the soup is cooking, make the flavoured oil. Warm the olive oil and butter in a pan until the butter melts. Take off the heat and add the paprika and mint (or parsley).
When the lentils and bulgar are cooked, you can blend it for a soup type texture. Or you can do as I did, and leave it as it is for a more wholesome, thick dish. Season to your liking and serve with yoghurt and the flavoured oil. If you want more colour, sprinkle on some more paprika and enjoy!

I had a self-realisation the other day that I am a really bad vegetarian. Not in that I sneakily eat meat, but in that I am totally useless when it comes to using pulses and grains in cooking. These should be common substitutes for meat, especially due to their high level of protein, fibre, b vitamins and iron, however I rarely use them. Truth be told, I have no idea how to cook them and the thought of soaking something overnight seems way to organised for my type of cooking. I am a really unplanned cook in that I will read a recipe whilst I am cooking and then realise I need to chill something for two hours when I have guests arriving in 30minutes…

So, I thought I would deconstruct grains and beans for you (and me) and provide some guidance and dishes so that we both have some recipes to fall upon.

I will begin with grains, which are not only delicious but also very good for you. Any time you think about using rice for a meal, you can easily use grains instead! There are lots of names thrown around when referring to grains, you have probably read the words groats, grits, steel-cut, rolled, puffed, pearled, flakes, and flour. These just refer to how the grain has been processed and thus will affect how long you must cook them for. Here is a breakdown of what these terms mean:

Whole grains undergo the least amount of processing, which means they will need the longest cooking time. However because the bran and germ have not been removed, whole grains have the highest amount of nutrition.
Pearled grains means that the outer bran layers have been removed from the grain. Contains less fibre, but cooks faster than whole grains.
Grits/Steel-cut/Cracked grains all refer to grains where the kernels have been cut into smaller pieces. As such, these grains cook the fastest.
Meal is grain that is ground down into a sandy texture. Often used in cereals and breads.
Bran is the ground up outer layer of the grain. Very high in fibre
Germ is the oily part of a kernel or seed. It is packed with vitamins and nutrients.

Types of grain

There are a lot of grains to choose from out there, so I have selected some of the main ones. Despite being in the same ‘grain’ family, their cooking time, taste and texture is very varied.

Barley is only lightly milled and therefore needs up to 60-75 minutes of cooking. It has a chewy texture and nutty/sweet flavour. Cook with three times the amount of water as barley. It is good in soups, grain salads, stews and stuffing.
Bulgar is a cracked wheat that has been partially cooked. This makes it a very easy grain to use and only needs minimal cooking time. Place in boiling water and simmer for 20 minutes. You will need double the amount of water as you have bulgar. Great in tabouleh, soups, stews and salads.
Couscous is made from coarsely ground, precooked semolina (technically a pasta but is cooked like a grain). Only takes a few minutes to cook and is an amazing grain to soak up the sauces of casseroles, stews and tagines.
Millet is used quiet often as a gluten free substitute. It is very easily digested and due to its mild sweetness, is often used in cereals. However, can also be a great addition to soups and stews. Simmer in three times the amount of water as millet, for 20 minutes, remove of the heat and let sit uncovered for another 20 minutes.
Polenta is ground from corn and/or semolina and is a great alternative to potatoes or pasta. It makes a delicious base for sauces and can be baked/fried as an alternative to potato chips. To cook, pour polenta into boiling water (4 parts water to 1 part polenta) and keep stirring. Simmer for 20 minutes.
Quinoa is a great grain to use more often as it is high in protein, gluten free and easy to digest. Make sure you wash before using as it is coated in a natural bitter tasting insect repellent. Simmer for 20 minutes, 1 part of quinoa to 2 parts water.
Spelt is a mild, nutty grain. Best to soak overnight as spelt is a hard grain. Alternatively you can pour boiling water over the grains for an hour before using. Then, simmer spelt for around 30-40 minutes or until tender.

I have a jam-packed weekend of cooking grains coming up. My three easy to cook grain recipes will be:

-       Turkish bulgar and red lentil soup
-       Polenta chips
-       Quinoa with wild mushrooms, hazelnuts and cranberries

Stay tuned!

The weekend before last, Slow Food USA, encouraged people to participate in a challenge to create a slow food meal that cost no more than $5 per person. The aim was to spread the message that good, thoughtful food doesn’t have to put you out of your pocket.

Food and price have an interesting relationship. For something we value so importantly as our nutrition, you find that supermarkets mostly sell and market their products on a cost basis. I read an interesting passage in the ‘Omnivore’s Dilemma’ by the pastoralist farmer Joel Salatin who once told a customer that clean, ethical and/or sustainable food is actually the cheapest food you can buy. He states that the hidden costs in conventionally cheap food, such as water pollution, antibiotic resistance, food induced illnesses, government crop subsidies etc…, are not incorporated into the price and we are therefore made to believe that we are getting a good deal.

So I think it is great that slow food is promoting the fact that with a bit of creative thinking, ethically produced and/or sustainable food can be put together for a meal costing $5 or less! Which is a far better than eating takeaway or something cheap and nasty. Plus I am on a very strict budget at the moment so achieving a meal for this cost is of uttermost importance.

To contribute to this important challenge, I have decided to make an artichoke risotto, using one of Jamie Oliver’s recipes. I don’t use artichokes much in cooking as their unfamiliar shape looks fairly daunting. However this was a great recipe to experiment and I found out that they are delicious and make a risotto that little bit more creamy!

Moreover, the total cost of this meal was $10.90 and the majority of my products were bought from the farmers market. Divide this by four portions and I have paid $2.70 per meal. How about that for cheap sustainable eating!!

Artichoke Risotto
Ingredients
(Preparation time: 10 minutes, cooking time: 25 minutes)
6 small or violet artichokes
1 knob of butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
400g risotto rice
2 small wine glasses of dry white vermouth or dry white wine (this is only if you have this lying around, otherwise this step can be skipped no worries)
Approx 1.1 litres of vegetable stock (use a large pan as the artichokes will be added to the stock)
Small handful of freshly grated parmesan cheese
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Small bunch of fresh mint, leaves picked

Method
Begin by preparing the artichokes. Peal each artichoke back to their pale, light leaves (don’t be afraid to take off a lot of leaves). Then halve them and remove the hairy chokes with a teaspoon (the furry inside part). As soon as you remove the chokes, immerse the artichokes into a bowl of water with half of the lemon juice. Place a dish on top of them to ensure they are immersed into the water – this will ensure they do not discolour.

Now you can begin on the risotto. In a pan, heat the butter and oil and fry the shallots and garlic slowly for about 10 minutes until they have softened. At this point, add in the rice and turn the heat up. When the rice starts to become translucent, add in the vermouth or white wine. Wait until the rice has soaked up the liquid, then add your first ladle of hot stock and a pinch of salt. Turn the heat down to a simmer so the rice doesn’t cook too quickly on the outside.

At this point, take 6 of your prepared artichoke halves and place them into the simmering stock.

Continue cooking the risotto, adding the stock a ladleful at a time until the rice is half-cooked. Take the remaining artichoke halves out of the water, finely slice them and stir them into the risotto. Continue stirring the stock into the rice until it is cooked. At this point, if you wish to add some richness to your risotto, add a knob of butter and a small handful of grated parmesan. Then, stir in the rest of the lemon juice. Take the pan off the heat and check the seasoning.

Place a lid on the pan and allow it to sit for 2 minutes.  Jamie Oliver says this is the most important part of making the perfect risotto.

Remove the cooked artichokes from the stock pan and toss with most of the lemon zest, the torn-up mint leaves and a splash of olive oil. Spoon the risotto onto 4 plates and place the dressed artichokes on top. Drizzle with any remaining dressing from the bowl and serve sprinkled with extra parmesan and the rest of the lemon zest. Enjoy!

COST: the important aspect of this meal was cost. Here are my cost breakdowns:
$4.00: Artichokes
$0.20: 1/15 of a tub of butter
$0.40: 1/25 of a bottle of olive oil
$0.80: 2 shallots
$0.30: 2 cloves of garlic
$1.40: 1/3 packet of risotto rice
$0.50: 2 small wine glasses (I used cheap wine!)
$0.40: 1 cube of vegetable stock (use a large pan as the artichokes will be added to the stock)
$0.80: 1/10 of a block of parmesan cheese
$0.30: 1 lemon
$1.50: 1/2 bunch of fresh mint