Ok, so if you follow me on Instagram you probably saw my
dinner the other night – cod fillet with mushroom risotto and a kale
pesto. And if you don’t follow me on
instagram then what are you waiting for! Follow me @PhitnessPhoodie!
For those that didn’t see, here’s a picture.
MMM MMM look at that deliciousness.
So this recipe came to me for a few reasons. My fiancée loves mushrooms, and I do
not. I don’t mind the flavor, I just
don’t like eating actual mushrooms. So I
decided to make a mushroom risotto. I
sautéed the mushrooms then removed most of them from the pan (I left in a few
for him since he loves them) and pureed them up to add to the risotto so I
would get that mushroom flavor (and the health benefits) but not have to
actually eat whole mushrooms.
Then I was thinking I wanted to do something with kale. Kale is a super food in case you didn’t
know. Amazing health benefits, lots of
vitamins, low in calories, high in protein etc.
I have been trying to eat more kale but have yet to find a recipe I
like, so I thought I’d make a pesto with it.
Pesto is always good; and let’s face it, if you add garlic and parmesan
cheese to just about anything it will taste good.
And for those wondering, the meal was only about 350-400
calories!! (All depending on size of the
piece of cod you have.) Another thing
that’s great too is the cod has about 30+ grams of protein! That will keep you full all night so you’re
not reaching for the ice cream!
Ok, Ok, I know, you’re just drooling now wondering how to
make it…well, its super easy, and I’ll tell you how!
For those who haven’t made risotto before, it seems like it
would be hard, but it’s really not AT ALL.
It’s super easy; it just takes time and a little patience. I like to make it as I’m cooking and prepping
other things so I don’t feel like I’m just waiting for it.
Here’s what you will need:
Risotto:
Mushrooms chopped
1 small onion (or more if you like, I do!) diced
2-4 cloves of garlic (depending on your garlic
preference, I like a lot!)
1 cup of Arborio rice
3-3 ½ cups of broth – you’re choice here; you can
use veggie and make the risotto completely vegetarian, or use chicken or beef
too. You can also use half water, half
stock if you want to make the stock go a little further
½ cup Dry white wine
Kale Pesto:
Kale – I didn’t need to make too much, so I used
about 5 stalks (tough stems removed!) and I have extra pesto
Toasted pine nuts and/or pepita seed (pumpkin
seeds) – I had pumpkin seeds left over from another recipe so I used them! Toast them up a little before putting in the
food processor
2 garlic cloves
Parmesan cheese – about ¼ cup or so….just eyeball
what looks good
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Cod:
Cod fillets
Salt and pepper
Ok, so to start you need to put the stock on the burner and
keep it warm. Don’t bring it to a boil;
just keep it on low to stay warm.
Then chop up the mushrooms.
You’re going to puree them so the size doesn’t matter too much, if you
want to leave them whole in the risotto then I’d cut them into bit size pieces.
Sautee those with a little olive oil until brown and
starting to get caramelized. Here’s
where I pulled most of them out and only left a few in. Do whatever you’d like here. The ones you pull out put in the food
processor.
Add a little more olive oil to the pan and the diced
onions. Let them sweat out a little,
maybe about 5-10 minutes, and add the garlic.
When the garlic is fragrant, add the rice to toast for a minute or 2. Deglaze the pan with the wine.
Now the secret to risotto is you kind of have to be stirring
constantly, or at least keeping an eye on it so that the liquid doesn’t get
completely absorbed and the rice sticking to the pan. So, when you see that the wine liquid is
mostly gone, you can start adding your stock.
Use a ladle and add between 1-3 ladle-fulls at a time to the
risotto. Stirring frequently, let that
reduce down until the liquid is absorbed (should take about 4-7 minutes). Keep doing that until you’re stock is gone –
it will probably take you 3-4 times of adding the stock.
Now like I said the great thing about this is you can do
other things! Puree your mushrooms,
season your filet, and make your pesto. And it doesn’t matter what order you do
this in. Your cod filet will only take
about 4 minutes on each side, so I would make sure you’re putting that in the
pan when you add the last of the liquid to the risotto.
So with the mushrooms, I put in a little olive oil to help
them mix up, just a little splash, and puree!
Reserve in a bowl. Now on the
kale!
This is very simple too.
Toast up your pine nuts/pepita seeds a little. Add all your ingredients into the food
processor, and voilà, that’s it! Little
side note: I always start with less olive oil because you can always add more,
but you can’t take it out. Same with
salt and pepper. It doesn’t need to be
super smooth, it will have a little texture to it from the cheese and the
seeds, but make sure it’s a paste – do a little quality control test (taste
test) and adjust as needed! What I also
did was put it in a small pan to heat a little – on low, (while your fish is
cooking.)
Look how awesome of a cook you are!
When you’re ready to drop the cod – make sure you have
seasoned both sides with salt and pepper, and a little olive oil – use a not
stick pan and sear! Cod is very flaky,
so don’t worry if it’s falling apart a little bit (you honestly should have
seen mine), but it will still taste delicious!
When you’re finished, plate the risotto. Place the cod on top, and top it with your
pesto…..
AND ENJOY!!
How easy was that?
Super simple, super healthy, and SUPER delicious.
I hope you try it and enjoy it. If you have any questions or comments please
let me know!
Happy Cooking!
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