Cooking day 2 and Tuesday Tip

I'm making another change -- instead of doing the carrots today, I'll do them tomorrow, post-CSA pickup (where I will get carrots).  Logical, right?

Today's recipe comes from a site I signed up for called The Fresh 20. There was a groupon for it a little while ago (groupons are gonna be the death of me, clearly), and I thought, eh, why not.  The site gives you 5 new recipes each week, along with step-by-step instructions and an organized shopping list.  Each meal is meant for about 4, which is perfect for us -- dinner and lunch the next day!  I signed up for the vegetarian version, of course, but there's also classic and gluten-free.  I haven't decided to cook an entire week of their recipes yet, but I may do that one of the next April weeks -- thus far, I've just picked out a bunch that I like and will try several of them for mushroom week.

Anyways, before I get to the recipe for today, have a Tuesday Tip. :)  We've been trying to figure out how to eat more salad and more fruit (though not necessarily together).  Having greens in the house doesn't always help -- we just don't do anything with them.  Some fruit is easier, such as apples (for me) or blueberries (for Mu).  For whatever reason, though, most other things fall by the wayside.  In experimenting, we've discovered a few things.  One, single-size portions help.  Two, variety really helps.  This is a little counter-intuitive -- if we have trouble going through a thing of berries, say, why would I get berries and mangos?  But actually, the variety, in combination with packing, gets us to eat more fruit!  Last night, for example, I packed a bunch of tupperwares with a few mango slices, a handful of raspberries, and a few strawberries -- and we've already started eating them.  Similarly, a salad with smaller amounts of more ingredients makes us eat salad.  Oh, and having small tupperwares of dressing to take along is great, too.  That way, the greens don't get soggy, and I also don't have to eat an undressed salad.  The only downside to this strategy is that it uses a large amount of tupperwares, but that's a minor issue to have.

Salad and fruit and dressing!

And with that, on to the recipe for today.  As I mentioned, this was from the Fresh 20 website.

Mushroom Pearl Barley Risotto
Ingredients
2 portobellos
1 cup dry pearl barley
1/4 cup dry white wine
4 cups veggie stock
1-2 cups water, if needed later
1/4 cup grated parmesan (I used more, probably about half a cup)
salt and pepper
thyme (I used pasta sprinkle, which has thyme and garlic and basil and oregano)
olive oil

Dice the portobellos.  They'll look pretty big, but they cook down a lot.  The recipe didn't say to remove the gills, so I didn't, but in retrospect, I probably should've.  It was nevertheless fine.  Saute the mushrooms in olive oil for 2-3 minutes, then add the barley and salt and thyme.  Saute for another 1-2 minutes.  Stir in the wine and cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid evaporates.  Stir in the stock in 1-cup increment, cooking until each batch evaporates.  If the barley still isn't cooked through when the stock is done, add water (I ended up adding about 1.5 more cups).  Once barley is ready, fold in parmesan and season with black pepper.

Recipe summary
Time: 1.5 hours, almost all hands-on.  Despite what the Fresh 20 thinks, this really isn't a weeknight recipe.  This made me kind of unhappy.
Serves: Theoretically, 4.  I think it'll be about 5 or 6 servings for us, though.

Oops, smear on the plate

Highlights/thoughts: I should've known that risotto takes a long time, but the recipe didn't have a time estimate, and given that it was meant to be a weeknight recipe, I was surprised at how long it took.  Also, the suggestion is to serve it with carrots, which would help the presentation -- it's very brown otherwise.  However, I can't imagine this serving 4 with a side!  I'm going to have to reconsider following their recipes exactly, since it looks like their portions are huge.  Also, watch the salt on this one.  My stock (which wasn't homemade) was pretty salty, and as it cooked down, I realized I should've added less salt at the beginning.
Would I make this again? Probably, or at least some variation of it.  It was really very easy, if long, and tastes creamy and rich without actually being too much so.