Risotto is the perfect dish to make for company or a family gathering. Yes it takes time to make, but if you prep everything in advance then when your guests or family are all gathered in the kitchen you can begin your magic. Cooking risotto in the kitchen all alone is no fun, but when you have people over its really fun to have them watch you transform all the ingredients into an amazing and creamy risotto.

You must use arborio rice for risotto. I do not like to use a lot of butter in cooking, but when I do I buy butter from grass fed cows since I found out that it is higher in Omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin K2 than butter and thus is healthier for you. I also like low sodium broth so I can control the salt to my taste.

Wash your asparagus, then cut the tough ends off and discard. Cut the tips off and place in a small bowl to save for a garnish. Grab a few stems at a time and cut into small coins.

Cut the ends off the shallot and peel.

Slice the shallot lengthwise thinly. Then finely dice the shallot .

Grate 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese. Then use a vegetable peeler to shave the Parmesan for garnish.

Have all your ingredients prepped before your begin cooking. You have the tips, the cheese, the asparagus coins, the shallots, the rice and the wine all ready to go.

Measure the chicken broth into a small pot and turn the heat on medium high. You want it to come to a simmer.

In a medium pan add your shallots and 1 tablespoon butter. Turn the heat on medium and saute for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once your broth is simmering add your asparagus tips. Reduce your heat to low and cook the tips for 5-6 minutes.

After the shallots have sauteed for 3 minutes add your rice and saute for 2 minutes more, stirring occasionally. This adds a nutty toasted flavor to the rice.

After the rice has sauteed for 2 minutes add the wine. Stir till the wine has evaporated. Now remove the asparagus tips from the broth, and set aside. Begin adding the warm broth to the rice 1/2 cup at a time. You want the rice to absorb most of the liquid before adding more. You will continue adding broth and stirring for 20 minutes. You can not walk away from this process. After 20 minutes you will add your asparagus coins and your last 1/2 cup of broth. Cook for 5-8 minutes more, stirring occasionally.

After 25-28 minutes add your Parmesan cheese, remaining 1 tablespoon butter, and salt. Taste for saltiness and adjust to your liking. Turn heat to low till cheese melts for 1-2 minutes. Serve immediately.

aSPARAGUS RISOTTO

Serves: 2-4 people (depending on used as a side dish or main dish)
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 35 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup arborio rice
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
1 1/2 cups asparagus stems chopped, usually one bunch of asparagus (roughly 3/4 pounds) (save the tips for garnish)
1/4 cup shallot, diced finely
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated, plus Parmesan shavings for garnish
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt

pREPARATION

After you have washed your asparagus, cut off the tough ends and discard. Then cut off the tips and place in a small bowl. Grab a few stems at a time and cut into coins about 1/4" thick. Place in another bowl and set aside.
Peel your shallot and cut each end off. Then thinly slice the shallot lengthwise. Now cut across the slices to make a fine dice. You do not want any big chunks of shallot.
Grate your Parmesan cheese. Set aside in a bowl. Then using a vegetable peeler make Parmesan shavings for your garnish.
Measure your chicken broth into a small pan and turn on medium high heat. Once the broth is simmering add your asparagus tips to cook them. Reduce heat to low.
Add your shallots and 1 tablespoon butter to a medium size pan. Turn the heat on medium and sauté the shallots for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Now add your rice to the shallot mixture. You will cook the rice, shallot mixture for 2 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
Now add your wine to the rice mixture.
Remove the tips from the broth mixture and set aside.
Once the wine has evaporated, begin ladling the chicken broth into your rice mixture 1/2 cup at a time. You want the rice to slowly absorb the liquid before adding more liquid. You will keep stirring and adding broth for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes add your last 1/2 cup of broth and your asparagus coins to the risotto mixture. Stir to combine.
Cook the risotto for 5-8 more minutes. Then add the Parmesan cheese, the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, and salt. Taste for saltiness. Turn heat to low to melt the Parmesan for 1-2 minutes.
Garnish with the asparagus tips and Parmesan shavings.
SERVE IMMEDIATELY!!!

Note: This makes the perfect meal served with a simple arugula salad, and equally delicious as a side dish with salmon or chicken.

Note: Risotto is the perfect company food since everyone is standing in the kitchen drinking and eating appetizers and they can all watch you prepare the delicious risotto right in front of their eyes. How awesome is that!

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These chicken meatballs are so much healthier and lighter than traditional meatballs made with ground beef. If you are on a paleo diet these meatballs are legal since they do not contain any breading or cheese. I added fresh chopped spinach to the recipe for both color and added nutrition. They are great on top on spaghetti noodles, but if you are trying to stay away from carbohydrates they are equally delicious on zucchini noodles...which are colorful, healthy, and delicious!

I prefer ground chicken thighs over ground turkey or ground chicken. Thigh meat is more moist and has more flavor than breast meat in my opinion. I usually buy marinara...there are so many good ones at Whole Foods. I like the Monte Bene brand pictured above, but I also like Organico Bello. I also add nutritional yeast, which you can leave off if can not find it. It basically replaces the parmesan cheese that I normally put in my meatballs. My husband are both trying to lose weight so we cut out dairy as much as possible during the week. I garnish the dish with fresh basil, but if can not find it, no biggie, it simply adds a little zip to your dish.

If you are following a paleo diet or if you are trying to reduce dairy in your diet you may have seen nutritional yeast in recipes. It is a deactivated yeast that is produced specifically to be healthy. It is also gluten free and vegan, and can be used the same way you would use parmesan cheese. Its yummy sprinkled on popcorn!

I use a half of a 5 ounce box of fresh spinach in this recipe. Chop the spinach up finely and set aside. You need one cup chopped spinach, but if you eyeball grabbing half the box, there is no need to measure.

Add the chicken, chopped spinach, nutritional yeast, grated onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, oregano, salt and pepper to a medium size bowl. I like to grate the onion so you do not get chunks of onion. When you grate an onion you will also get onion juice which helps flavor the meatballs. Grate the onion in separate bowl, so you measure it the first time. Then in the future you can grate it right into the chicken mixture. You need about 1/2 of small onion, or 1/3 of a larger onion.

Wash your hands and start mixing up the mixture with your hands. Its the best way to distribute everything, and it feels awesome to squish the mixture between your fingers.

Grab a cookie sheet line and line it with parchment paper or foil, for easy clean up. Put a little olive oil on your hands and roll the balls a little smaller than a golf ball. You will get about 25 to 30 balls. Half way through, you will need to wash your hands and put oil on them again. Your hands get too chickeny and the balls start looking messy...which is the time to stop, wash, and oil.

First pour your marinara in a large pot and turn burner to low heat to heat up your sauce. Pull out a large skillet and turn heat on medium high, let the pan heat up and then put in 3 tablespoons olive oil. Place meatballs in pan and let brown, turning them so they can brown on all sides. I like to use tongs for turning the meatballs. Once they are browned you can place them in the marinara and let them finish cooking in the marinara, or you can reduce the heat, put a lid on your skillet, and finish cooking them in the original skillet. They will not stay round and perfect, and that is OK. They will have been made with love, they will taste great, and some balls will look better than other ones...such as life!!

My beautiful imperfect chicken meatballs!

If you can find fresh basil, roll up couple of leaves like a cigar and finally cut the basil into chiffonades for your garnish.

The meatballs are great on top of zucchini noodles or spaghetti noodles. Either way they will be delicious!!

CHICKEN MEATBALLS RECIPE

Serves 4 as a main dish

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Cooking Time: 25 MInutes

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 pounds ground chicken thighs
1 cup finely chopped spinach (1/2 of a 5 ounce box)
1/4 cup grated onion with the juice (1/2 of a small onion)
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (or parmesan cheese)
One 24 ounce jar of marinara
3 tablespoons olive oil
fresh basil for garnish

preparation

Chop up your spinach finely and set aside.
Grab a medium size bowl, add the chicken, the spinach, the grated onion with its juice, garlic, red pepper flakes, oregano, salt, and nutritional yeast. Leave off the red pepper flakes if you do not like spicy food.
Combine the chicken mixture with your hands, making sure all the ingredients are combined.
Grab a cookie sheet and line with parchment paper or foil (for easy clean up).
Oil your hands and begin rolling the mixture into balls a little smaller than a golf ball. Place on your cookie sheet. Halfway through this process your hands will become coated in chicken, and the meatball rolling will be difficult. Simple wash your hands, oil your hands, and start again.
Heat up the marinara in a large pot with a lid on low heat.
Heat up a large skillet on medium high heat. Let your pan get hot first. Then add your oil and add your meatballs one by one. After they begin to brown keep turning them till all the sides are browned. You are not trying to cook the meatballs at this stage, just simply putting some color on them. As you turn them they may lose their perfect round shape.
At this point you can put the meatballs in your warming marinara, put the lid on, and simmer for 20 minutes. Do not put the oil from the saute pan in the marinara. Alternatively, you can put a lid on the skillet you browned the meatballs in, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. It really depends on how you want to serve your meatballs...whether in a sauce or resting on the sauce!
Serve on zucchini noodles, or noodles of your choice. Garnish with the basil.

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