Carrot-ginger-coconut risotto with carrot-top pesto

Friends, I was positively desperate for some creative time in the kitchen last night and am glad I put my foot down to putter and cook.

I'd gone to the market earlier and picked up a gorgeous bunch of fresh carrots with an excess of feathery green tops as well as a can of coconut milk for no good reason except that it was on sale. When I got home, I came across the lone ghost pepper I'd bought last week.

Jack is fascinated by ghost peppers' second-place ranking on the Scoville heat index. You don't often see ghost peppers around here, so when I saw it, I snapped it up for fun. He circled it warily for a few days before deciding exploration, much less a straight taste, wasn't worth it. 

As I made dinner for the boys and then started on our squash-based side dish, I noodled on the carrots and coconut milk and it being Monday which I like to try and make meatless. 

Risotto!

I washed and spun the carrot tops as well as the greens from a bunch of radishes I'd bought for Oliver.

Pesto!

And then it all coalesced into a coconut-carrot-ginger risotto with a bit of heat from the ghost pepper and a cool, colorful bit of zip from a fresh carrot top pesto. 

I was thrilled. This dish is hearty but not weighty, comforting but still sunny. I loved enjoying the small bowl of leftovers today for lunch.

A bit of beauty in food and sky

I should have finished packing by now but instead am procrastinating like it's my job. Have I mentioned to you that I hate packing? Loathe it? Yes, likely a million times. 

In any case, I've got underwear, business cards, a nightgown and toothbrush packed, so clearly I'm in good shape. If BlogHer has changed significantly and all we do is hand out cards from our hotel rooms whilst dressed in pjs.

Alas. It'll happen.

Keeping this short because of the above, but I wanted to share a few bits of beauty with you. The sky some nights back, and last night's dinner: my lovely Manchego and Rosemary Risotto. 

manchego and rosemary risotto

On tap for tonight, the always divine Caramelized Shallot, Cabbage and Tasso Tart. Gotta leave T with some leftovers because #men.

A mighty risotto

Peeps, because I couldn't stop thinking about the arancini I devoured last Friday night at The Magpie, I decided to make my own. But I don't love to fry things at home and wanted more of a meal than an appetizer. As such, risotto.  After all, the two dishes utilize the same primary ingredient -rice- so this was sure to be an easy adaptation. And it was. I sauteed some shallots, garlic and rosemary in equal parts butter and olive oil, added the rice, deglazed with white wine, added broth a half cup at a time until the rice was creamy and then stirred in a blend of young and more mature Manchego cheese. Tom took one bite and sighed happily. This risotto sang, perfect in its simplicity and utilization of high-quality harmonious ingredients. I will post the recipe for you ASAP, under Non-Pasta Lunch and Dinner Entrees. I'd hoped to serve this with shrimp but the kids lost it in the seafood section so we had to bail on that final idea. Alas, this would be lovely with grilled shrimp and lovingly prepared scallops. But then again, it was sublime on its own, too.