Day 17: Pasta and Mushroom Risotto

Today was one of those rare days when I ate three full meals! This risotto with mushroom, chicken, and kale was my dinner. Does this seem like a weird combo? It made sense in my head and tasted good. That piece of chicken in the picture looks undercooked, which concerned me too, but I think it's just sort of dark there because it was chicken thigh. If I get salmonella I will let you all know.

I messed up a bit when I made this and cooked in the wrong order. I put the chicken in the pan last, which was definitely NOT the move. I did not think this through. I overestimated how long it would take for the rice to cook. I'm sharing the recipe as I should have done it, not how I actually did it. This recipe serves two. I added kale to this because I haven't been eating enough vegetables, but it's optional.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup of long grain white rice
• 1 boneless skinless chicken thigh, cubed into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 lb white mushrooms, cut into quarters or eighths depending on how big they are
• 5–6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• Grated parmesan
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 bunch kale, stems removed and shredded(optional)
• Shiitake mushroom powder (optional)

Steps

1. Start cooking the rice in a deep pan or a shallow pot. I have this pan situation that is somewhere in between a pan and a pot. It's like a huge deep pan or a big shallow pot. I used that. Use twice as much water as your rice. Add in the mushroom powder at this point if you're using it.
2. Sauté the garlic and onions in a different pan. Add the chicken in there too and brown it.
3. When the rice is almost cooked, add the milk, mushrooms, and butter as well as the cooked chicken, garlic, and onion.
4. Add kale and parmesan and stir. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve with more parmesan grated on top. Enjoy!

For lunch, I had a simple pasta situation going. I had almost enough Trader Joe's pesto tortellini left for two people, so I used the rest of that and added a bit of fusilli to round it out and make it a meal.

I cooked the pasta in Trader Joe's creamy tomato basil sauce and added grated parmesan on top. Honestly? It wasn't filling enough. I should have either cooked more pasta or added a more substantial protein to it. But honestly my stomach's been feeling weird lately because I've been consuming more sugar (in the form of those cookies I baked and Boom Chicka Pop) than actual nutrients lately. Eating real meals today was an attempt to reset that balance. I also need to be drinking a lot more water.

I don't have a picture of my breakfast, but on the days I do eat an actual breakfast I usually make oatmeal. I have a LOT of rolled oats from Quaker and Trader Joe's, from various sources. I have some that I bought myself before the crisis even hit (I used to eat breakfast almost every day when I had in-person classes and an internship so I bought a bunch of oats a while ago), some that Vamsi brought, some that was left in my dorm, and a giant container that my roommate bought then got sick of.

I prefer oat milk over regular milk for oatmeal because it doesn’t boil over as suddenly and I think it tastes better. But I am in quarantine and Vamsi prefers “oppression milk” and the grocery stores closest to me don’t have my preferred oat milk, which is Planet Oat extra creamy. So I just use regular whole milk for now.

If you are unfamiliar with oats and how to make oatmeal out of them, the first thing to know is that there are three types of oats.

My oatmeal recipe is below. Recipe is for one serving.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup milk
• a dash of salt

Steps

1. Heat the water and milk in a pot with a dash of salt. Watch it closely! It will go from looking still to boiling over in a matter of seconds because of the milk. Oat milk behaves more like water in that it bubbles, boils, then boils over.
2. Add the oats and stir. Lower the heat to the lowest it will go and cooked covered for a few minutes. You have to keep a close watch on it because it will boil over easily.
3. When it reaches a desired consistency, enjoy with whatever toppings! I like to use honey, brown sugar, or jam to add sweetness, and some frozen fruits.