Day Two: Risotto with Roasted Tomatoes and Chicken

So I deviated from the original recipe on two fronts.  I added chicken so there would be some protein.  I also excluded some of the ingredients and cut down on the original portion amounts.  I wanted to try and make enough for dinner and to take leftovers for lunch.  I had added some herbs in place of the original fresh thyme leaves, which I didn’t find very appetizing.  I excluded this from the final ingredient list I’m posting.  I had never had risotto before so I was nervous about cooking it.  It looks pretty bad at the beginning but it really gets going at the end.  I found 1 cup to be more than enough and could probably be cut down to ½ cup.  In that case you would probably use half as much onion and chicken broth. 

I managed to get three of my favorite ingredients into this meal: tomatoes, cheese, and onion.  I seriously struggled cutting the onions so my pieces would definitely not qualify as “finely chopped” but it didn’t really make a difference in the final taste.  Not too much else to mention on this one.  If anyone happens to try it out let me know how it goes and if you have any suggestions.  I enjoyed having this dish for dinner and hope you do too!

Happy Cooking!

Ingredients:

•  1 Chicken Breast
• 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes
• ½ small white onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup Arborio rice
• 2 ½ low-sodium chicken broth
• ½ cup grated Parmesan
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°. 
2. Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of chicken breast.  Place chicken breast in an 8” baking pan and place tomatoes around the chicken.  Drizzle olive oil and salt over the tomatoes.  Place in oven and roast for 35 minutes.  Once done let cool for 10 minutes.
3. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
4. Add the finely chopped onion and cook for 3 minutes. 
5. Add the rice and stir constantly for 2 minutes.
6.  Add 1 cup of chicken broth, stirring frequently, until the liquid is absorbed.
7.  Add ¼ cup of chicken broth at a time, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is absorbed.  It should take about 20 minutes for the entire mixture to be absorbed. 
8. Remove from heat and stir in the Parmesan and sprinkling of salt and pepper.
9. Remove the chicken and tomatoes from the oven.  Let the tomatoes sit.  Cut the chicken into small pieces.
10. Stir in tomatoes and chicken pieces.