As a half-assed gardener with a strong brown thumb, the one thing I manage to successfully grow year after year is a surplus of zucchini. Don’t ask me why – I have no clue. Perhaps it’s the winning combination of neglect and a moist, rainy climate. At any rate, each year I have more zucchini than I could ever possibly eat, and a freezer full of shredded zucchini that takes up space. One can eat only so much zucchini bread, after all.
What the heck is risotto and how does it do that thing it does? Hey, I though rice was an Asian thing, not Italian? Ok, here’s a quick breakdown for you. Risotto is indeed an Italian rice dish, more specifically a Northern Italian rice dish. Usually round, medium or short grain, the most common types of rice used for making risotto are Aborio, Carnaroli, Maratelli and Vialone Nano. You’ll have the most luck finding Aborio in American grocery store, but the latter three are truly the best when it comes to a killer risotto.
Long, long ago, and in a faraway place, a restless wandering teen found herself at a rainbow picnic in a drizzly Northwestern city. There she ate some tofu, and Lo! It was delicious, which nobody had ever expected…
Anyway, that was me and I still occasionally experiment with tofu because I know it can be done and I want to see if I can do it. I like a challenge, and, if you know more than three people (vegan or not) who actually get excited to eat the quivery blobs then, well, you know different people than me, I guess.
Regardless of whether or not I can come up with an articulate sentence about the stuff, flatbread is definitely having a moment, and it’s surprisingly easy to make if you have the time. Versatile, too, making delicious sandwiches or quesadillas even though it isn’t quite bread and isn’t quite tortillas, either. I have big plans to try baking some into dip chips in the unlikely event that I ever have leftovers.
