Recipe: Low fat creamy-cheesey Risotto

Ah risotto. A delicious dish that traditionally aint so good for the waste. What with the oil, butter, cream even, white high GI rice and then cheese on the top, fried rice (without oil) is a much better choice.
But sometimes I crave a thick gooey cheesey dish, to warm the cockles of the heart. And then IBS jumps up and says "Ha! With 10-20g fat per serve, rissotto is a no-no"

Well not anymore. Enter cheats risotto! Now this recipe you can adapt to your calorific needs. Mine was less than 400 cal less than 5g fat and enough for dinner with some gai choi.

My recipes are always easy and cheaty - i like ones I can remember off my head.

Low fat creamy-cheesey Risotto

Amount of rice you want. If you are having it plain, vegetarian, you'll have cals to play with. just being to the gym I used 65g of Basmati rice.
Vegetables - onions (I used 60g) mushrooms (50g) peas and corn
Pepper
garlic (about 1/2 tsp)
3/4 tsp reduced salt Chicken stock powder = 3/4 ready made (if you use ready made, you may lose falvour during the cooking if you microwave)
1 slice 50% less fat cheese (i used bega. You can also use parmesan if you want biter, but measure your cals and fat)

1. Dont rinse the rice. Cook garlic on high for about 20 sec in a spare dish. Set aside
2. Cook rice in the microwave (i used a mircowave rice cooker, but a big dish will do) with extra water.
3. Keep stirring and cooking until the water is absorbed. Add stock powder and garlic. Add more water and cook until desired consistancy is reached. About 15 mins. At the same time i prepped the veggies. Add the veggies when almost done.
3. Rip up the cheese. Transfer the risotto into the bowl you are going to eat it in and stir through the cheese. Cover with wrap and clean up the messy kitchen. Pop it back in the microwave, stir, go to your room with a big glass of water (its HOT) and enjoy!

Voila! No oil or butter and really easy. When I did this with chicken it was much better (flavour) and a bit more satisfying, even with less rice.

To lower cals you could use cottage cheese (creamed) but it might be a bit funny. havent tried it yet. Or instead of cheese, cos its not nesseary, you could use a bit of milk, or just cook the rice a bit more.

Also try asparagus in there. Yummy. Or serve half as much as a side to a nice grilled chicken. You can also try a pumpkin version - you can try vegetable stock, and add some pureed pumpkin which would make it 'creamier'

Here's an oven baked risotto that looks nice too