Creamy Coconut Asparagus Risotto
Alternatively titled, “How to make really creamy risotto.”
So this coconut risotto was inspired by this post by Kath. I saw her mention it and had to make it right away. I mean, what a good idea, RIGHT?!
Side note: What did you eat for Cinco de Mayo? Was it cheesy? Tell me about it. Especially if it involved cheese or margaritas. I didn’t eat this coconut risotto…I had margaritas and tacos and chips. But I felt the need to take a break from risotto talk to talk about Mexican food. Tell me what ya had.
Back to the risotto. I did switch things up a bit and added asparagus into the coconut risotto. I thought it was a nice addition and a way to vegetable up my life a bit. It’s a change from traditional risotto, but it works.
Speaking of changes, I cut my hair yesterday. It’s really not that different. My hair has been the same blah length for too long so now it’s right below my shoulders when before it was at my like mid-back. I have really fine, curly hair so it breaks mega easy and leaves me with hair going all the directions. I rarely put any heat on it because (1) i’m lazy and (2) it breaks so easily and ends up looking worse than it would have if I just would have let it air dry. I think. Now that I’m done with my dietetic internship and venturing out into the real world I feel like I should start making more of an effort. But we’ll see.
Random thought: I really feel like taking a kickboxing class right now. I just want to punch something. I’m not angry. I just feel like punching. Maybe I’ll Billy Blanks it in my living room later. That always really confuses my dog.
Do you see my octopus dish towel (^^^). My mom got it for me. It’s my favorite. I think it’s from California. Just another example of how all the best things in life come from California<3.
In other news, Andrew is about to go crazy because I keep singing Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush” song. He hates it. Or now that I’ve sang it so much he hates it. It is quite a downer of a song. Rather depressing. But I still like it.
So this risotto. The coconut milk makes it creamy and the asparagus makes it vegetable-filled. It works. You can top it with whatever protein your heart desires…crispy chickpeas, tofu, chicken, scallops, shrimp. I went with salmon that I bought pre-marinated from my grocery store.
Make this. Tell me what protein you add. And definitely drizzle the whole thing with chili oil.
Creamy Coconut Asparagus Risotto
Risotto made with coconut milk for the creamiest risotto ever.
Yield: makes 4 side dishes
Prep Time: 10
Cook Time: 40
Total Time: 50 minutes
Ingredients:
Coconut Risotto
1 cup arborio rice
2 (13.5 oz) cans light coconut milk
1/3 cup shaved parmesan cheese
1/2 cup small onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 bunch asparagus, washed & trimmed
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Chili oil sauce
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small lime, juiced
1 teaspoon sriracha sauce
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400ºF. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss asparagus with 2 tablespoons olive oil and a sprinkle of salt/pepper. Bake for 15 minutes, stirring once halfway through. Remove from oven and chop into 1" pieces. Set aside. If you're serving this with salmon, you can bake your salmon at this time also.
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add in onions and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 7 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, ~1 minute. Stir in arborio rice and cook for 2 minutes. Pour in 1 can light coconut milk and increase heat to bring mixture to a simmer. Stir frequently until coconut milk is absorbed. Then add in 1/2 of the next coconut milk can. Stir (being sure to scrape the bottom of the pan) until the coconut milk absorbs into the rice. Then add in the remaining coconut milk and stir until absorbed. Stir in parmesan, salt and chopped asparagus.
Make sauce by whisking together olive oil, lime juice and sriracha. Top rice with protein of choice and drizzle with sauce.
I bought my salmon pre-marinated at the grocery store. HEB does a great job.
