quick and easy meals for 1 or 2

Risotto with a Mexican twist


First we’re going to start tomorrow’s meat marinating for some great marinated flank steak. Down here in Mexico they call it “aracara”.

This is for 2-4 servings. Depends how piggy you and the gang are.

1-1/4lbs. flank steak

In a large plastic zip lock freezer bag put about
¾ cup olive oil
1 cup red wine,
¾ tbsp. dried basil
2 dashes of balsamic vinegar
juice from 1 lime then toss in the skins
a few dashes of salt and pepper
about a tbsp. of paprika
2 dashes of garlic powder

zip the bag shut and somersault the bag in your hands until all the stuff is mixed. Add the steak, zip it shut and somersault it some more. Unzip it a little bit and squeeze the air out. Zip it shut, get the steak as flat as possible so as much of the surface is covered with the marinade as possible. Lay it flat in the fridge and let it marinade for at least 6 hours. Over night is good. Turn the whole thing over once, or more if you want. Tomorrow we’ll do the veggies and carb. It’s easy.

Now the risotto. We start with a basic risotto recipe. We’ve done it before.

2 tbsp. of butter
1 tbsp. of olive oil
about ¾ cup chopped onion
salt and pepper to taste
½ cup white wine
1 cup rice
2 cups hot chicken stock or bullion

Then
1 cup frozen (or canned) corn
1 cup frozen peas
1 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
1 small can hardez salsa. We like cesera


In a med sauce pan med/high heat put about a tbsp. of olive oil and a tbsp. of butter. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Add the rice and stir until the rice is coated. Add the wine and cook until the wine is mostly absorbed stirring often. Start adding the hot stock 1 cup at a time as it gets absorbed by the rice. Stir it often. It’s going to want to stick as it gets less liquidy. I use something to stir it that has a flat edge, like a burger flipper or a wooden spoon with a straight end to it so I get as much of the rice as possible off the bottom while I'm stirring. When the last of the stock is almost absorbed taste a grain or 2 of the rice to see if it’s done. If not keep adding water and stirring until it’s as chewy or mushy as you want. Add the rest of the butter and the rest of the stuff. Stir as the new stuff gets hot and serve. Some times we add some chicken torn off a roasted chicken from the store. Some times peeled and deveined shrimp and stir while they cook and turn pink. It just takes a couple of min. for shrimp to get pink and done. Some times we just put the whole roasted chicken from the store on the table and pick at it while we eat the rice with some tortillas and drink the rest of that wine.