Yummy fresh summer food

Summer risotto - this recipes makes me so excited to walk to the farmer's market and buy fresh produce - sweet corn, tomatoes (my current favorite are Pink Lady heirlooms), and leeks. All of which are in season right now in California. It is also entirely vegan if you don't use the Parmesan cheese at the end. I love risotto because it tastes SO creamy and rich, but there is no cream or butter in it! It's like magic!!

Ingredients:

• 5 cups of stock (bring 6 cups of water to boil, then simmer, put leek tops, really well rinsed, and corn cobs in for flavoring, let simmer while prepping the rest of the ingredients)
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 2 cups thinly sliced leeks (white and tender green parts)
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1/4 cup dry white wine (pick a tasty one because after you add the 1/4 cup the recipe you can enjoy the rest with your dinner!)
• 2 cups of kernels scraped from sweet corn (approx 2 ears)
• 1-2 pounds of ripe, juicy tomatoes, seeded & diced (peeling optional)
• 2 tsps minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• 1 cup torn basil leaves
• grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
• milled sea salt & pepper to taste

How to make the deliciousness:

1. Make the stock - bring 6 cups water to boil, add leek tops and corn cobs, let simmer while you prep the rest of the risotto
2. In a heavy sauce pan heat the olive oil (med heat). Saute the leeks for 2-3 min (until soft). Stir in the rice, saute for 2-3 min (until translucent). Add the wine - let simmer until absorbed.
3. Add the corn, tomatoes, garlic and thyme - stir.
4. Add the stock 1/2 cup at at a time - stir until absorbed - heat may need to be adjusted to increase absorption - if you increase the heat make sure to keep stirring or the risotto will stick to the pot (that's bad). Adding all the stock takes about 20-30 min.
5. Add basil at the end.
6. Serve in bowls, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese (optional).

Enjoy!!!

This recipe was adopted from The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen by Peter Berley.