The triple crown

 I pay my bills on-time.  I drive a rust-free car.  I have a career that suits me well.  I am skilled at accessorizing an oufit and mixing prints with solids.  But you know what would really give me a sense of accomplishment?  Managing to have my nails manicured, my brows neat and tidy, and a clean kitchen.  Never have I achieved all three at the same time.  On a good day I'm 2 for 3.  Perfect polish, stainless steel that gleams, and brows that rival Bert's from "Sesame Street" if he were blonde.  The triple crown eludes me, but 2012 could be the year I pull it off.   

At the very least I can say that tonight I accomplished risotto for the first time.  I'd always assumed it was too time-consuming, but this was manageable, and the result is worth sharing.  This recipe is pulled from the January issue of "Cooking Light" magazine.   

Sausage & Spinach Risotto
3 cups fat-free low sodium chicken broth (I had veggie broth on hand and used that instead- no biggie)
1 cup water
1 Tbsp olive oil
8 oz package pre-sliced mushrooms
5 ounces sweet Italian sausage (I used the whole 16 oz package- what the heck would I do with the remaining 11 ounces?)
1/2 cup chopped shallots
3 garlic cloves, minced (I used refrigerated chopped garlic- about 1 tsp)
1 cup uncooked Arborio rice
1/3 cup dry white wine (I used red.  Wine is wine.)
1 6-oz package fresh spinach (I used the whole 9 oz bag, making Popeye proud)
1/4 cup shaved Romano cheese

1. Bring broth and 1 cup water to a simmer in a small saucepan, but do not boil.  Keep warm over low heat.
2. Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add oil; swirl to coat.  Add mushrooms to pan and cook for 8 minutes or until nicely browned.  Side-note: at this step in the cooking process, my husband came into the kitchen and said "why does it smell like fish food in the house?"  Great start to this recipe.  Remove mushrooms from pan and set aside.
3. Add sausage to pan and cook until browned, crumbling as you cook.  Add shallots and garlic; cook 1 minute stirring constantly.  Reduce heat to medium.  Add rice; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Stir in wine and cook until liquid is nearly absorbed, scraping pan to loosen browned bits.
4. Stir in 1 cup broth mixture; cook for 2 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly.  Add remaining broth mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of broth mixture is absorbed before adding the rest (about 30 min total).  Remove pan from heat.  Add mushrooms back, and add spinach, stirring until wilted.  Top evenly with cheese.

I think an appropriate sub-title to this recipe would be "Stirring constantly."  That's a bit misleading though.  I took breaks to Tivo upcoming shows for this week and it still turned out just fine.  Here is the finished recipe, which rest assured did not smell like fish food.

Makes 4 1-1/2 cup servings.  Per serving: 360 calories, 12 g fat, 46 g carbs, 20 g protein.

Now, where did I put those tweezers?