Chase Cold-Weather Blues Away With Risi E Bisi

Risi e Bisi, or Italian Rice and Peas, has all the attributes necessary to qualify as adult comfort food. It’s warm enough to chase away the endof-winter blues, and it’s soft and creamy-tasting and quite filling.

But unlike most comfort foods, this one is low in fat. Just 13 percent of the calories in this hearty dish come from fat.

This streamlined version of a traditional Northern Italian risotto is made with just one tablespoon each of butter and olive oil and a quarter-cup of Parmesan cheese, but no cream. It tastes creamy because it’s made with arborio rice. The extra starch in arborio gives it a creamy texture when cooked. You have to stir the rice frequently as it cooks and add liquid in increments, which gives the dish a gooey but not mushy consistency.

Risi e Bisi makes a delicious meal for four (with plenty of leftovers for lunch) when served with a green salad and some whole-wheat bread.

Risi e Bisi

2 (14-1/2-ounce) cans fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth, or 3-1/2 cups homemade chicken broth

1-1/2 cups water

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 large cloves garlic, minced or crushed through a press

2 cups dry arborio rice

1 teaspoon salt

5 sun-dried tomatoes, softened in water and chopped

1/2 cup dry sherry or dry white wine

1 (10-ounce) box frozen green peas

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Combine the broth and water and bring to a boil. Set aside.

In a large kettle, melt the butter and olive oil together over mediumhigh heat. Saute the onion and garlic in the oil until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes.

Stir in the rice, salt and sun-dried tomatoes and saute for 1 minute, stirring to coat evenly with the butter and oil mixture. Add the sherry or dry white wine and stir constantly until it comes to a boil and is absorbed by the rice.

Add about 1 cup of the broth mixture and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Keep adding the hot broth by 1-cup increments, stirring frequently. Just before adding the last cup of broth, stir in the peas. When all the broth has been added, stir in the Parmesan cheese and the balsamic vinegar. Serve immediately.

Yield: 7 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 348 calories, 4.8 grams fat (12 percent fat calories), 10 grams protein, 60 grams carbohydrate, 7 milligrams cholesterol, 705 milligrams sodium.

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