Summer cooking:: part 1

I love summer food. The ingredients coming out of my yard and local farmer's markets are so inspiring. We had some mushrooms leftover from another recipe and I decided to figure out how to do a mushroom risotto.

I have a standard recipe from Moosewood Low-Fat Favorites that I can make in my sleep with my eyes closed (well, not really...) but I had never tried it with mushrooms. I couldn't figure out how to incorporate the mushrooms in the steps with sauteing the onions, then adding the rice to the oil, then adding the wine, then the broth... how was I supposed to get those mushrooms to release their delicious flavors? I frantically called a few of my foodie friends who would have known the scoop... but no one answered! I punted, and just sauteed them in a separate pan til they were soft and dreamy, then deglazed the pan with a little of the broth for the risotto, resulting in a dark, rich mushroomy liquid that I added to the risotto a few minutes before it was done. The results? A big thumbs up from Ron. And Louise. The boys? Not so much. A shave of fresh romano to the top, and voila... a delicious, beautiful summer dinner.

The salad is one from a Bon Appetit magazine a while back, with grape seed oil and white balsamic vinegar in the dressing, along with a shallot and some spices. Light and perfect. Added a few broken up pieces of bacon and almonds sauteed in the bacon grease (because I didn't have the pancetta it called for on hand)... a complex flavored salad. The other side dish has sugar snap peas, green beans and mushrooms along with basil and mint from the garden. What a flavor! Another dish from Moosewood Low Fat.