Roasted Chicken with Maple Butternut Squash Risotto

Two of my absolute favourite things to cook are the jumping off point for this fantastic Sunday (or any other night) dinner... roast chicken and risotto. I see both as blank canvases where you can add seasonal flavours or elements to make a crowd-pleasing meal at any point during the year. A roast chicken and risotto in spring might feature loads of lemon, mint, and young new green peas. A roast chicken and risotto in the winter might feature root vegetables from the cold room, rosemary, and lots of red wine. 

On the cusp of a short fall and a clawing winter, I felt like this sort of comforting, transformative meal was exactly what our household needed after a long overdue weekend of relaxation and home time.

We visited our favourite Bridgeland Market on the weekend to gather some ingredients and also get our pumpkin for the annual market pumpkin giveaway... the jumping off point for the meal came as I walked down one of the aisles and spotted a can of Farmer's Market organic butternut squash (check out their products and the great recipes on their website.. I have bookmarked a few already). It seemed like the perfect starting place for this meal.

Roasted Chicken with Garlic and Herbes de Provence

Maple Butternut Squash Risotto

Maple Gravy

Asparagus Risotto

Risotto is one of those things that is wonderfully malleable. You can take the basic risotto and add to it whatever ingredients you are seasonal… or are just plain being craved by you at that moment. Master the basic cooking process and you have a great launching pad for an impressive and satisfying meal.

Right now, asparagus is fresh, in season and available locally. You can’t beat asparagus in May. It’s not woody or tough but rather tender and bright. I will even eat it raw, sliced up into a salad. As such, this risotto is a homage to asparagus.

Many mushroom risotto

I planned to get together with one of my -we call each other on our birthdays- friends to celebrate her birthday. Our usual catch-up tradition is to have a nice dinner together, drink a bottle (or possibly more) of wine and cackle the night away with the Wii. Though we only manage to coordinate our schedules every few months, we never seem to skip a beat.

Text messages exchanged: So Friday... Do you like mushrooms? Response: I love mushrooms!

And here was born our mushroom risotto...

Risotto is one of my favourite things to make. It is such a fantastic canvas for a spectacular meal... with whatever you have in the fridge or with a long-sought ingredient.

Exotic rice pudding

All I wanted after this past wintery weekend in Banff was some sort of subtly sweet and warm... After lazing on the couch for a few minutes, I couldn't wait a moment longer and had to get back into my kitchen. Oh... how I missed it this weekend!

I have been thinking about making rice pudding for weeks now... and figured that this was the perfect time to check that off of the foodie to do list!