So I have been really enjoying lately getting into foods that cook themselves. I don’t know whether this is a coincidence or what, but it makes organizing yummy and healthy foods much easier because most of these methods allow me to omit virtually oil etc and be scrupulously aware of the ingredients I am using, without being a massive PITA. So I have the slow cooker and the big iron pots, but the other day I discovered something which had never occurred to me, and was totally prompted by trying to come up with a meal using just what I had in the house.

Got a new rice cooker and noticed that the little recipe book had some recipes for rice cooker risotto. Now I quite like risotto, but find it can be finicky and Hub isn’t always a great fan of the way I make it. So the other day I noticed that I had pretty much everything I needed for one of the recipes in the house. Seeing as this coincided with me being way too unethused to go shopping it was a goer.

I am officially on board with the rice cooker risotto idea. Risotto in the rice cooker is super easy and makes very nice risotto with minimum of finicks, plus it is absolutely designed to regulate portion control.

So far we have experimented with a couple of different recipes which have been a great hit. The only requirements is that the ingredients have to require a relatively limited amount of cooking or otherwise need to be cooked in advance. Simply put, you spray the rice cooker bowl with some oil spray or a dash of olive oil, and put it on the cook setting for one minute. Then you add finely diced onion and/or garlic and whatever herbs you might want to use. Stir until the onions are mostly cooked then add some Arborio rice and the right amount of stock. Stick the lid on and forget it until it flips from cook to warm. Then stir in some parmesan and whatever other ingredients you have decided on and any final seasoning. Leave on warm setting for 10 mins or until it tastes ready.

That is all there is to it – with a little bit of prep you can have a yummy healthy dinner cooking away for you in the background leaving you free to watch Boston Legal to your heart’s content.

We have used this technique for a chicken tomato and basil risotto (add chopped tomato and thinly sliced grilled chicken) and for a chicken, spinach and mushroom risotto so far (baby spinach, grilled chicken and sliced mushrooms) and both were excellent.