One of the most wonderful things I’ve experienced since I started my food blogger venture is the fantastic brands I’ve been lucky enough to meet – especially the Irish ones! Sadie’s Kitchen are a gorgeous Irish company I’ve become great pals with, who sell a lovely chicken bone broth product, and over the past 18 months have been growing like nobody’s business, expanding into the Irish Chopped chain selling their broth pots, and creating exciting NEW products coming very soon in 2018! With a recent launch of Sadie’s Kitchen’s new website, we figured it was a great opportunity for us to collaborate on some new recipes! You might have seen my previous recipes using Sadie’s broth – my Five-A-Day Lentil and Bean Stew and my Spinach and Chickpea Dahl! This risotto is a fresh creation I’ve been meaning to try for a while – my meal prep recipes are usually recipes like dahls, curries and stews – so I figured it was time to change it up! I love cooking with pearl barley, whether that’s served hot or cold in a salad – it has such a gorgeous nutty flavour and crunchy texture, as well as being a fantastic source of complex carbohydrate and that all-important fibre! So, let’s get cooking! Remember, as I detail in the ingredients below, you can of course make this risotto using simply vegetable or chicken stock to your preference, in place of the volume of Sadie’s broth that I have used.

Risotto in Tupperware with Seitan for Meal Prep

Recipe (Serves 5)

Ingredients

• 1.5 tsp of dried thyme
• 1.5 tsp of ground ginger
• 1.5 tsp of ground coriander
• 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil (for cooking)
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 white or red onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup of broccoli florets
• 200g of button mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
• 2 handfuls of fresh washed spinach leaves
• 250g of Pearl Barley, rinsed
• 1 pack (350ml) of Sadie’s Kitchen Chicken Bone Broth – or 500ml of vegetable or chicken stock
• 300ml of water
• A twist of black pepper

Method

1. Set a pot on a medium heat on the hob or stove, and add the olive oil.
2. Add the garlic and onions, and sweat the onions until translucent (usually 3-4 minutes).
3. Add the mushrooms and broccoli florets, then cook for another 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the thyme, coriander and ginger and mix well.
5. Add the pearl barley, followed by the broth (or stock) and water.
6. Stir everything together and bring to the boil.
7. Once at boil, turn the heat down to a simmer and simmer for 30-35 minutes until the pearl barley is cooked. Add extra liquid during this time if the risotto dries out – make sure to check on it every ten minutes or so!
8. Finally, add the spinach leaves and simmer for another 2-3 minutes while they wilt into the barley.
9. You’re good to go!

Enjoy guys! I am loving creating recipes with the gorgeous broth from Sadie’s – it’s so versatile as a product, not to mention the flavour! Tag me if you try this recipe out – @theirishbalance on Instagram/Twitter/Facebook!

Ciara 🙂 x