Yum!

Tonight I made the Spinach and Artichoke Risotto, with the carrot salad that was recommended by Moosewood as an accompaniment. I veered off the recipe a little - I used chicken stock, rather than veggie, since that is what was in the pantry and I didn't pay close attention to how much spinach was needed for the recipe so I only bought one 5 oz. bag, so I had to use half the spinach. I also used less dill, 1 tablespoon dried dill seemed like way too much. It's not my favorite flavor, I definitely think it has it's place in the background, but I thought 1 tablespoon would dominate the dish. I think I ended up using about half a tablespoon. I used a bit less feta, too, 1 cup seemed excessive. Wow, that's a lot of changes . . . I'm trying really hard to follow the recipes, since I can't really comment on a recipe if I mess with it too much, but I have trouble not tweaking things. Anyway, Dan and I both thought the risotto we ended up with was very good. Dan is a feta fiend, so of course he loved feta standing in for the Parmigiana. He did comment that he could have done with a bit less dill, so I think reducing it was a good idea (I'll reduce it even more next time!). I would definitely make this again, I think I like classic risotto better, but without all the butter and Parmigiana this better for everyday meals.
Even thought the carrot salad was really simple( just grated carrot, raspberry vinaigrette and parsley), it was really tasty. It was nice and fresh, light and a bit sweet; a good counter to the richer risotto. I likely wouldn't have made this salad if it wasn't recommended, it just didn't sound that interesting, but Dan and I were both pleasantly surprised. I think these will both be added to the repertoire.
Oh, and I used a South African chenin blanc (Man, 2008) in the recipe and drank the remainder with dinner. Not a bad wine, especially for $10.