34 - saturday

for the past few weeks, I've been driving down to my mom's on saturday evenings to cook risotto.  it's become our thing.  I look forward to spending time with her once a week (get it while I can!) and she looks forward to not having to cook for herself.  sometimes I'll crash there, since the church I attend is just up the road and it makes sunday morning that much easier.

however, this week church is off the books because of tomorrow's race, and I need to spend my 8 hours in my own cozy bed. which means saturday night risotto (and my mom and sister, too) is coming to me. instead of our usual risotto, I'm making granotto - the same creamy preparation, but using a whole grain instead of arborio rice. I fell in love with granotto working as the business manager at an italian restaurant last year.

the seafood granotto at la masseria, prepared using pugliese farro

I'm making mine tonight with pearled barley, cannellini beans, and curly baby kale, finding inspiration in this recipe. since I'm trying to maximize productivity and procrastination, I capitalized on the fact that my run broke up the middle of my day by taking my post-run sweaty self to the kitchen. I diced up my onion (without tears, t, be proud), measured the barley, rinsed and drained the beans, and am rehydrating the kale as we speak.  I'll be able to keep working on data analysis right until my family arrives and when they do, I'll have all the prep done and cooking will be a breeze. win win.