It’s pretty well known that calcium is great for keeping teeth strong and healthy, so as part of National Smile Month, our friends over at Wild Child Kitchen have come up with a delicious calcium enriched recipe for the whole family. There are lots of natural sources of calcium that we might not all be aware of, so Wild Child Kitchen have suggested a couple of good ones for us. If you don’t know much about Wild Child Kitchen, they produce great tasting, healthy fridge and freezer meals for kids. They are especially good for children with dairy and gluten allergies, so if your little foodie wants to check out some big flavours then head to their website and have a read of their menu.
Dairy Free Calcium Risotto
A delicious and nutritious dairy-free, calcium-enriched risotto for the whole family. We’ve chosen foods naturally high in calcium – broccoli, spinach and tofu. However, depending on the time of year and availability of produce, you can easily swap in seasonal vegetables.
Did you know that 100g of tofu contains 350mg of calcium, compared to the equivalent amount of cow’s milk which contains 120mg? Spinach and broccoli are two of the highest calcium-containing vegetables around. A 100g serving of spinach contains 99mg of calcium, while the same amount of broccoli contains 47mg.
Vitamin D helps our bodies absorb calcium. We get most of our Vitamin D from sunlight but for an extra fix you can buy tofu which is fortified with Vitamin D. This is one of the best sources of plant-based Vitamin D out there with an average 157 International Units per 100g – almost 40% of the daily recommended intake for adults and children.
Ingredients
Serves a family of four
- 2 medium white onions, finely chopped
- 50ml rapeseed oil
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 2 medium-sized courgettes, finely diced
- 300g risotto rice
- 1 stock cube in 800ml water
- Juice of 1 and zest of 2 lemons
- 1 bunch of asparagus spears, roughly chopped
- 250g firm tofu, cut into 1cm squares
- 300g peas
- 500g broccoli
- 500g baby spinach leaves
- 70g fresh mint, finely chopped
Method
Step 1
Pour the oil into a large shallow pan and sweat the onions until they have softened. Add the garlic, courgette and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir in 1/3 of the stock. Keep stirring in the stock until the rice is cooked – soft but with a little bite!
Step 2
During this time, in a separate pan fry off the tofu and asparagus until the tofu is a golden colour and the asparagus is just cooked. Remove the tofu and asparagus and set to one side. Using some boiling water to cook the peas and broccoli. When cooked, drain off the water and separate in half. Add half the spinach to half of the pea and broccoli mix and blitz with a hand bender into a puree.
Step 3
Return to the risotto pot, mix through the broccoli, pea and spinach puree. Add in the remaining vegetables, tofu, lemon juice and zest – stir together on a low heat. Sprinkle the mint on top and serve!
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