New year, same root vegetables

 It's a new year, and time to get back to cooking and writing after a profoundly weird end to 2010. In honor of this, I think it's about time I gave my blog a pronounceable name. The old one LOOKS great, but just try explaining the name of your blog to people at a party when it's... more visual than verbal. It takes 20 minutes, maybe even charts and diagrams.

One thing that doesn't change, however, is root vegetables in winter. Behold, the humble sweet potato:

And my perennial favorite, collard greens:

Of course, there's also my abiding love for risotto. I've already talked about how I first started making risotto. It was a product of necessity: with a single burner and a love of fresh vegetables, what's an American exchange student to do? I still love making it. There's something so calm about having to tend the pot, stirring all along. You can really do any vegetables in risotto -- I had Cate and Kelly over for a re-housewarming party, and I roasted some sweet potatoes, braised some collard greens, and threw them in the mix.

The trick to risotto is really patience -- something that I'm trying to cultivate more in this new year. You've got to wait for the onions to be golden soft before you add the rice. Then you add wine, and it has to be absorbed before you add more and more stock, little by little. In all that time, you can't really leave the stove, but you're rewarded with such a rich, creamy dish, perfect for a rainy January night.
Cheers, everyone.