Sometimes when I come home from a long day at work, I crave comfort food. Something warm, creamy, and feels like a warm hug. That's risotto for me. To minimize time and effort in cooking up a typically laborious risotto, I've developed this quick and easy Creamy Spinach Couscous Risotto!
What is risotto?
Risotto is a comforting Italian dish of creamy rice cooked in broth and aromatics. It is traditionally made in seemingly simple steps:
- Sauté the aromatics
- Lightly toasting the rice
- Adding hot broth to the rice slowly while constantly stirring until the rice is cooked
This process can take up to 30 minutes in total. While constant stirring for half an hour can seem over the top, it is actually vital in creating the creamy consistency of risotto. Constant agitation of the rice grains releases the starches, which is what makes this dish super creamy. Another key is to use arborio rice, which is a starchy, short-grain rice.Â
I don’t know about you but I would probably categorize risotto as a weekend dish. But what if I crave risotto on a weekday?
This is where our quick and low-effort couscous risotto can save the day!
What makes this Creamy Spinach Couscous Risotto unique?
Using pearl or Israeli couscous instead of arborio rice makes the cook time shorter and the whole process a whole lot easier. And for all of you wondering — no, this recipe does NOT require constant stirring. You’re welcome.
Couscous is a type of wheat pasta, although it looks like a grain. As pastas cook, it releases its starches, making the dish very creamy, without needing to stir it. When cooked, it retains its chewy texture, making a nice contrast with its creamy broth.
What I think makes this dish extra unique is the vibrant green color of the dish. You achieve this by blending the spinach and peas into the broth. Doing so not only provides a gorgeous color, but adds tons of nutrients!
Is spinach good for dialysis?
Absolutely! Spinach in a reasonable amount is safe and extremely nutritious, even in the dialysis diet.
Cooked spinach is labeled as high potassium. This is mainly because spinach shrinks into nothing when cooked and therefore, it is very easy to overeat spinach when cooked.
A 3/4-cup of raw spinach, as called for in the recipe, adds 125 mg of potassium. It is very reasonable when combined with other lower potassium components like peas or pasta. If you would like to lower your potassium intake, consider using kale instead of spinach.
Each serving of this dish clocks in at 534 mg potassium. It is a solid part of a potassium-balanced diet when balanced with other lower potassium meals throughout the day.
Creamy Spinach Couscous Risotto
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 yellow onion chopped finely
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1/2 cup pearl couscous
- 2 tbsp pesto
- 1 1/2 cups low sodium vegetable broth divided
- 1 1/2 cups baby spinach optionally roughly chopped
- 1 cup frozen peas or fresh, divided
- 3 oz silken tofu
- 1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast
Instructions
- In a saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 3 minutes until translucent and fragrant. Add garlic and couscous and toast for 2-3 minutes until garlic is fragrant and couscous turns slightly golden. Add pesto and two thirds of the vegetable broth. Bring to a boil then lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until couscous is fully cooked but slightly chewy, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, in a blender, add half the spinach, half the peas, all the silken tofu, and the remaining one third of the broth. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.
- When the couscous is cooked but still slightly chewy, add the remaining peas, spinach, and the blended sauce. Stir and cook until the peas are warmed through and the spinach wilt. Season with nutritional yeast, salt and pepper to taste. Divide into bowls or containers. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Our Verdict on the Creamy Spinach Couscous Risotto
I personally really love this dish and make it quite often. It is quick, easy to make, and uses ingredients that I mostly already have in the pantry or freezer (except, maybe the tofu).Â
I love the vibrant color and flavor of the dish despite its simplicity. A flavorful aromatic base along with flavor bombs like pesto and nutritional yeast adds complexity of flavor!
The creaminess of the dish is also something I crave, especially on warmer nights. The blended peas along with the addition of silken tofu adds body to the dish. Plus they add a boost of plant-based protein too, making it perfect for dialysis!
Want more tasty and kidney-friendly recipes?
Check out the KNI Shop and choose a 7-day meal plan that works for you. We have meal plans for dialysis, early-stage CKD, PKD and Stage 5 CKD. Full recipes and nutrition information included, along with a grocery list!
