barley and millet risotto

I owe you people a decent post. Look, here I am! With words! Lots and lots of words, and a smattering of hyperlinks, just for you! :)

Not gonna lie: I think my frequency of posts was affected by two things:

1. Getting an iPhone (it's okay, I was shocked too)

2. Getting on Twitter (again... it's okay, I was shocked too)

In the long run, I think both of these things will be useful. Turns out I take way more pictures if I use my phone (and hey, the 4S has a lovely camera on it, believe it or not), and editing photos is way, waaay too much fun for me. My phone has also given me an appreciation of the square-format photo... it's beautiful! Regardless of Instagram's influence, it makes so much sense for me to love a square photo, given how much I love symmetry. I find it much easier to take a picture that looks balanced (at least for me eye) with a square photo. And really, if you don't believe me, go take a standard format photo and then crop it as a square -- I think you'll like it better. As for Twitter... well, the Twitterverse is still vast and mysterious. I barely have an idea of how hashtags and handles work, but somehow it intrigues me. For now, I like it mostly as a source of information. It's absurd how much you can learn from a well-selected Twitter feed. It's by far the fastest and farthest reaching networking I've ever done. I just hope nobody minds my occasional, inane posts of "Look at my dog! XD #cutestthingintheworld #puppykisses #snugglebug".

So I've got lots to talk about, but I think I'll just have to divvy it up amongst more blog posts soon. For now, I direct your attention to the archives of 101 Cookbooks for this lovely spin on risotto. Our kitchen is a risotto loving one, but it's nice to try a different approach from time to time. Heidi calls for farro, but I am too poor to stock farro in my pantry. If you can snag some you should try it, it's delicious. If you are also a cheep-cheep person, stick to pearled barley. As usual, I chopped some kale and threw it in -- I think the chewy texture went well with the grains. This was also my first time trying out millet; what a cute little grain. I've seen some breakfast millet ideas flying around the internet, and I think that's got some potential. If you know of any good uses of millet, let me know -- I've got a cup or two to use up someday. :)