Vegetable Risotto

Celebrity dietitian and motivational life coach Tanya Zuckerbrot, author of www.ffactordiet.com and founder of www.skinnyandthecity.com, has helped thousands of people lose weight and keep it off with her program. Her philosophy? Tanya believes you should never sacrifice taste, even when you're eating healthy foods. Send us an email to reciperehab [AT] thatsfit [DOT] com to submit a recipe for a makeover!

Recipe may vary from food shown. Photo: Photodisc

Whether it's made with chicken, seafood or vegetables, it's hard to resist a creamy rich bowl of risotto. The only drawback is that essentially no matter what the topping, risotto is basically a big bowl of rice with lots of empty calories -- usually enough to be a meal in itself. So instead of the usual Arborio rice, this risotto uses pearl barley for a dish as creamy as traditional risotto, but with a bigger nutritional payoff -- fewer calories and more fiber.

Ingredients

8 cups low- sodium chicken broth

1 Tbs olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

10 ounces white mushrooms, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup pearl barley

2/3 cup dry white wine

3/4 cup frozen peas, thawed

2 cups cooked asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces (discard tough ends)

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Bring the broth to a simmer in a heavy saucepan. Keep the broth over low heat.

2. Add olive oil to a heavy sauce pan and add onion until tender, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the white mushrooms and garlic, saute until the mushrooms are tender and juices evaporate, about 5 minutes.

4. Stir in the barley and let it toast for a few minutes.

5. Add the wine, cook until liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 3 minutes.

6. Add one cup of hot broth; simmer over medium-low heat until the liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 3 minutes.

7. Continue to cook until the barley is just tender and the mixture is creamy, adding more broth by the cupfuls and stirring often, about 20 minutes.

8. Stir in the peas and asparagus and mix in the parmesan cheese.

9. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 6

Nutritional Information, Per Serving: 277 calories, 37g carbohydrate, 8g fiber, 15g protein, 6g fat, 1,048mg sodium.

Readers, I would love to hear from you! Please send me your most favorite, fattening recipes that need a RECIPE REHAB! Everything from your mom's meat loaf to your kid's favorite dessert -- let me lighten it up.