BINGHAMTON, NY – And now it’s time for our collaboration with Cornell Cooperative Extension: Nutrition in the Kitchen.

Nutrition Educator Tara Kenyon shares a great dish that can be easily made with common vegetables that may even be growing in your own yard, Garden Risotto.

Risotto uses special arborio rice and is perfect to fill with fresh, nutrient dense vegetables such as peas and asparagus.

Kenyon says one great thing to add to your risotto is spinach, which can be a great way to get vitamins A, C and K, as well as magnesium.

When you cook spinach, it also releases the calcium in it.

“We recommend having both cooked and raw spinach in your diet. So, some of the nutrients in spinach are more absorbable by your body when you cook the spinach, specifically calcium and iron as well,” says Kenyon.

Kenyon says spinach and other great vegetables are in abundance right now at the Farmer’s Market, which is open every Saturday from 9 to 1.

And for more nutrient information and free classes, check out CCE Broome Nutrition Programs on Facebook.

To make your own Garden Risotto you will need:

1/2 lb of asparagus cut into 3/4 inch pieces

3 cups of baby spinach

1 cup of peas

4 1/2 cups of chicken broth

1 medium chopped onion

1 tsp of olive oil

1 1/2 cup arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine or an additional 1/4 cup of chicken broth

1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Watch the full demonstration below: