The stove is always working overtime from testing new recipes on the weekends. All four burners are on with different pots boiling away and all the aromas mixing gently together and floating all over the house. Of course the oven can’t be made to feel left out, so some sort of dessert is baking away, most likely something to do with cinnamon (because I can’t get enough of that stuff). All these recipes causing my stove to work incessantly are usually collected throughout the week while I’m flipping through magazines, searching the net or just from some of my outlandish cravings that have been building up as each long laborious weekday goes by.
This weekend I found myself attached to orzo, which looks like a grain of rice, but is actually made with semolina flour and therefore is considered pasta. Cooking orzo is like cooking any other type of grain, where you introduce 2 cups of water to 1 cup of said grain. Let it boil and simmer along until all the water is taken up and you just lightly fluff with a fork (not like regular pasta where you dump it in salted water and drain, but you can if you’d like).
I found a healthy recipe on the Eating Well magazine site that consisted of sun dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts served over orzo, which sounded quite intriguing, plus it only took up two burners, allowing me to stew up some Vietnamese beef noodle soup for dinner the next night and you can’t forget the cinnamon banana cake baking in the oven!
Ingredients:
8 ounches orzo, preferably whole wheat
1 cup water
½ cup chopped sun dried tomatoes (not oil packed), chopped
1 plum tomato, diced
1 (or 2) clove garlic, diced
3 tsp chopped fresh marjoram
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp olive oil
4 boneless chicken breasts (or 6 thighs)
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 can of artichoke hearts
½ cup of shredded Romano cheese
Preparation:
1. Cook orzo in a large pot of boiling water just until tender and fluff with a fork.
2. Meanwhile, place 1 cup water, ¼ cup sun dried tomatoes, plum tomato, garlic 2 tsp marjoram, vinegar and 2 tsp olive oil in a blender and blend until a few chunks remain.
3. Season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat remaining oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook until golden brown outside. Transfer to plate and tent with foil to keep warm.
4. Pour blended tomato sauce into the pan and bring to a boil. Measure out ½ cup to a small bowl and save for later. Add the remaining ¼ cup sun dried tomatoes to pan along with orzo, artichoke hearts and 6 tbsp cheese. Cook, stirring until heated through. Divide among 4 plates.
5. Place the chicken on top of the orzo, you may slice the chicken if you wish. Top each portion with 2 tbsp of the reserved sauce and sprinkling of cheese.
6. Serve and enjoy!
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