Toasted Orzo with Roasted Vegetables

I'M BACK!!! And I'm sorry I've been away so long. Things have been ridiculously busy lately. The fact that last night was the first time I cooked at home in 11 days should tell you something. (We did cook at our lake house over Memorial Day, but didn't document any of it, which I should have because we ate GOOD! I won't go into details, but we managed to eat 4.5 lbs. of bacon in one day between 9 people).

Since I last blogged, I've spent many an evening at the ballpark, took a quick trip to Philly & spent a wonderful weekend with friends at our lake house. At some point I'll tell you about the most amazing meal I ate in Philly, but for now I'll share with you what I made for dinner last night.

Background: This year I decided to plant cherry tomatoes along with my usual herbs. Who knew one plant would produce SO MANY tomatoes?! About a week & a half ago, they started turning red. We had to pick them immediately or these pesky little doves that have taken up residence on our porch would eat them. (If it were dove season, they'd be on the table WITH the tomatoes...if you know what I mean). Needless to say, I had a lot of tomatoes that needed to be used up.

I knew I wanted to do some kind of vegetable/orzo dish, so I did a quick search on All Recipes listing some ingredients I had on hand. I found a recipe for Orzo with Roasted Vegetables, tweaked it a bit & it turned out delicious!


Ingredients

* 1 zucchini, sliced
* 1 summer squash, sliced
* 1 onion, cut into chunks
* 12 or more cherry tomatoes
* 2 handfulls of thickly sliced mushrooms
* fresh herbs, chopped
* 2 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 pinch white sugar
* salt and black pepper to taste
* 1 tbsp. butter
* 2.5 tsp chicken bouillon
* 1/4 cup dry white wine
* 8 oz. orzo pasta (usually 1/2 a package)
* 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
* Protein of your choice (optional)



Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Place the zucchini, squash, onion, tomatoes, mushrooms and herbs in a large bowl.


3. In a small bowl combine garlic, olive oil and sugar. Pour over vegetables and stir gently to coat.

4. Spread vegetables in a single layer on a lightly greased baking sheet, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.



5. Roast vegetables until tender, 15 to 20 minutes or until done to your likeness, stirring half way through.

6. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to boil.

7. In a skillet, melt 1 tbsp. butter. Add orzo & toast, stirring often, until orzo are a light brown.



8. Remove orzo from heat & add to boiling water along with bouillon and wine. Cook until al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain.



9. Stir in roasted vegetables and protein of your choice (I used grilled chicken).



10. Top with Parmesan cheese & serve!



My Tid-Bits:

* I really like dishes like these because they have your protein, veggies & starch all in one! Easy to make & less to clean up (although The Hubs may disagree on that one).

* For the protein, both chicken (grilled or rotisserie from the store) or shrimp would be really good.

* You can easily substitute your favorite veggies for those listed above.

* Herbs: I used basil, sage & thyme

* The toasting of the orzo can be skipped, but toasted orzo just tastes so yummy!