1 post tagged “orzo”

PS - I love that when I copy/paste recipes into here, it completely removes the numbers.  They were there before I hit 'save', I promise you! I'll put them in later.  In the meantime, if you want measurements, click the links to the originals.

Made yet another awesome chicken dish, this time a cold one!

Chicken with Fruit and Olives

This dish really marinates twice. Chicken soaks in a vinegar-oil-garlic mixture before it's cooked, then it chills in the cooking juices, making for very tender meat.

cup red wine vinegar
tablespoons extravirgin olive oil
teaspoon salt
teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
garlic cloves, minced
cup pitted prunes, chopped
cup dried apricots, chopped
cup pitted green olives, halved
pounds skinless, bone-in chicken breasts
cup dry white wine
cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Combine first 5 ingredients in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish, stirring with a whisk. Add prunes, apricots, and olives; toss well to coat. Add chicken; turn to coat. Cover and chill at least 6 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 450°.

Pour wine around, but not over, the chicken; let stand 15 minutes. Bake at 450° for 35 minutes or until chicken is done; let stand 15 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight. Remove chicken from the bones; discard bones. Return chicken to fruit mixture; let stand 15 minutes. Serve with a slotted spoon

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 328(26% from fat); FAT 9.6g (sat 1.7g,mono 5.4g,poly 1.7g); PROTEIN 38.2g; CHOLESTEROL 102mg; CALCIUM 42mg; SODIUM 393mg; FIBER 2.4g; IRON 2.7mg; CARBOHYDRATE 19g

Notes:
I couldn't find either skinless, bone-in chicken breasts or non-stuffed pitted green olives. I used about 2.5 lbs chicken breast strips and they are working just fine.  As for the green olives, just buy some stuffed green olives (maybe garlic stuffed? will save you the peeling of your own cloves, although you might end up with a lot more garlic than you want) - it'll be a lot easier to remove their stuffing than to do your own pitting, trust me on this.

Then I made some Creamy Parmesan Orzo to go with it:

Unlike traditional pasta, this orzo isn't cooked in a pot of boiling water. Instead, it's cooked slowly in a flavorful broth that captures its starch.

tablespoon butter
cup orzo
cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
cups water
cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
tablespoons chopped fresh basil
teaspoon salt
teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
teaspoons pine nuts, toasted

Heat butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add orzo, and cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in broth and water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer until liquid is absorbed and orzo is done (about 15 minutes). Remove from heat; stir in cheese, basil, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle with the pine nuts. Serve immediately.

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 236(24% from fat); FAT 6.4g (sat 3.2g,mono 1.8g,poly 0.8g); PROTEIN 9.9g; CHOLESTEROL 12mg; CALCIUM 82mg; SODIUM 412mg; FIBER 1.7g; IRON 1.8mg; CARBOHYDRATE 34.8g

Notes:
I had to do the final simmer of the orzo for a lot longer than they said, I think because my definition of simmer is a lot lower heat than their idea.  And I had never toaste pine nuts before. Probably better to do that separate from everything else, rather than during the orzo cooking, since I think I almost burned them. Still, they're pretty good regardless.