Greeky Orzo

I often write about having a super fruity EVOO for dressing salads and adding flavor to foods. While you can usually pick out a high quality EVOO at the grocery store, your best bet is farmer's markets and gourmet food stores. We Olive is a popular one around these parts. They sells all sorts of tasty olive products as well as fresh EVOO and Vinegars that you can bottle in the store. Olive oil shops are becoming more popular. I credit Rachael Ray.

She totally made EVOO cool.

And she likes pitbulls. So we like her. Ps I once had a 2 sentence conversation with RR about this doggy. BFF's!

Anyway, back to my point: Olive Oil.

We picked up a Meyer Lemon EVOO from We Olive on a recent excursion and I immediately knew how I would enjoy it: Greek Orzo.

Greek Orzo
Makes enough to feed an army

Ingredients

• Cooking spray + 1 tbsp everyday EVOO
• 4 chicken breasts, cut into tenders
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 c. orzo
• 2 lemons, cut into wedges
• 1/2 c. whole pitted kalamata olives (or less if you don't like olives... i love them)
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 2 tbsp super fruity high quality EVOO  - I used meyer lemon
• Salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Instructions

• Season chicken breast with garlic powder and salt and pepper
• In a dutch oven or heavy bottomed skillet, brown chicken with cooking spray and everyday EVOO over med-high heat
• Once golden, remove chicken from pan

• Add broth to pan and scrape up all the crispy chicken bits
• Bring broth to a simmer over high heat, then add lemons, olives, oregano, and the high quality EVOO
• You're basically making a super greek wonder broth

• Once broth is all simmery, add in orzo
• Reduce heat to medium and stir occasionally to keep orzo from sticking to the pan
• Orzo takes less than 10 minutes to cook
• If your orzo soaks up the liquid and needs more liquid, you can always add more water or broth
• Cooking orzo is just like cooking pasta. Taste test for doneness as you go.
• Add S+P to taste
• When orzo is almost finished cooking, place chicken back into pan so it can soak up some of the lemony olivey brothy goodness 

The whole lemons make the recipe a little bitter and a little tart, the olives make it a little salty, the starchy orzo makes it a little creamy.... It's a perfect food! If you don't like the bitterness of lemons, you can simply add 1/4 c. of lemon juice and 1 tsp of zest instead of the whole lemons. I think the bitterness really helps balance the dish, though.

Vegan Week Update:

Last post I mentioned that I was planning a vegan week. I have scoured my favorite blogs for recipes and here is my vegan recipe bank, all collected from the blogs I mentioned:

Breakfast:

Overnight Oats

PB & J & Banana Breakfast Pizza

Pumpkin Spice Protein Bars

Lemon Chia seed Muffins

Apple Cinnamon Protein Pancakes

Homemade Vegan Yogurt

Southern Style BIscuits and Gravy

Apple Swirl Loaf

Tofu Scramble

Lunch/Dinner:

Black Bean and Butternut Squash Burritos

High Protein Tortilla Pizzas

Perfect Veggie Burger

Vegan Lentil Walnut Loaf

Stuffed Portabella Pizza

Slow Cooker Seitan Carnitas

Saag PEAneer

Noodle Salad with Peanut Mmmm Sauce

Orange Sesame Tempeh Stir Fry

Pumpkin Curry with Tofu

Mac and Cheese

Protein Packed Falafels with Vegan Tzatziki

Meatless Meatloaf

Baked Vegan Corndog

Hawaiian BBQ Teriyaki Chickpeas

Mexican Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Seitan Chops Smothered in Apples and Ginger

Orange Pan-glazed Tempeh

Hummus Sandwich

Lentil/Chorizo Tacos

Sides:

High Protein Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Cilantro Lime Chickpea Salad

Fruit

Mixed green salad

Veggies

Sweets:

Vegan and GF Brownies

Double Chocolate Brownie Dough Balls

Chia Pudding

Chocolate Protein Ice Cream

Black Bean Brownies

Solutions for Cheese Withdrawals:

Low Fat Cheeze Sauce

Raw "Cheddar" Dipping Sauce

As I make them, I will post links to the recipes.  My biggest concern about eating vegan is getting enough protein. It's my favorite food group, and I'm basically a body builder, so I really need my protein. (Sarcasm). But seriously, it's a concern. 

Have a wonderful Superbowl weekend! Don't eat yourselves sick!