Mediterranean Orzo

This is a little odd, but I’ve never made orzo before today. I’ve eaten it plenty of times, just never made it. don’t know why I haven’t tried it sooner. I’ve been craving warm-weather dishes, and the Mediterranean always makes me think of summer and all those fresh flavors.

Here, I just threw things that I thought would work, but of course, experiment with your favorite flavors and quantities.

Some of the ingredients

Ingredients:
1 cup of orzo
1-2 tb of olive oil
Spinach (about 4 cups fresh)
Mushrooms (I used about 1.5 cups of baby bella)
2 Red bell peppers
2 Roasted bell peppers
3 cloves of garlic
3-6 small tomatoes
1 small onion
handful of pitted olives
handful of jarred artichoke hearts
3.5 – 4 cups of chicken stock (for the orzo)
chili powder, cumin, flat leaf parsley, garlic powder
Feta cheese

Steps:
1. Cook the orzo according to the directions on the box (I used stock instead of water though).
2. In a large skillet, saute diced onion and garlic.
3. Add diced bell pepper and roasted red pepper. Cook together for a few minutes.
4. Add the sliced mushrooms and spinach. Cook together for a while, till spinach wilts. This is where I usually add the spices, but you can add them a little sooner.
5. Add the diced olives, artichokes and halved tomatoes.
6. When the orzo is cooked, add it to the skillet with everything else.
7. Add the parsley and feta.

Mushrooms, Artichokes, Olives, Peppers

Added the Orzo, Spinach, and Parsley

Close-up - Added the Orzo, Spinach, and Parsley

Ta-Da!