Orzo, What Big Possibilites You Have

I have longed to cooked with the rice shaped pasta, that is Orzo for quite some time. I've also wanted to try cooking with dried apricots. As I walked up and down the grocery store aisles, stomach growling, visions of possible recipes in my head, I picked up a box and said here we go. I grabbed chicken breasts, dried apricots, feta cheese, and collard greens to top it off. Ambitious? Sure. Possible? Who knows. I got home and immediately poured 3 quarts of water in a big pot to boil, then added half a box of orzo. Yes, it seems like a ridiculous amount of water, but it does the job. Then I cooked my chicken breast in olive oil with salt and pepper in my pan, and chopped up my dried apricots. I was going to be incredibly ambitious and make an apricot glaze, but I was impatient and decided to simply toss the fruit morsels in with the cooked chicken. Looking back on it now, I wish I had taken the time. It would have made the dish so much better. I boiled water with salt and added the collard greens, which I had rinsed and chopped. I let them cook down for about 10 min. When the greens were done I added a bit of butter and nutmeg. After my petite pasta was cooked aldente, I chopped my chicken and added it all together. I tossed in my feta cheese and mixed it all my anxiously awaiting bowl. Glass of red wine, check. Unfortunately my dish was not as great as I had hoped. The pasta was fantastic, but the chicken really needed the extra zip of a glaze. The cheese was good, but a bit overwhelming. My collard greens needed more flavor as well. I'm glad I tried it all, b/c I can continue to get this one into something I'd cook again and again. Luckily, my orzo led to two other dishes for the week. I made a chicken, grape tomato, feta salad with a homemade lemon vinaigrette (lemon, white wine vinegar, olive oil, and salt and pepper) the next day for lunch. I washed it down with a bold Maine Root "Root Beer". Delish! Then a turkey meatball, red pepper dish for dinner. Not too shabby. Orzo is one of those items you can do anything to, and figure out what works for you. Go ahead, jump into the world of orzo!

Maine Root
Twitter: @maineroot