Posted by RF at 12:22pm Feb 26 '10(for those who dont know, orzo are a sorta rice-shaped pasta. usually made from wheat, but the ones i used were made from spelt.)
i made this as an experiment for dinner the other night, and it actually turned out really good. much better than i expected. i figured it would be ok, but ended up being really good. the flavors blended together really nicely and you didnt even notice that the orzo were spelt instead of white wheat. the flavors blended with and covered up that. you could make this with whole wheat pasta and serve it to people who dont like that and theyd never know the difference.
ing:
olive oil
2-3 chicken legs, deboned and cubed
1 tbs minced jarred garlic (or 2-3 cloves fresh, minced)
1 med onion, chopped small
1 lb orzo
1 15 oz can chick peas, drained, but save the liquid
salt/pepper tt
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
1 15 oz can cream style sweet corn
1/4 cup salsa, desired hotness. (i used one that claims to be mild but is really more like medium)
a little less than 3 cups water
heat 2 tbs of oil in a large (i used 8 qt) pot and add cubed leg meat.
sautee, mixing almost constantly until you dont see much raw bits anymore. at that point add the garlic and continue just until you dont see anything raw anymore.
set aside, trying to leave as much of the fats in the pot as possible.
add another tbs of olive oil and heat, then add the onion and sautee until lightly browned.
add the orzo and sautee that for a couple min, mixing fairly often.
add the spices and cook a bit more.
add the chick peas and do same.
add the corn, salsa, water, and liquid from the chick peas.
bring to a boil then simmer until the liquids are absorbed, 10-15 min or so.
(i didnt do it, but it would probably also be good with some diced red pepper for color.)
i made this as an experiment for dinner the other night, and it actually turned out really good. much better than i expected. i figured it would be ok, but ended up being really good. the flavors blended together really nicely and you didnt even notice that the orzo were spelt instead of white wheat. the flavors blended with and covered up that. you could make this with whole wheat pasta and serve it to people who dont like that and theyd never know the difference.
ing:
olive oil
2-3 chicken legs, deboned and cubed
1 tbs minced jarred garlic (or 2-3 cloves fresh, minced)
1 med onion, chopped small
1 lb orzo
1 15 oz can chick peas, drained, but save the liquid
salt/pepper tt
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
1 15 oz can cream style sweet corn
1/4 cup salsa, desired hotness. (i used one that claims to be mild but is really more like medium)
a little less than 3 cups water
heat 2 tbs of oil in a large (i used 8 qt) pot and add cubed leg meat.
sautee, mixing almost constantly until you dont see much raw bits anymore. at that point add the garlic and continue just until you dont see anything raw anymore.
set aside, trying to leave as much of the fats in the pot as possible.
add another tbs of olive oil and heat, then add the onion and sautee until lightly browned.
add the orzo and sautee that for a couple min, mixing fairly often.
add the spices and cook a bit more.
add the chick peas and do same.
add the corn, salsa, water, and liquid from the chick peas.
bring to a boil then simmer until the liquids are absorbed, 10-15 min or so.
(i didnt do it, but it would probably also be good with some diced red pepper for color.)