Mediterranean Chicken Orzo

Last summer when I was first starting to think seriously about starting a blog, I decided to do a bit of a test run. I posted a few pictures of food I was making on my personal instagram and then included the recipe, just to see if there was any interest. I was so pleasantly surprised that people were commenting on the pictures and trying the recipes! It gave me the confidence boost that I needed to take the next step and start the blog. It has been such a fun journey, and I love hearing feedback about what people are making and enjoying! It makes my heart happy when I hear from people, and especially when they make and like a recipe. This was the first recipe that I posted in that manner as a test run. When I was getting ready to make this recipe with my garden tomatoes and zucchini, and remembering that first post fondly, I realized I had never given it it’s own official blog post. So here it is! This is a great summer meal! It’s easy and quick and has so many great summer flavors in it.

Mediterranean Chicken Orzo

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Course Main Course

Cuisine Mediterranean

Ingredients

  

• 1 T. olive oil
• 1 lb. chicken tenders cut into bite sized pieces
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 3/4 cup raw orzo pasta
• 1 1/2 cups zucchini cubed
• 1 cup red bell pepper chopped
• 3 plum tomatoes chopped
• 2 T. fresh parsley chopped
• sliced kalamata olives and crumbled feta cheese or grated parmesan and sliced pepperoncini for serving

Instructions

 

• Cook orzo according to package direction.
• In a large skillet, heat olive oil, add chicken and brown until cooked through, seasoning with salt and pepper. Remove from pan and set aside. 
• Saute zucchini, bell pepper and garlic in the same skillet, until soft. 
• Add chicken back to the skillet and stir.  Stir in orzo, tomatoes, and parsley. Stir and simmer a few minutes until tomatoes soften and give off some juices.  (This is best with fresh summer tomatoes. If made with winter tomatoes and the dish seems dry you can always add a bit of chicken broth)
• Serve with desired toppings.

Notes

Make ahead options: I usually make my skillet meals right around dinner time; however, I usually prep ingredients ahead of time to make it easier when its dinner time. For this recipe I chopped all the veggies ahead and stored them in the fridge (the tomatoes I kept on the counter).

Helping Hands: I love to have my son help with the chopping for this with our kid safe knives.  The tomato and zucchini are easy to chop. Usually he can do the peppers too, but if the skin is too tough to get through I do those. 

 

*Depending on my mood I love both combinations of toppings. Sometimes I’m in the mood for feta and olives, other times I feel like parmesan and pepperoncinis.  My kids generally always opt for just parmesan.