Making Vegetarian and Vegan Recipes Easy!

Herbed Wheat Orzo Pilaf

Oct 23, 2009 | 2 Comments | | Herbed Wheat Orzo Pilaf from ChefInYou.com | Print this

I dig simple recipes – after all one should be incentivized, for even thinking of cooking at home after a hectic day at work isnt it? But cooking same old day to day meals can be boring! And who has the time to think of new stuff anyways? When I wanted to make changes to my same old meals, I thought of simply revamping some of my oft repeated dinners with minor changes. Instead of kidney beans, switch it to cannellini beans, instead of couscous try quinoa, try brown rice instead of regular white rice, go for hearty one pot soups instead of elaborate 3 course meal, go for Orzo instead of regular macaroni or spaghetti pasta! Probably same recipe but with a new makeover! Avoids tedious ‘oh-no-same-old-stew’ voices around the house and you don’t have to struggle to make this happen to!

Herbed Wheat Orzo Pilaf Recipe

Just like the other day at Facebook many of us bloggers had an interesting discussion around the African Jollof Rice. Many of you, especially Indians, have already made it – only you never called it that! But give your tomato rice a new makeover – add a dash of this and that, call it African Jollof and you know you just cooked up a meal which will get over in a jiffy! What more – its not ’same-old-tomato-rice’ anymore and you din’t have to lift up an extra finger Here is a regular pasta recipe which I make but instead of using my regular pasta, I used Wheat Orzo instead. It gets done in a jiffy. Healthy, Simple and Hearty under 15 minutes!.

About 2 cups wheat orzo
1/4 tsp olive oil
1 medium red onion, sliced
1/2 cup peas
1-2 cloves minced garlic, as per preference
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1-2 tbsp pistachios
approx. 3 tbsp mixed herbs, chopped ( I used parsley,chives,marjoram,thyme,oregano etc)
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan (optional, skip to make it vegan)

Method

Cook orzo as per the packet instruction. Set aside.

Herbed Wheat Orzo Pilaf Recipe

Alternatively in a skillet, heat 1/4 tsp oil and saute onions and garlic with little salt, until soft.

Herbed Wheat Orzo Pilaf Recipe

Add the peas and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Switch off the heat.

Herbed Wheat Orzo Pilaf Recipe

Add this mixture to the orzo along with lemon juice, zest , herbs and pistachios. Toss to mix well. If you desire, you can add some more olive oil to get a glossy sheen to make it more presentable.

Herbed Wheat Orzo Pilaf Recipe