Creamy chicken orzo with peas and spinach
I am obsessed with orzo and this is the dish I've been making a lot lately. Plus, what I had on my weekly meal plan in the past week and revisiting Greek chicken bowls.
In this newsletter:
Creamy chicken orzo with peas and spinach
Revisiting low-carb Greek chicken bowls
My weekly meal plan (more or less as it happened)
More 30-minute meals
Creamy chicken orzo I make a lot
I only recently started cooking with orzo pasta and I am obsessed. I can make dishes similar to a risotto but with orzo, which I find much lighter and less starchy than Arborio rice. I love that orzo retains that lovely al dente texture and gives the dish a little more structure.
If you're not familiar with orzo, it's short-cut pasta, also known as risoni, that looks like longer, flatter rice grains. Orzo is typically made from flour, but it can also be done with whole grain or semolina. You can also find gluten-free orzo on the market these days.
You can cook orzo like any other type of pasta - in boiling water - and use it in saucy dishes, salads, bakes, casseroles and so on. It's a great pasta for cooking in one-pot dishes like this creamy chicken orzo with peas and spinach, where the risoni is cooked directly in the sauce, giving it plenty of flavour and enriching the liquid with the pasta starch.
Make It Your Own
This chicken orzo recipe is a bit of a template that you can adapt to using whatever leftover veggies or protein you have in the fridge. I almost always have rotisserie chicken, which I use in chicken soups, salads and so on. It works superbly as the protein in a creamy orzo dish.
I didn't have many fresh vegetables besides the usual onions, carrots, and celery, so for this recipe, I threw in some frozen peas and spinach. On other occasions, I have did variations of this dish with broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, shrimp, asparagus and other ingredients.
The whole meal comes together in around 30 minutes and has been on request by family on many occasions since the first time I tried it. It's a cooked and loved kind of recipe!
Remember, you will find the full recipe post with step-by-step pics, video, instructions, nutritional info, tips and variations on my blog.
Ingredients
1/2 cup frozen baby peas
1/2 cup frozen spinach (1 frozen ball or equivalent amount)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 large onion, finely diced (1/2 cup chopped)
1 small carrot, finely diced (1/2 cup diced)
1 celery rib, finely diced (1/2 cup diced)
1/2 tsp salt
2 large cloves of garlic, finely diced or minced
Zest of 1/2 lemon
1 breast of cooked chicken (rotisserie or roast thicken), diced (about 1.5 cups of meat)
4 sprigs of fresh thyme (1/2 tsp dried thyme)
1/3 cup of white wine
1.5 cups orzo/ risoni (I used risoni #61)
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 + 1/4 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup thickened/heavy cream (optional, I used but can be without)
Basil or parsley to garnish
Revisiting low-carb Greek chicken bowls
If you’re new to my blog and newsletter, I should introduce you to one of the most popular recipes according to my readers. Funnily enough, it’s not even my recipe but it receives SO MANY views and lovely feedback, that I decided to pimp it up with a custom video of how to make it.
The recipe post is now updated with the video instructions so if you haven’t made it yet, now is the time. It’s freaking delicious and super easy, plus it’s healthy, nutritious, low-carb, keto, and gluten-free.
My meal plan from last week (more or less)
Pasted directly from my Notes, here is what I had on my meal plan last week. I made this before and after I went grocery shopping. I usually have an idea for a few dishes I want to make but I don’t make the plan until after I shop as I often pick up seasonal produce and things on special. I then come up with dishes I can make with bought produce and foods I have leftover in the fridge, freezer and pantry. Here is how it went…
Dinner 1 - Chicken fajitas with guacamole, sour cream, and salad.
Dinner 2 - Roast sweet potatoes, fennel, cauliflower & carrots, cooked quinoa, tahini garlic yoghurt dressing.
Dinner 3 Pasta bake with sausage, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach + salad.
Dinner 4- Frozen slow-cooked beef pies, sweet potato baked fries, salad. This is my lazy meal, as I call it.
Dinner 5 - Sweet chili soy garlic tofu with rice + stir-fried bok choy, carrots and red peppers. This meal is on a weekly rotation in our house, either with veggies or salad.
Dinner 6 - Vegetable quiche with pan-fried sweet potatoes, onions, red peppers and broccoli, with eggs, cottage cheese, Cheddar, cream and feta. Oooph, this was good!
Breakfast - Mushrooms and egg omelette .
Breakfast - Sausage & egg wraps.
Breakfast - Cottage cheese, yoghurt and granola bowl with fruit.
Breakfast - Soft-boiled eggs + smoothie.
Lunch - Leftover fajitas.
Lunch - Leftover pasta bake.
Lunch - Leftover veggies, quinoa & added tuna salad.
Weekend Lunch - Grilled halloumi and pea fritters (will post recipe on the blog soon) + salad.
What did you have on your meal plan? Let me know in the comments!
30-minute meal: salmon bites with sticky glaze
30-minute meal: Balsamic chicken mushroom sheet pan
30-minute meal: garlic chicken soup
By the way, if you’re new to my recipes and my blog, make sure to check out the full archive here.