Mediterranean Inspired Orzo

Meatless Mondays can be flavorful and delicious, and it can be done with this Mediterranean Inspired Orzo. Powerful seasonings like sundried tomatoes, olives, curly leaf parsley and feta cheese will taunt the tastebuds and fill your stomach without realizing you are missing anything. This recipe is also highly flexible, as all the ingredients can be adjusted in this recipe according to preferences. What this recipe should really be called, is vegetarian flavor bomb!

Mediterranean Inspired Orzo

This Mediterranean inspired Orzo is fully adjustable to accentuate your flavor preferences. Use this as a guide to your own flavor bomb meal!

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Servings 4 people

Ingredients

  

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• ½ white onion chopped fine
• 2 garlic cloves diced fine
• 3 small or 4 cups zucchini chopped fine
• 1 cup orzo
• 1 ½ cups chicken stock
• 1 cup water or more as necessary
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 bunch or 3 cups spinach chopped
• ¼ cup olive tapenade
• 2 sundried tomatoes chopped fine
• 2 small or ½ cup tomatoes chopped
• ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
• ¼ cup curly parsley chopped fine

**Proportions of ingredients can be adjusted to taste and preferences**

Instructions

 

• In a large frying pan, preheat pan on medium to high heat and drizzle with vegetable oil.
• Add onion and garlic cloves and cook for 2 minutes.
• Add chopped zucchini to the pan of onion and garlic cloves. Cook until brown on one side about 3-4 minutes and turn and mix garlic, onion and zucchini for additional browning, another 3-4 minutes.
• Set garlic, onion and zucchini aside in a separate bowl.
• Place frying pan back onto medium to high heat and add orzo, chicken stock, water and bay leaf to pan. Cook 10 minutes until orzo is al dente or just barely tender. Add water in ¼ cup increments if additional liquid is necessary to soften orzo.
• Add chopped spinach on top of orzo, stir until softened.
• Discard bay leaf from frying pan.
• Turn off the heat on the pan.
• Move pan to a counter and stir in sundried tomatoes, olive tapenade and tomatoes.
• Generously spoon orzo into bowls or plates.
• Sprinkle crumbled feta cheese and parsley on top of the orzo.