Have I talked about the mysterious Good Housekeeping subscription I’ve been receiving for a few months now? I thought it might have been a mix up when I bought a sub through Em’s cousin’s magazine drive thing last summer, but I’m still getting the magazine I actually wanted, so I’m not really sure. I’ve also asked around and neither my parents nor my inlaws mentioned anything about it. I usually flip right to the recipes, tear out anything that looks interesting and then recycle the rest of it. Recently I was flipping through my recipe binder and found one page with Warm Chicken-Orzo Salad on it and decided to give it a try.
This is a really simple recipe that had great results. Here’s what I did. First, get the water going for the orzo and turn on the oven to 450 degrees. As regular readers probably expect from me by now, I chopped up all the vegetables first. I then mixed the tomatoes, orange pepper, olive oil, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper in a bowl and then placed it on half of a new jellyroll pan. I think cut up the chicken and just used the same bowl to combine lemon peel, chicken and the same mix of spices and herbs. I’m not sure why you’re supposed to keep the tomato and chicken separate and then put it on the pan, but it worked out just fine.
If you time it right, the orzo will be done at the same time the pan comes out of the oven and you’ll be good to go. Put both in a big bowl, add in the celery as well as the lemon juice and give it a mix. Much like the Pasta Primavera I made a few days ago, this was a tasty recipe that let the veggies do their thing. I especially liked how the celery stood out. It’s not usually a vegetable that gets to star in anything, but I thought it was well showcased here. This would be a great dish to bring to a party or put out for a cookout. I actually might do that this summer, now that I think about it!
Pop Poppa 