Broccoli, Carrot, & Cheese Orzo

I saw this recipe on Weelicious and thought it sounded healthy & fast, so I made it. It didn’t disappoint! Ada ate a whole bowl and Matt & I ate the rest. I doubled the broccoli because we love it, and it had a broccoli soupishness to it. I just made that a word, it’s official. Soup-ish-ness! I also let everything go in the food processor longer so that the vegetables were smaller and added more cheese. More cheese is always a good thing in my book! This would be a perfect meal to serve on St. Patrick’s Day because of the green color! That is, if you’re not making corned beef & cabbage.

Apologies for the iPhone photos, but my nice camera was downstairs. When you have a hungry toddler and a baby on your hip, you just want to sit down and eat what you can while it’s hot!

Broccoli, Carrot, and Cheese Orzo Recipe – adapted from Catherine at Weelicious

1 clove garlic
1/4 of a large yellow onion
2 medium carrots
2 cups broccoli
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 cup orzo (small, rice-like pasta)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Put onion and garlic in a food processor and pulse until chopped. Add broccoli and carrots to the bowl and pulse, scraping down the sides as needed. Continue pulsing until the vegetables are finely chopped.

In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the vegetable mixture, raw orzo and salt and cook for about 4 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add the water and chicken broth to the pot and continue to cook over medium heat. Let it cook uncovered for about 10 minutes, or until some of the liquid evaporates and the pasta thickens up.

At this point, stir in the parmesan cheese and mix in until melted. Spoon into individual serving bowls, top with salt and pepper to taste, and sprinkle with more cheese. A good thing :) Enjoy!