Tonight I made something summery I found a recipe for but kinda just winged it as you know. It's chicken orzotto and a cucumber and tomato salad! I took the photo with my prized dogs playing poker painting and thought ehn I could take a better one with the episode showing behind it and I clearly did not look at the picture after taking it because auhhghh? Anyways glad I took the dog poker shot first:
Thought about preconceived notions about spices, and it got me thinking more about two of my white whales for cooking that I have yet to attempt: smoked salmon lingonberry cupcakes and soy-coffee marinaded meat of some sort. This recipe uses cinnamon, and I've used nutmeg in 2 recipes this week already, and none of them were baked goods. It's been interesting to see these spices shine in a new context! I've never really cooked with these spices in savory dishes before, but now I've made curry, stew, and now orzotto with them!
Recipe below
Needs: chicken breast, paprika, red pepper flakes, cinnamon, garlic powder, veggie oil, garlic, orzo, broth of choice, cucumber, tomato, feta, dill
- chop (vaguely 1.5lbs) chicken breast into uhh "chunks". season with whatever feels right of paprika (smoked), red pepper (flaked), cinnamon (not a lot), and garlic powder. i think i forgot to salt and pepper them as well now that im thinking of it.
- cook in some oil in a deep pan/pot (at least 6 cups volume). Once cooked, remove from pan and put in a bowl or plate or something safe.
- in the pan with the oil and leftover seasonings, fry some garlic (minced) for just a minute before adding 4 cups of your broth of choice (i used better than bullion vegetable broth mix). then stir in 2 cups of orzo. Cook on medium high stirring frequently until all the liquid is absorbed (this takes like 15 minutes).
- when it's just about done, add the chicken back in and some dill to taste.
- for the salad, dice the cucumber, tomato (i used heirloom cherry tomatoes so i just cut them in half), and feta (i got a fancy block of tomato basil feta that i got the privilege of crumbling myself). Serve alongside the orzotto!