Hey look – I’m posting a recipe! Imagine that 🙂

I hope you all are doing well. Sorry it’s been so long! I’m finally getting back into the swing of things. For real this time, I swear!

Chicken, pan-roasted with herbs, is a perfect compliment to garlicky pasta and vegetables. You can’t really ever go wrong with a combination like that. It’s great comfort food for when the weather is starting to change and you want something to savor after a long day. This dish has a great amount of flavor to it and really isn’t too complicated to make – it just uses a few pots and pans. However – please make sure that you read through the entire recipe first, so that everything is timed relatively well and that you have all the ingredients you need!

Mediterranean Chicken with Roasted Garlic Orzo

adapted from For the Love of Cooking and Epicurious

For the chicken:

• Zest and juice from 1 large lemon (about 2 tbsp juice)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp fresh minced parsley (or 1/2 tsp dried)
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1-2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, fat removed
• 2 tbsp toasted pine nuts (if desired)
• 2 tbsp feta cheese (if desired)
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (if desired)
• Lemon wedges (if desired)

For the orzo:

• 5 large garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves (or 1 tbsp dried)
• 1 cup orzo (rice-shaped pasta)

1. In a large Ziploc bag or glass dish (with lid), combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, minced garlic, and herbs. Add the chicken breasts, then seal/cover and let marinate for at least 30-1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 450*. Tightly wrap the unpeeled garlic cloves in foil so that it makes a little pouch. Place in middle of oven and roast for about 25 minutes. Carefully unwrap garlic and let cool slightly. Remove skin from cloves and mash into a paste. Transfer garlic paste to a bowl and stir in butter and parsley.
3. Reduce the oven to 375*. Coat an OVEN-PROOF saute pan with cooking spray and heat over med-high heat. Add the chicken breasts to the HOT pan and cook until brown, about 2-3 minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste. Flip the chicken over and place the saute pan into the oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Keep the marinade, as you’ll need it for later.
4. As the chicken bakes, begin your vegetables. Caramelize the diced onion by heating a sauté pan over med-low heat with 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. (Note – If the pan and/or onion start to get a little dry, add a little bit of water and toss to coat). Continue cooking until the onions are nice and caramelized. Once the onions are just about ready, get water boiling for your orzo.
5. To your onions, add the grape tomatoes and cook until they’re about to burst (about 5 minutes). Add the baby spinach then season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste. Check on your chicken in the oven; pour the remaining marinade into the pan, and place back into the oven. Continue baking for 5 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Remove from the oven and let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before slicing thinly.
6. The water should be boiling now; cook the orzo until tender and reserve about 1/4 cup cooking water. Drain orzo well and add to garlic mixture with enough reserved cooking water to melt butter and prevent orzo from sticking together. Season orzo with salt and pepper.
7. Serve by placing a big scoop of orzo into a bowl. Add the vegetables, followed by the chicken. If desired, top with some toasted pine nuts, feta cheese, and fresh parsley. Use some lemon wedges to add a even more lemon flavored, if you wish.

I feel that this dish was ‘timed right’. Everything seemed to be done at once, and it was a dish were if I needed to walk away and put the wash into the dryer (or some other quick chore), I could do so without anything burning. It was very low maintenance, which was perfect for a Monday evening meal.

It tasted so good that I even hid the leftovers in the back of the fridge, so that I could take them for lunch the next day (my husband takes the majority of our leftovers – I’m not much of a fan of them, but when they’re good, they’re oh-so-good and I have to fight for ’em).