Sunday, August 5, 2012

Chicken Orzo in a Tomato Basil Sauce

I love a creamy tomato sauce with pasta, more then any other sauce, and this is a good dish with that sauce.  This is also a good dish that can be made a couple of days before you actually plan to eat it, for those of us who are busy, but still want to eat healthy, home made food.  I made a couple of modifications from the original recipe, which came from Taste of Home Healthy Cooking Magazine, because I did not have some of what it called for and I did not want to make another trip to the store!  This dish is 417 calories for 1 1/2 cups.  For this recipe you will need the following:
     1 pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
     3 tsp of butter, divided
     8 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped (I used one 15 oz can of diced tomatoes, slightly drained)
     1 small onion, finely chopped
     1 garlic clove, minced
     1/2 cup of reduced-sodium chicken broth
     1 cup of uncooked whole wheat orzo pasta
     1 cup of evaporated milk (I used fat free evaporated milk)
     1/2 cup of loosely packed basil leaves, julienned (I used about 1.5 tbsp of dried basil)
     3/4 tsp salt
     1/4 tsp pepper
     1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (I used Parmesan cheese, I thought it went better)


In large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, cook chicken in
2 tsp of butter until it is no longer pink.  Remove and keep warm.
In the same skillet, saute tomatoes and onion in remaining butter until onion is softened. 
Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer.  Stir in broth.  Bring to a boil.

Add orzo, then reduce the heat and cover. 
Simmer for 10-12 minutes or until the orzo is tender. 
Stir in the chicken, milk, basil, salt, and pepper.  Heat through, but do not boil. 
Sprinkle with cheese just before serving.



No comments:

Post a Comment