Lemon Orzo with Almond Crusted Chicken

This is another great dish to meal prep for lunch or dinners throughout the week. This recipe makes enough for about 4-5 people and if you add a salad or something else on the side it can stretch even further. The orzo can be eaten cold or reheated, which makes it perfect for dinner-on-the-go or lunch in the office. After I finished cooking, I separated the orzo & chicken into five different containers to eat throughout the week for lunch.

The lemon orzo has a slight zing taste to it, making it a great dish to serve up when it’s cold outside. It tastes like comfort food straight out of your mom’s kitchen, but knowing it has added green vegetables and uses minimal ingredients makes it even better. I paired the lemon orzo with almond crusted chicken, which uses gluten free almond flour. The crusted chicken is a bit more time consuming in the kitchen and might be better for the weekend. However, the orzo could also be paired with easy garlic shrimp, simple grilled chicken, or quickly baked fish.

Orzo is particularly easy to make, once you get the motions down. It requires some added attention because it calls for adding chicken or veggie stock throughout the cooking process, not just at the beginning like rice or pasta. In fact, orzo is a cross between rice and pasta because it tastes like smooth pasta noodles cut into rice shaped kernels. Because orzo is a pasta dish, I try to pack more vegetables and protein into my dish to make sure I am still getting a nutrient dense meal. The serving size for an orzo or pasta dish is about 1/3 cup to reduce the effect it has on our blood glucose. However, even diabetics can eat pasta and orzo, they just need to modify the portion size to the recommended 1/3 cup.

I am always in the mood for a good serving of pasta, orzo, or risotto- in fact I would have to say it’s one of my favorite meals to make because it’s easy to prep and the finished product is always delicious. Many people don’t realize that pasta actually contains some health benefits to it such as B vitamins and essential folic acid. Pasta can absolutely be part of a healthy lifestyle, especially if you’re pairing it with vegetables, monounsaturated fats like olive oil, and high protein sources such as chicken, fish, seafood, etc.