Orzo with Everything

A big thank you to Sarah for sharing this with us.  We made this for a potluck and it went over really well.  We have made it several times since then, since we all love orzo so much.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups orzo
1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil- chopped
5 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (maybe a bit more to taste)
1/4 cup kalamata olives- chopped

The rest.
1 cup radicchio- finely chopped
1/2 cup pine nuts- toasted on stovetop over medium heat, stirring constantly
1/2 cup fresh basil- chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
lightly garnish with grated parmesan

Method

Cook and drain orzo and put in a large bowl.  Add tomatoes, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and olives.  Toss and let stand till cool.

When cool, add the rest.

Notes

We have also tried things like dried cranberries, feta, etc. for variety.

Creamy Broccoli Mushroom Bake

We absolutely loved this meal from Vegan Yum Yum’s new book, page 49.  Creamy Broccoli Mushroom Bake has become a family favorite.  This is the second time that this has been a huge hit with the whole family.

I had run out of nutritional yeast, so I used flax seed meal. Last time I used the nutritional yeast and the cashew “alfredo” sauce was certainly a lot creamier and smoother, obviously… the flax seed meal did help as a suitable replacement and since it has lots of omega-3 fats and fiber, I thought it was a healthy addition and something to add some more substance to the “alfredo.”

The kids ate is all up.  Our six year old girl loved it and so did our 10 month old did as well.  Anything with ketchup is a hit, frankly.  Our 3 year old boy typically only picks at supper, but he did eat some of it.  Mostly just ate the ketchup part off of the top.  I “sold” it as just like mac and cheese… but the macaroni looks like rice (the orzo).  Also, I had help from both of them in the kitchen prepping things- so they always like things more when they help prepare things that you can’t tell what the original ingredients look like.

For the first time we put the peppers on the top, which really helped make this look more attractive and added a nice fresh crunch.