Fiber Fool

This past weekend, back home in Minnesota was a gathering of my dad’s family. Mom called me a few times toward the end of the week to get info on this dish I make fairly regular around here. Mom cracked me up when she asked me for the source and I told her my head. She didn’t really believe me that I did not get it from a cookbook or magazine. Silly, silly mom!

It is one of those magic dishes that is edible hot, room temp or chilled and thus a great choice for a picnic. She got requests for the recipe and I could have sworn I had posted the recipe here before, but a search of this blog, the old blog and my neglected LiveJournal account all came up empty. As did a search of my Flickr and all my photos since January 2007 in Lightroom.

At the farmer’s market this Sunday we were on a mission to get the fixings for it so I could take some pics and post the recipe. We got a good share of ingredients at the market so this may be a good choice for those of you looking to eat local this summer!

Mediterranean Orzo Pasta

Serves 4 as main dish, 6-8 as side dish.

• 2 Tbs Olive Oil
• 1 lrg Yellow Onion, sliced into half rings
• 1 Lemon, zest and juice
• 1/2 dry pint Grape Tomatoes, halved (can use cherry quartered as well)
• 1/4-1/3 c Kalamata Olives, pitted and quartered
• 1-2 oz fresh Basil, chiffonade
• 8 oz Orzo Pasta
• 3-4 oz Baby Spinach, rough chopped
• 4 oz reduced fat Feta Cheese, crumbled
• Salt and Fresh Coarsely Ground Black Pepper, to taste

1. Warm olive oil in skillet over medium-low while cleaning and slicing the onion. Add onion to warmed skilled, stir to coat onion in olive oil and leave while working on remainder of dish. Stir occassionally while completing the remaining steps. Reducing stirring will help promote the caramelizing of the onions.
2. Zest and juice lemon into a large serving bowl. Prep tomatoes, olives and basil as directed.
3. Fill large pot with water and bring to a boil. Add orzo and cook as directed.
4. While pasta is cooking rough chop the spinach and place in a heat-proof colander. For the last 4 minutes or so of the pasta cooking time, hold colander with spinach over the pasta pot and if possible put pan cover on top to trap the steam. Wilt the spinach in this manner, turning with tongs once or twice during cooking time.
5. Place spinach into bowl with other ingredients, drain pasta and place into bowl over spinach to finish the wilting and to release the oils in the basil. Add the caramelized onions and feta cheese and stir.
6. Salt and pepper as desired. I often do not add any salt when serving it warm as the olives and the cheese are both quite salty. When eating chilled I’ll sprinkle with a bit of kosher salt in addition to some additional fresh ground black pepper.

Nutrition Info (as main course, serving 4): cal 366; fat 14g; sat fat 3g; chol 8g; sodium 644mg; carb 49g; fiber 4g; pro 14g.
Nutrition Info (as side dish, serving 6): cal 244; fat 9g; sat fat 2g; chol 6g; sodium 429mg; carb 32g; fiber 3g; pro 9g.