Cheesy Spinach Rice and Orzo Recipe

A delicious and easy side that's great served with chicken, beef or fish! Tons of flavor and ready in less than 20 minutes!


Cheesy Spinach Rice and Orzo

I recently started a new job at a really great non-profit called Promise Neighborhood of Central Minnesota!

I'm part time right now, but at the end of July I'll be their full time Americorps VISTA worker! I'm super excited for this opportunity to give back to the community as well as learn some new and valuable skills!

One of the really great things about Promise Neighborhood is their community garden! They have volunteers come in from around the community to plant, weed and harvest the garden.

They then give the veggies to members of the community to cook with at home!

As you can see, the garden is coming along nicely, thanks to our amazing volunteers!

We have no paid staff that works in the garden, so the help from volunteers is greatly appreciated.

I've been bringing home tons of spinach these last couple weeks, and today's recipe is just one of the few that I will be sharing with you using the amazing produce from the community garden!

We just love making copycat "rice a roni" side dishes at home. They have much less sodium, more vitamins and veggies and they are almost as easy as the boxed stuff.

Plus, they taste ah-mazing. Can't really get much better than that!

There's tons of cheesy goodness and it's packed full of spinach. When you cut the spinach nice and small, it distributes more evenly throughout the rice and orzo so you get some in every bite! Yum!

We love serving this with chicken, beef or shrimp and the leftovers are great for lunch the next day.

Orzo is such a favorite at our house! I usually buy a couple bags when I'm at Trader Joes so we always have some to add in with our rice dishes.

Orzo means barley in Italian, which sometimes causes confusion for us Americans. It's a grain shaped pasta that goes great in soups, mixed with rice or sprinkled in a salad with greens.

I always look forward to spring and summer when fresh vegetables are abundant from the garden, and I can mix them into dishes like this!

Do you participate in a community garden, or do you have one at home? What are some of your favorite veggies to grow?

Looking for more recipes with spinach? Try these:

Creamy Chicken and Spinach Noodle Soup
Blue Cheese Spinach Walnut Sauce
Cheesy Chicken, Sun Dried Tomato and Spinach Rolls
Spinach Balls
Spinach and Artichoke Dip Stuffed Portobellos
Spinach Ricotta Shells

You can find more orzo recipes here:

Sausage and Vegetable Orzo
Lemon Pepper Shrimp Orzo
Beefy Mushroom, Onion and Orzo Soup
Orzo Ranch Pasta Salad
Tomato, Cucumber and Orzo Salad
Beef and Orzo Skillet Dinner


Click the recipe title to check them out!

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Yield: 4 servings  Author: Sheena  

Cheesy Spinach Rice and Orzo

ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup long grain white rice
• 1/2 cup orzo
• 2 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/2 cup onion, finely diced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 cup fresh spinach, finely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

instructions

1. In a large saute pan, melt butter over medium-medium high heat. Add basmati and orzo, saute and stir often until it starts to brown.
2. Add chicken broth, milk, onion and parsley. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to simmer. 
3. Cook until rice and orzo is tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in cheddar and spinach, salt and pepper.
4. Remove from heat and let stand for 2-3 minutes before serving.

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