Monday, April 2, 2012

Easy grilled chicken and orzo

Spring is here!  I know this, not because the weather is nice, birds are chirping, the grass is green and the smell of lilacs are in the air.  I know this, because baseball, softball and soccer have started.  This means that our evenings are extremely busy and trying to squeeze a nice family dinner together has to be strategically planned. Here is one of my go to meals because it is so quick and the kids love it.

One of our family staples is chicken.  I like to grill it or bake it. I feel this a healthy meal that closely follows the My Plate food chart.  Now, I am in no way a dietitian, but this meal gets in your protein, veggies and starches.  I like to make sure my kids get their protein.  Why does it seem so hard these days for kids to get protein?  If you have any great protein snack ideas please post them below in the comments!

Grilled Chicken with Orzo and green beans! Yummm

Easy Grilled Chicken and Orzo



Ingredients:
Boneless skinless chicken breasts
Orzo
Green beans (or veggie of choice)
Salt
Pepper
Greek seasoning
Butter
Parmesan cheese




Time to fire up the grill to about 400 degrees! Then, lightly sprinkle Greek seasoning, salt and pepper on both sides of the chicken. Put the chicken on the grill and listen to the sizzle! I flip them after about 8 minutes and sometimes have to butterfly them. After 20 minutes on the grill they are done!

You can put the chicken on the grill frozen too, but it will just take longer to grill.  I love this option, because I sometimes forget to take the chicken out of the freezer in the morning.







While the chicken is on the grill I put the orzo and green beans on the stove (in separate pots of water). The timing for all of this is perfect.  I like my green beans al dente (firm but not hard) so once the water starts boiling I set the timer for 8 minutes.  That is the perfect amount of time for the beans and the orzo to cook. Drain both the beans and the orzo.

Top the green beans with a smidgen of olive oil, salt and pepper.

Top the orzo with butter or olive oil, Parmesan cheese and just a dash of the Greek seasoning.  So yummy!

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