Herb Grilled Chicken with Creamy Broccoli Orzo

Original Recipe & Photo by Smells Like Home

2^nd Stop on the food tour of the week….

Herb Grilled Chicken with Creamy Broccoli Orzo

Ingredients

For the creamy broccoli orzo:

• 16 oz orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large shallot, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 ¼ cups plain fat-free or low-fat Greek yogurt
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• 2 cups fresh broccoli florets
• ¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan plus extra for sprinkling
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup reserved pasta water

For the herb grilled chicken:

• 1 ½ lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to ½-inch thickness
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp herbes de Provence
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Cook orzo according to package directions, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid before draining.
2. Drizzle the olive oil over the chicken and season both sides with herbes de Provence, salt and pepper; set aside.
3. Heat the grill medium-high heat.
4. While the grill heats and right after you drop the orzo in the water, heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the shallot and garlic, and saute until tender and fragrant, about 1 ½ minutes. Add the broth and tomatoes and scrape any bits off the bottom of the pan. Simmer the tomatoes until they are tender, about 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Start grilling the chicken while the tomatoes cook, turning after 4-5 minutes and grilling for another 3-4 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 165° F.
6. Stir the yogurt, cream and broccoli into the tomato mixture. Add the drained orzo and toss to coat. Remove the skillet from the heat. Add the Parmesan to the pasta mixture and toss to coat. Stir the pasta mixture until the sauce coats the pasta thickly, adding enough reserved cooking liquid to maintain a creamy consistency. Season the orzo with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle on extra Parmesan, if desired. Serve with the grilled chicken.

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This is another recipe worthy of being on anyone’s table. 

Some small tweeks on my end included not having a shallot so instead adding extra garlic and half of a small/medium onion. I also ran out of greek yogurt in the process so ended up with a little less than the recipe required. Another small tweek was not having herbs de provence so I just threw some good ole herbs on it… thyme, oregano and rosemary which is the essentials of herbs de provence anyway, plus a little s&p for good measure. 

Big tweek wise – I steamed my broccoli ahead of time, not cooking it before hand just sounded wack to me. I then patted it dry and proceeded to give it a good chop on the cutting board in order to spread it more thoroughly throughout the orzo.

Logan loved this one and I love that I cooked an entire box of orzo so that it would be feeding him for more than one meal – HALLELUJAH! So yes the amount of orzo you will have cooked is enough for a school cafeteria, or one Logan – so be prepared. Logan says it reheats well, I couldn’t tell ya – I never really had a chance at a round two (wonder why).

So for an easy, yummy BIG meal this is definitely the way to go.

Noming Score: 3.5/5