Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers with Orzo Pasta

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers with Orzo Pasta are full of Mediterranean flavors! They’re healthy, easy to make, and will kick your dinner rut to the curb!

My husband's rice loving ways got us stuck in a dinner rut! Every non rice dish I put in front of him he would say "this would be so good with rice." Can you see my eyes rolling, because I think I just saw my brain!

Thank goodness I found ORZO PASTA! This little rice-like pasta is so versatile you can use it in most any dish like my Orzo Pasta with Spinach and Parmesan, which is basically the dish that saved me from a life tortured by rice dishes! It's inspired all of my orzo pasta recipes, and I LOVE orzo in these Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers.

Thick Crust Pizza

Selection Sunday officially kicks off the NCAA College Basketball Championships. I've teamed up with Wilton Armetale to bring you this delicious at-home tailgating recipe and an amazing GIVEAWAY, so you can be prepared for the Madness! **Giveaway has ended**

This Thick Crust Pizza recipe is a slam dunk for your March Madness parties! The pizza crust is thick and buttery, and with the Gourmet Grillware Casserole/Baker you can make your pizza on the grill and serve it right from the gorgeous pan! How awesome is that?! Pizza tailgating party anyone?!!

Wilton Armetale sent me the Baker to try, and it did a great job on this pizza crust! I was pleasantly surprised when the crust came out thick, crisp and delicious, and  I loved being able to take it from the oven to the table all in one pan! Perfect!

Roasted Parmesan Garlic Cauliflower

Roasted Parmesan Garlic Cauliflower are tasty little bites chock full of good-for-you-stuff and delicious fresh out of the oven or even as a cold snack. They are very garlicky, so keep that in mind if you have a hot date...

Roasted Vegetable Orzo

Allrecipes.com Roasted Vegetable Orzo

With a dish like this there is hope for me being a vegetarian someday!  This was so yummy! I made some changes to the recipe mainly because asparagus was $5.99/lb, and I just could NOT bring myself to pay that. As much as I LOVE asparagus, I really felt this dish would still be great without it...definitely more cost effective for sure!

I served this with Roasted Chicken Breasts and it made for a great pairing! Honestly, I think this would go nicely with just about anything or even on its own!  Here is how I made this dish:

Ingredients

• 1 zucchini, sliced
• 1 summer squash, sliced
• 1 red onion, cut into chunks
• 1 pound portobello mushrooms, sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pinch white sugar
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon chicken base
• 1/2 cup Sake or dry white wine
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 8 ounces orzo pasta
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Place the zucchini, squash, onion, and mushrooms on a foil lined baking sheet; add in garlic, olive oil and sugar, and stir gently to coat vegetables. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast vegetables until tender, 20 to 25 minutes  

Meanwhile, melt butter in heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in orzo and saute until lightly browned.

Mix the water, chicken base, and wine and slowly add to the orzo; bring to boil. Cover. Reduce heat and simmer until orzo is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 15 - 20 minutes.

Mix in roasted vegetables and Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve warm. 

Be sure you taste this before adding salt. The Parmesan cheese will add salt and the veges have already been salted, so give it a taste to make sure you need to add more.

I really liked the Sake added to this dish - it really gave it a nice flavor, however, you can change up the liquid to suit your tastes. As long as you add 1 3/4 cups liquid in the end it can be the liquid of your choosing.  If you don't think the wine is going to be to your liking try reducing it to 1/4 cup and add 1 1/2 cups water (with the chicken base). If you prefer to use chicken stock instead of water and base - that is fine too. You can even try a vegetable base with water or vegetable stock.  Make it your own and enjoy!