Orzo with Greens and Garlic

I love Orzo and I love garlic so this dish called out my name from the pages of Two at the Table.




This is a great way to eat some greens but not feel like you are missing out by eating too healthy, I mean, we all need some bacon sometimes right??




First thing, get some water boiling.




Then we can gather our other ingredients. A lot of people comment about my great pink knife, well I recently discovered they sell them at Target. They are great knives for the price and they are super light weight. Plus, it's Pink! In addition to a good knife you need some greens, I used gorgeous rainbow chard, shallot or onion, olive oil, cooked bacon (I keep some of that pre-cooked stuff in my freezer so I can just nuke it for dishes like this), garlic, and some orzo.




Chop the garlic and shallots.




You only want the leafy part of the chard, not the stems, even though they are so pretty.




Once you separate the stem from the leaves, give them a good rinse. I just dump them in a colander and do it that way.




To cut the chard I used my mezzaluna, which is a great gadget for beginning cooks because it is nearly impossible to cut yourself while chopping, just don't drop it on your foot.




With the handy gadget the greens are chopped in no time. I like to use this for herbs, mushrooms, olives and other things that are hard to hold on to but you need to chop.




Once everything is prepped, we can cook. Get the orzo in the hot water and lets get cooking. Get the shallots in the pan with some oil.




Give your orzo a stir to be sure its not sticking.




After the shallots have cooked for about 2 minutes, get the greens and garlic in. These will rapidly shrink, don't worry.




Let this cook for just a couple of minutes and you will see the greens reduce in size dramatically.




Get the pan off the heat. Drain the pasta and get it in the pan, add in the bacon and give it a stir. Season with some salt and pepper and you are ready to eat!




I added a little bit of Parmesan cheese on the top for another layer of flavor. This was light and delicious and had lots of great textures and big flavors. If you can't find chard you can use spinach or kale as well and this would be just as tasty. Have a great weekend and thanks again for all the great comments and emails, you guys make my day.