Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants)

There used to be quite a few items you could get at Trader Joe’s that cost a buck or less. There aren’t as many now. There are a few pasta items that still cost 99 cents but this is one I am going to single out. As you can see, its Trader Joe’s ORZO, which is 99 cents for a 1 lb bag.

Orzo is that rice shaped pasta frequently used in Greek and other cuisines. I find orzo just so handy and so useful and very good. So here’s my Ode To Orzo.

The number one thing I love about orzo is the fact of how fast it cooks. Orzo is a pasta that takes just five minutes! It takes longer to boil the water for it.

Many meals when I realize I don’t have enough food I find myself reaching for the Orzo, because it’s ready in no time at all and its pasta so super tasty. All I need to do is dump a cup of orzo into boiling salted water. After five minutes, it’s done; just drain it, add it to a bowl and give it a a nice amount of butter (or olive oil). Grind on some black pepper. Taste if and see if it still needs a sprinkle of more salt. BOOM; your buttered orzo side dish is ready. Optional; Grate on some cheese. Parmesan, Pecorina, Grana or cheddar or goat for that matter.

You can equally expand on buttered orzo with adding a vegetable to that. Perhaps diced fresh zucchini which is a lovely combination especially with some feta cheese for a Greek dish. The Zucchini can cook in the water along with the orzo and be ready when the orzo is in about 5 minutes. Or even easier vegetables? You can use a frozen vegetable. Maybe French Green Beans? Or frozen peas? The green beans can go in with the orzo (about 5 minutes). Add the peas about the last minute or two before the orzo is cooked as those are ready very fast.

It’s great for adding to soups or stews as well. Chicken soup with orzo is fantastic and comforting.

Orzo is fantastic to make whole dinners around. For example, a ONE POT dish of Garlic Butter Chicken Orzo; here’s the recipe.

And here’s another recipe, this one vegetarian – Parmesan Garlic Orzo:

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/228131/parmesan-garlic-orzo/

So this is why I always have some orzo in the cupboard, and suggest you should as well. If not, the next time you are at Trader Joe’s just grab a a package of what I think is one of the handy dandiest items there that only costs 99 cents! The 99 cents pasta (spaghetti, capellini, orzo, etc) and cans of beans there are good ways to stretch your dollar at Trader Joe’s.

Ingredients: Durum Semolina (wheat)