Vegetarian Orzo

My friend Laura of Pansy Maiden brought this dish to a recent gathering. I was floored by how tasty it was - it was a huge hit! She got it from vegweb.com and altered it. Here are her instructions:

Ingredients (you may also use vegan versions):

2 cups of Orzo
4 cups water
3 "chicken" bullion cubes- generic brands tend to be vegan, be sure to check the ingredients and/or call the company to make sure
3 or 4 handfuls of sliced mushrooms of your choice
3 or 4 handfuls of fresh baby spinach
1/2 white onion, minced (or a bunch of dried onion)
olive oil and vinegar... I used fancy herbed vinegar and roasted pepper olive oil, but regular would do fine, too
4 tablespoons vegan margarine
vegan parmesan cheese
nutritional yeast
salt and pepper, to taste

Laura's alterations:
* used a whole onion instead of 1/2 an onion.
* added a tablespoon of minced garlic to the broth.
* used zucchini instead of mushroom just because that's what she had laying around.
* did not use vegan parm
* added a teaspoon of fresh thyme because I had some left over from a Veggie Pot Pie I made last week. Oh, i should share that recipe too...
* used umeboshi plum vinegar because, again, that's what she had laying around.

Directions:

Get out a big saucepan and put in the water, bullion cubes, and a short swoosh of vinegar and olive oil (tilt the bottle and pour quickly along one half of the pan and then stop. Rachel Ray style.) Bring to a boil.

In another pan, melt butter and sauté orzo, browning slightly. I also added some of the roasted pepper olive oil.

While the orzo's browning, you can add the mushrooms and any other veggies you wish to the fake chicken broth.

When the orzo looks good (you can't really over or undercook it, so use your judgment), stir it into the broth. Cover and reduce heat to simmering. After about 5 minutes, check and if you see the liquid is starting to really boil off, add the fresh spinach and onion. If it's still really watery, you can wait a few minutes for this step, as these veggies don't take long to cook.

Once the broth has been absorbed, add vegan parmesan, nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper to taste. Garlic salt gives this a really yummy flavor, too!

I just made this tonight and it's so wonderful I plan to make it again at least once this week! I bet it would be delicious cold, too. Enjoy!

Serves: A meal for two, with leftovers

Preparation time: 30 minutes