This Carrot, Broccoli and Cheese Orzo is a quick and healthy recipe that’s a great alternative to the usual pasta dishes you may find yourself making. It can also be easier to eat for little ones and the leftovers are great to use in the lunch box.
A dear friend of ours who is an amazing dad to twins (and a really good cook to boot) turned me on to the idea of this recipe. He is always on the hunt for new and interesting recipes to feed his kids who he has encouraged from an early age to be balanced eaters by trying to always expose them to a wide variety of new foods. He told me that he uses a lot of orzo, a rice-shaped pasta, which I’d not made in a long time but subsequently rediscovered my love for.
As much as I love to cook, being in the kitchen for more than 30 minutes (maximum!) isn’t always desirable let alone a possibility, so it’s essential for me to come up with lots of quick and easy recipes that I can count on to satisfy my entire family. The beauty of this dish is that I can just toss the veggies in my food processor and pulse them into tiny pieces (which cuts down on the prep time having to chop everything) and then cook all the ingredients together until the orzo and veggie mixture is soft and has a rich cheesy flavor. It takes no time to get on the table and you have a lot of flexibility in terms of what types of vegetables you use, depending on what’s in season or your families preferences are. You can even try adding mushrooms or sliced almonds for a bit of crunch if you’re so inclined.
My friend’s kids love his version of this dish and I was so happy to see that my kids felt the same way about my take on it.
Carrot, Broccoli and Cheese Orzo
Ingredients
- 1 small garlic clove
- 1 small shallot
- 1 cup baby carrots
- 1 cup broccoli florets
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter or olive oil
- 1 cup white or whole wheat orzo
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup water
- 1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
- 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated
Instructions
- Place shallot and garlic in food processor and pulse to chop.
- Add baby carrots and broccoli florets to the food processor and pulse, scraping down the sides half way until finely chopped.
- In a large stock pot, heat 2 tbsp of butter or olive oil and sauté the chopped vegetables, raw orzo and salt for 4 minutes stirring continuously.
- Add the salt, water and broth to the pot and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes uncovered, or until the liquid starts to evaporate and the mixture thickens.
- Add the parmesan cheese and stir to combine.
[…] in a big bowl of pasta. Whether its tossed with veggies and a lemon juice sauce like the Carrot Broccoli Cheese Orzo from Weelicious above, fresh from the garden tomatoes, meaty pasta sauce, or a homemade cream […]
[…] in a large play of pasta. Whether a tossed with veggies and a lemon extract salsa like the Carrot Broccoli Cheese Orzo from Weelicious above, uninformed from a garden tomatoes, juicy pasta sauce, or a homemade cream […]
[…] in a big bowl of pasta. Whether its tossed with veggies and a lemon juice sauce like the Carrot Broccoli Cheese Orzo from Weelicious above, fresh from the garden tomatoes, meaty pasta sauce, or a homemade cream […]
[…] in a big bowl of pasta. Whether its tossed with veggies and a lemon juice sauce like the Carrot Broccoli Cheese Orzo from Weelicious above, fresh from the garden tomatoes, meaty pasta sauce, or a homemade cream […]
Just made this for dinner tonight. It’s delicious. My husband, three year old and one year old are going to love it!
[…] in a big bowl of pasta. Whether its tossed with veggies and a lemon juice sauce like the Carrot Broccoli Cheese Orzo from Weelicious above, fresh from the garden tomatoes, meaty pasta sauce, or a homemade cream sauce. Any way you […]
love this one! thank you for sharing all of these great recipes!
This recipe is simple and easy and tastes great! And between frozen broccoli and baby carrots, its mostly stuff I have on hand anyways.
I just made it for the first time tonight. Gosh, it’s delicious and easy!
My 1.5 year old (and my husband and I!) loved this! It tastes like “comfort food” but is healthy! A few changes I made: didn’t use shallot, but used some dried onions I had on hand; I didn’t use a food processor (with a decent knife, it was easy enough to chop the veggies– and a little less cleanup); used veggie broth instead of chicken broth. Awesome, will make it to the regular rotation for sure!
Easy, healthy and delicious. My toddler enjoyed it!
Soooooo good – YUM!
yum
This is my tot’s favorite dish and the reason I became a devoted fan of weelicious. It wasn’t my fav at first but now I am in love with it. Yummy. We usually add in a parsnip or two for even more flavor.
This is my tot’s favorite dish and the reason I became a devoted fan of weelicious. It wasn’t my fav at first but now I am in love with it. Yummy. We usually add in a parsnip or two for even more flavor.
This is my tot’s favorite dish and the reason I became a devoted fan of weelicious. It wasn’t my fav at first but now I am in love with it. Yummy. We usually add in a parsnip or two for even more flavor.