Cooking Lunches with Orzo

On the weekends I try and find time to make something to eat that I can take to school with me - something that is more appealing than a TV dinner or a cold sandwich. This weekend I made one of my favorites...

I like to make pasta and vegetable dishes with a neglected little pasta called orzo. The stuff looks like rice. The Italian word means "barley," but it's made from the same ingredients as most other pastas.

I usually start with a stick of butter and a large non-stick skillet. Pick your favorite Italian veggies. This time I used mushrooms, zucchinis, eggplant, red onion, and bell peppers in both green and yellow. I slice the zuchs long ways, split them long ways again, and cut them into one-inch segments. The peppers, onion, and eggplant get diced into reasonable sized chunks. The mushrooms get quartered. Then they go into the butter on low hear for 30 or 40 minutes.

Mix in some pesto, an herb or two (this time it was oregano, last time it was basil, next time who knows?), some red wine, and some black pepper. Cover it and set it aside...

I boiled a pound of orzo. After I drained it I mixed the veggies and the orzo together. I had a little left over red pasta sauce in the fridge that I pour into the mix. Then I added turmeric - just for color.

The whole batch made me six lunches. I put one in the fridge for tomorrow and froze the other five...