This is a wonderful Mediterranean side dish or can be made into a main dish meal by adding cubed tofu for protein. Whenever I serve this to guests they always ask for seconds. The lemony sauce, roasted veggies and rice-like orzo pasta create a great flavor and texture combination!
Course Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine Mediterranean
Keyword Orzo with Roasted Veggies, Roasted Vegetables and Orzo
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 40 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour
Servings 4
Ingredients
1smalleggplant, peeled, 1" diced
1/2red bell pepper, 1" diced
1/2orange or yellow bell pepper, 1" diced
1smallred onion, 1" diced
2garlic cloves, minced
1/4cupextra virgin olive oil
1/2tspSea or Kosher salt
1/4tspblack pepper, ground
1/2lborzo pasta
VINAIGRETTE SAUCE:
1/4cupfresh lemon juice
1/4 cupExtra virgin olive oil
1/2tspKosher or sea salt
1/4tspblack pepper, ground
TO ASSEMBLE:
2green onions, minced
1/8cuppine nuts or slivered almond, toasted (See Note below)
8basil leaves, julienned
1/2pkgcubed extra firm tofu (optional)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
In a large bowl, combine the vegetables and garlic with the olive oil, salt and pepper.
Roast for 40 minutes, stirring once.
Meanwhile, cook the orzo in boiling salted water for 7-9 minutes until tender. Drain and transfer to a large serving bowl.
Add the roasted vegetables, making sure to scrape the seasonings and liquid from the roasting pan into the bowl.
Whisk together all the sauce ingredients and smooth and combined. Pour over pasta and veggies and stir to coat. Let cool to room temperature.
Add the scallions, nuts, basil and optional tofu cubes. Stir to coat and combine. Serve at room temperature. Enjoy!
Notes
Note: To toast almonds, add to a medium saute pan and cook over medium-low heat for about 3-5 minutes until toasted and fragrant.