Lemon Orzo with Shrimp

This post is kind of a shout out to my mother. I went into my kitchen the other night scouring the pantry and fridge for something to make, grabbed a few things and came up with dinner on the fly. Mom used to do that a lot, chicken and rice... got some spices... olive oil... great! I am so glad I've got the talent to do just that. I had just enough orzo left to make a meal, what was left of my GIANT bundle of swiss chard and some shrimp from Trader's in the freezer,  but no sauces... have no fear! We've got lemons! I grabbed my ingredients and this is what I came up with:

Lemon Orzo with Shrimp

Serves 3-4 ( I make enough so my fiance has enough to take to work with him the next day)

Look at that awesome heirloom!

Ingredients:

• 1 large heirloom tomato chopped
• 1 1/2 cups of orzo
• 1 medium sized lemon cut in half, seeds removed
• 1/2 lb of small shrimp
• 1/2 of an onion chopped
• 2 large leaves swiss chard chopped, end of stalks removed
• 1 tblsp olive oil
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. First I de-thawed my shrimp as instructed (you can skip this step if you have fresh shrimp)
2. Put orzo and water in a pan and let boil like you would any pasta noodle. When it is done (orzo will be lighter in color and fluffy) you will drain the rest of the water out and put the orzo to the side.
3. In a large skillet saute your thawed shrimp in the oil with the onions, both will cook around the same speed.
4. When onion is clear and shrimp is looking good add in you swiss chard, saute until tender. Then turn down your heat to a low setting.
5. Next add your orzo to the saute pan and your chopped tomatoes. Mix well.
6. Then take your lemon and squeeze it generously over the pasta, along with the lemon add your salt and pepper ( I don't like mine too sweet from the lemon, so I am generous with the S&P). Mix the ingredients.

Good-bye swiss chard!

There you have it! Making this recipe sauce free will save you a bunch of calories and leave the flavors of the shrimp to shine through! Hope you like my 'on the fly' recipe!