1/3 cup olive oil 3/4 cup quinoa, thoroughly rinsed

1 1/4 cups orzo

2 small cloves garlic, minced

10 sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped

3 cups chicken broth

Salt and Freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup grated Parmesan

2 ripe tomatoes, seeded and cut into fine dice

1/4 cup fresh basil, shredded

 

Heat olive oil in a medium size saucepan. Add quinoa and orzo and cook, stirring constantly, until quinoa turns golden, about 1 minute. Add the garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and fresh tomatoes and continue to sauté for 20 seconds until you smell their aroma. Add the chicken broth, bring to simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 12 minutes or until barely done. There should be some liquid remaining to help the cheese turn creamy. Add cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in basil and remove from heat.

 

Note: We use dehydrated sun-dried tomatoes and reconstitute them in 1 cup of the chicken broth brought to a boil. To make this recipe completely vegetarian, substitute water for all of the chicken broth and reconstitute the sun-dried tomatoes in the water to flavor it.