It's a simple, fairly healthy and delicious recipe.
It calls for spinach, which I use when I have it, but the recipe works without it. We didn't have spinach the other night, but we had lots of kale in the garden and figured it would work as a substitute.
Normally, the recipe goes like this: boil water and cook one cup or so of orzo. While the pasta is cooking, heat two tablespoons of oil (I use a giant pot so it can all fit in one), add two gloves of garlic (I almost always use more just because I like it) and 1/4 tablespoon of crushed red pepper. I really hate measuring, so I tend to add too much red pepper, but you can make it to taste.
Then you add one or two boneless chicken breast halves that have been cut into bite size pieces. You can cook the chicken ahead, making it easier to cut, but I usually cut it while it's raw and cook it in the pan. When chicken is lightly browned, add in the cooked orzo and some parsley if you like parsley. Drop in two cups of spinach and continue cooking until spinach is wilted, stirring occasionally.
Oil, garlic and pepper were the same, then we added in a whole bunch of kale and cooked/steamed it for awhile. After probably 7 or 8 minutes (not sure, but it felt like forever!), we added in a raw chicken breast in the middle of the kale and steamed/cooked for probably 7 or 8 more minutes before flipping the chicken. Boyfriend had salt and black peppered the chicken a bit too.
Once the chicken was cooked, boyfriend pulled it out to cut into bite sized pieces and I mixed in the orzo. Chicken went back in the pan and after another minute or so of stirring, mixing and cooking we were ready to eat.
It turned out pretty great, I'd say, but I think the kale soaked up a lot of the garlic and red pepper so if I make it again, I'd add a bit more of both.
Have you tried kale, what do you think? It's taking me some getting used to, but I'm eating it!