Skillet Italian Chicken with Orzo

I've noticed a re surge of the one pan dinner lately. Love the idea! Great for weeknight and a bit healther than the Hamburger Helper  I remember as a child...but boy, did I love the Cheeseburger version!

I love the idea of everything in one pan and bam, your dinner is done!  What I don't like is when the recipe asks you to cook the pasta, rice, chicken or other ingredients in a separate pan and then add them to the skillet.  Wouldnt' that make it a 2 Skillet dinner?

So off I went to my usual resources looking for the perfect recipe.  It had to include several criteria:
1.) Must be able to cook entire recipe in one pan.
2.) Must include chicken (cause that's what I had in my fridge).
3.) Must be able to use ingredients that are easy to obtain and usually on hand.  

I dug into my plethora of recipe sights, blogs and even my old Time Life Magazine cookbooks but came up empty handed.  What to do? I know!  I'll pour some wine and ponder...something wonderful always happens when I ponder and drink red wine.  It's my go too problem solver!

At last, I found an old issue of  Cooks Country magazine and there, it was.  Not only did it fit all my criteria, it was Italian!  If you follow this blog, you know I'm a sucker for all Italian food.

Future skillet recipes: Skillet Lasagna and Healthy Skillet Cheeseburger Mac, stay tuned!




Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds of boneless chicken thighs or breasts -about 6 thighs or 4 breasts. I used thighs for this recipe but either will work.
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup orzo (find this in the pasta aisle)
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves minced
1 (14.5 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
Optional: chopped fresh basil

Directions

Pat chicken dry and rub with oregano, pepper flakes, sprinkle of salt and pepper. Set aside.

Heat large nonstick skillet on medium high heat and toast orzo until lightly browned; transfer to bowl.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in empty skillet until shimmering.  Cook chicken until lightly browned on both sides, about 3 minutes per side; transfer to plate

Add garlic 1 tablespoon oil to empty skillet and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add tomatoes, broth and toasted orzo and bring to boil.  Return chicken, along with any accumulated juices, to skillet and cook, covered, over medium low heat until chicken is cooked through and orzo is tender, about 20 minutes.  Sprinkle with basil and serve.

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