BA times two

For dinner I made my second Bon Appetit recipe of the day.  Also shocking, was that I didn’t use the IP all day.  Oh wait, yes I did.  I had no veggie planned for the meal, but then remembered I got a 3 pack of artichokes on sale last weekend.  Perfect!  With only 20 minutes until dinner time I threw them in to steam in the magical lightning fast way that the instant pot does it.

Ever since making this chicken and orzo dish, I realized it is the quintessential cozy one pan winter meal that everyone in the family loves.  I searched online for GF orzo but it wasn’t economical, so I waited until I went to WF to get some.

I chose Delallo because it was the only brand that had GF orzo.  Usually I’m partial to Tinkyada or Ancient Harvest for GF pasta though.

It’s made from corn and rice and not organic, but held up like wheat pasta, so I guess that’s the main goal.

You can find the Bon Appetit recipe for one skillet chicken with buttery orzo here.  I used Earth Balance instead of butter, naturally.

I wasn’t sure how the family would feel about fennel and leeks, but I went for it anyway.  Kyle doesn’t like fennel, but I thought by cooking it, he may not get the intensity of flavor.  He said it was delicious and when I told him it had fennel he seemed ok with it.  Sneaky sneaky.

Pacman asked me half way through the meal what the green things were because he loved them so much that he was even picking them out to eat plain.  Unexpected success!  Then he asked if I could save the leftovers for him (instead of giving them to Kyle in his lunch the next day).  Of course I obliged.  Who could turn down such a request!

V liked it to, and had a second serving.  Meanwhile I pretended I was carbo loading for a marathon and served up a mountain for my second plate.  SO GOOD.  I was also stress eating because sick kids make me crazy.

Kyle doesn’t like artichokes, so don’t worry about there only being three.  I don’t think he realizes what he’s missing out on, but I’m fine with keeping these guys all to myself.  The littles shared one, but mostly used it as a vessel for mayo until getting to the heart (don’t we all, though?).

Now that I have the instant pot, I’m going to be making artichokes WAY more often.  They are such a pain to steam on the stove because they take half and day, and who wants to do that in the spring and summer when they’re in season.  It’s hot and you want to be spending time outdoors, not trapped in a kitchen monitoring a pot of boiling water.

No dessert AGAIN, with kombucha filling in per usual.  Aside from my 30 day gut healing protocol, this is a new record!