Green Yellow Red

YouTube Video Tutorial:

Green Yellow Red

America's Test Kitchen has long been a favorite place of mine to gather new recipes and their new cookbook One-Pan Wonders, recently discovered at Costco, is no exception. I was so excited to find this book because I simply love one pan meals that allow you to prep and clean up everything before the chaos of the evening sets in. If you are looking for some "one-pan wonders" I highly recommend you check it out. It is available on Amazon as well.

As I looked through the book, I was immediately drawn to one of their recipes, Vegetable and Orzo Tian. It is delicious! However, when we made it the first time the minced shallots made it impossible for Olive to help because her eyes burned. She also thought the dish was too spicy. So I made a few changes and am now renaming this dish Green Yellow Red. Why? Because this recipe incorporates concepts that children should be learning at a young age, primarily the concept of patterns. 

Recipe:

1 1/2 C Grated Parmesan Cheese

1 C Whole Wheat Orzo 

1/2 tsp Onion Powder

1/4 tsp Garlic Powder

1 tsp Italian Seasoning

1/8 tsp Salt

1/8 tsp Pepper

1 Zucchini

1 Yellow Summer Squash

3 Roman Tomatoes

1 3/4 Vegetable or Chicken Broth

1 TBSP Olive Oil

Combine 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, orzo, and all spices together in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.

Slice vegetables approximately 1/4 inch thick. With your child create rows from the vegetable slices  by following the pattern green, yellow, red. When you are done you can cover and place the baking dish in the fridge until dinner time. 

When you are ready to eat preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Remove the baking dish from the refrigerate and pour the broth evenly over the top. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven and drizzle with olive oil and remaining Parmesan cheese. Broil for 5 minutes, just until the cheese begins to brown and serve.

We at this on a week night on the go with Sabatino's Smoked Mozzarella With Artichokes & Garlic Chicken Sausages from Costco. I simply heated them on a baking sheet in the oven while our Red Yellow Green dish was baking. I also served this for a Sunday dinner with a simple salad of spring greens, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper. 

Great Jobs For Children Include:

Measuring the whole wheat orzo using a tablespoon and one cup measuring cup (have them keep the bag tight up against their body so it doesn't tip over and spill everywhere)

Measuring the spices (you measure, they dump)

Combining the ingredients using a fork or their hands in the bottom of your baking dish

Arranging the vegetables in tidy rows (they may need a hand in the "tidy" department)  

Lining up the sausage on your baking sheet (they are fully cooked so no need to worry!)

Additional Notes:

On that Sunday dinner Olive ate only the vegetables and salad and for our dinner on the go she only ate the orzo and sausage. Kids can sometimes be funny about what they will and will not eat, however, this dish is definitely here to stay. I love how light it feels and the flavors were delicious. The ease of assembly, the low mess, the portability, and the fun of playing with patterns were an added bonuses as well.

I hope you will give this one a try with your kiddos! I'd love to hear how it goes!