Entrée: Marinated Italian Chicken over Orzo and Corn with Sautéed Tomatoes, Olives, and Feta

Difficulty: Medium

Prep Time: 10 min

Marinade Time: 30 min

Cook Time 15-20 min

Serves (2)

Many orzo chicken dishes have great flavors, but are over spiced and over salted. This dish builds off the delicacy of orzo, and gives each ingredient room to breathe. With nothing heavy, and nothing too light, there's a great balance between the crunch of corn, the sweet tomatoes and the salty feta.

Ingredients: 1 large skinless chicken breast, 2/3 cup orzo, 1 ear of corn, 1 medium tomato, 1/2 cup sliced olives, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1-2 tsp Italian seasonings, salt, pepper, Italian dressing, feta cheese

Place chicken breast in quart sized ziploc bag. Pour your favorite Italian dressing over chicken--about 3/4 cup (my family has always used Good Seasons). Remove air from bag, zip tightly, and marinate for 30 min.

Bring water to boil in 2 qt. pot for orzo and corn. Shuck ear of corn. Holding corn vertically, carefully slice downward to remove kernels. Place corn kernels and orzo in boiling water and cook until orzo is al dente (8-10 min). The corn will cook at the same rate as the pasta.

While orzo is cooking, remove chicken from bag and slice into even sized strips. Cook chicken strips in oiled pan over medium heat--about 3 min each side. Remove from pan. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add a little more olive oil. Dice tomato into cubes and saute in the same pan with olive oil until tomatoes begin to break down. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Drain orzo and corn. Mix orzo and corn into pan with tomatoes. Mix in onion powder, Italian Seasonings, and sliced olives. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Plate orzo mixture with chicken strips and crumbled feta cheese.