Orzo Pasta: The Greatest Hack

This hack here is the greatest food hack of all times because it turns your two-pot main dish into one pot!  

As Arabs, a lot of our food is served with a side of rice. This means, even if you're prepping the simplest stew, you will always need at least two pots, one for the main dish and one for the rice. BUT, we're hear to save you that second pot! When you're making any stew for your kids, simply add a handful of orzo pasta and let it cook with the main dish. You were going to mix the rice with the stew and mash it with a fork anyway, so why not save yourself the hassle and make it a one-pot recipe? 

I use orzo pasta instead of rice when making:

- Pea and carrot stew (bazella)

- Okra stew (bemye)

- Deconstructed koussa stew (koussa me7she mish me7she)

- Shish Barak 

Now let's talk about the differences. Orza is a type of pasta looks like rice, just bigger. Wholewheat orzo has more fibre and protein than regular orzo. It's also higher in calorie, about 50% more than an equal serving of white rice. 

Also, think about how you cook your rice. We arabs mostly make vermicelli rice, where we fry the vermicelli first, then add the rice and cook them together. So in this case, orzo pasta is a lighter option.