Orzo Parmesan With Veggies

Two posts in one day, such grandeur. This is just a quick one though; I didn't have all the nutrition info ready to go when I wrote the last blog. So here it is, Orzo Parmesan with veggies!

		Cals		Tot fat		Sat fat		Trans		Sodium
2 tsp light butter		30		3.333333		1		0		56.66667
3/8 cup orzo		300		1.5		0		0		0
3/4 cup chicken stock		11.25		0		0		0		427.5
1/8 cup grated parmesan		40		3		2		0		170
1/8 tsp salt		0		0		0		0		290
pinch of pepper		0		0		0		0		0
9 slim asparagus stalks		25		0		0		0		0
1/4 yellow pepper		12.5		0.1		0.025		0		1
Total		418.75		7.933333		3.025		0		945.1667

Melt the butter over medium heat. Add the orzo and saute for a few minutes, until the orzo starts to get golden brown. Add the broth then cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until all the broth has been absorbed.

While Orzo simmers, wash then grill fresh asparagus for 10 minutes. Chop up yellow pepper and add to grill for 5 minutes. I use the foreman grill, but you can bake the veggies for 20 mins at 350 degrees as well. Remove the veggies from the grill and the orzo from the heat after the allotted time. Add the Parmesan and veggies, then salt and pepper to taste.

I made this for dinner tonight, and it seems like a healthy enough meal to me. I try to keep my dinners around 400 calories, and it doesn't tip the scale too far in any direction. Even the sodium isn't took bad. It's around 39% of the daily value, and as long as my sodium intake for dinner stays under 50%, I'm happy (my breakfast and lunches are almost always super low in sodium). If you were aiming to cut some sodium, you could do away with the 1/8 tsp of salt. I don't think the dish really needs it (I always taste a dish before I go throwing salt/pepper into the mix). If you did that, then your sodium intake for this dish would only be around 27% of the daily value.