Leftovers' Pasta

I am pretty sure that within the hour this is posted I will receive an e-mail from M explaining the correct use of the apostrophe.  I like to call him Ross (from Friends).  "Whom! Whom! Sometimes it's who!"

Whether or not the leftovers possessed the pasta or not, that is quite literally what the dish was.  Kinda seems to be a reoccurring theme to my cooking- using up ingredients and pasta.  Oh, and pasta.

Here are the leftovers I wanted to use:  3/4 a lemon, 3/4 cup buttermilk, 1/2 package orzo, and Boris' final harvest (I am pretty sure that apostrophe is right).

I got creative... chopped up some Boris and got ready to put that 3/4 a lemon out of its misery.



Cooked and drained the orzo (a funny little pasta that desperately wants to be rice, if you're not careful it'll slip right through your colander)...



I then added about 2 T of olive oil to a medium high skillet and browned up 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (in the interest of full disclosure I actually only used 1. But, I should have used 2.  A rotissarie chicken would work nicely).

Once the chicken was cooked through I added 2 T red wine vinegar and let it reduce for just a minute.  Added 1 can diced tomatoes and the lemon juice (about 1/4 cup). Bring up to a simmer then reduce heat to medium low.



Now it's time to add in the seasonings.  Lemon goes really well with thyme. Lemon goes well with garlic.  Thyme and garlic get along.  Garlic has an Italian feel, so Italian seasonings would fit right in. And I like a little heat- so red pepper flakes.  Such was my train of thought- of course I had my basil, too.  (ended up with: 1 T Italian seasoning, 1 tea garlic powder, 1 tea thyme, 1/4 tea red pepper flakes, 1 T parsley and a handful of chopped basil- you could use 1 tea dried)...



I let that all simmer on low until reduced by about half. Then I thought- my buttermilk!!  Sour cream is often a substitute for buttermilk, and sour cream is delicious in pasta.  Buttermilk in pasta it is! I stirred in the orzo and 3/4 cup of buttermilk.  It added that slightly creamy consistency without taking away from the tangy and acidic tomato and lemon base- yum. You could substitute 1/2 cup sour cream thinned out with 1/4 cup of milk.

Because I love one pot dishes and we needed some greens, I threw in about 2 cups of (cooked) frozen mixed vegetables... brocoli, carrots, yellow carrots and cauliflower (any vegetables would be fine- I think peas would go well).



Serve (everything you ever make) with some Parmesan cheese on top and dinner is on.



This is really less of a recipe and more of a guideline.  Substitute and get creative with what you have on hand (more on that later), that's what makes cooking so fun!

But remember, that's also what makes baking a nightmare.