Saffron Orzo with Fennel and Vegetarian Chorizo

Orzo has a similar shape to rice, but it's actually pasta . I've found that kids love orzo; it's more tender and more pleasing to the palate of little ones.

We were running out of long grain rice in the house, so I decided to use orzo pasta as a substitute for rice in my Spanish rice dish. To bring another layer of flavor, I added some fennel that I cook in apple juice. Enjoy!

Spanish Rice Recipe

Since I have to please a large crowd of vegetarians in the house, I'm always looking for ways to make my dishes more flavorful and nutritious.  Traditional Spanish rice is already packed with flavor, so with the addition of just a few ingredients it can become a complete meal. To the standard blend of white rice, onion, tomato, garlic and cilantro, I add protein in the form of cannellini beans and vegetarian chorizo.  I finish the dish with a little saffron and Tabasco for an additional kick of fragrance and flavor.

For the non-vegetarians, I make a ground lamb chorizo that I add to the Spanish rice instead. This way everyone is happy, and it's not a lot of additional work for me.

Roules d'Aubergines au Chevre (Goat Cheese Eggplant Rollups)

I had half a tray of ice cubes left of my pistachio pesto and 2 beautiful eggplants. We had a very nice sunny day today in Northern California. I wanted to make something light and fresh. The roulés d'aubergines au chèvre are a good starter course.