The original recipe in Scratch Cooking calls for orzo pasta, but do you know how often I am in a regular grocery store?  I started cooking this dish when I had a smaller family and shopped in normal grocery stores.  Now,  I typically buy basic ingredients each month, all of which I can find in bulk (I have a family of 8 to cook for) at the bulk food stores like GFS and Sam’s Club.  You just don’t find pasta like this in those stores.  I decided that a trip into a grocery store just for orzo wouldn’t do, but I love the taste of this rice side dish.  I discovered broken spaghetti (broken into pretty small bits – half inch to an inch) works just as well.  Send a kid to work with a fistful of spaghetti – they are great at breaking them into bits!

Ingredients:

• 2tb butter
• 1/2 c onion
• 1/2 c rice
• 1/2 c orzo pasta – or broken spaghetti  (uncooked)
• 1c chicken broth
• 1c water
• 1 tsp salt

Method:

1. Melt the butter in a skillet or pot over medium high heat.  Add the onion and saute until soft and translucent.
2. Add rice and orzo and cook until the grains begin to brown.
3. Add water, broth and salt.  Bring to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer for 2o minutes.  Or, once the rice has been brown and toasted, add it and the liquids to  a rice cooker and cook until done.