White Bean & Parmesan Baked Orzo

I'm so happy I finally have some recipes to share this week. I've been totally slacking on the cooking front by making lots of easy salad type meals that I haven't felt were worthy of sharing. I've also been surviving on those Chickpea Cilantro Burgers. I made this meal and one other that were blog worthy last week, but hunger got the best of me on the other recipe, so here I am, sharing this one.

 

I was pretty surprised by this dish. I've had it bookmarked for so long and kept telling myself I'd make it soon. You know how that goes...well, I finally got around to it, and David and I both gave it a passing grade. I really liked the use of the red onion, green bell, and mushrooms in this meal. It's perfect served with a salad making it a pretty light meal. I would normally think of this as a winter or fall dish, but I think it worked fine for spring, too. 

White Bean & Parmesan Baked Orzo

Recipe adapted from How Sweet it is

1 cup orzo pasta
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups raw arugula (or spinach)
1 15-ounce can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1. Cook orzo according to directions. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large sauce pan, heat olive oil, satue red onion and green bell pepper for about 5 minutes or until soft. Stir in mushrooms and garlic and saute until soft and fragrant.
3. Stir orzo into sauteed vegetables and mix in about 1/2 cup parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper to taste.
4. In a greased baking dish, spread orzo out and top with parmesan cheese. Bake for 15 minutes.