Letting the Side Dish Shine

Every single holiday, Thanksgiving in particular, the side dishes are always my favorite part!  So I wanted to use our sugar snap peas, tomatoes, and garlic from our CSA box to make a delicious side.  I added a bit of starch to pull the meal together with grilled balsamic chicken.

Garlic Snap Peas and Tomatoes with Orzo
- 15-20 sugar snap peas
- 1 tbsp. water
- 10-12 small tomatoes
- 2 small or 1 large clove of garlic
- cooking spray
- 1/2 cup uncooked orzo
- 1 tbsp. butter
- 1 tbsp basil
- salt and pepper for seasoning

Decided to add basil from our plant at the last minute

Start by starting a pot of boiling water.  Meanwhile, cut the ends off the snap peas, cut the tomatoes in half, and coarsely chop the garlic.

Once water begins boiling, add salt for flavor.  Add orzo and cook according to package directions.  Meanwhile, heat a pan over medium high heat with the cooking spray.  Add the snap peas and the tbsp. of water and saute for 1-2 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for 1 minute, then add tomatoes and cook for another minute.  Season with salt and pepper.  Reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta water and add to the vegetables.  Drain the orzo when ready and add the orzo in with the vegetables and the butter and stir until butter is melted and ingredients are combined.  Season with salt and pepper.
 Serve and enjoy!   

Oh, P.S. for the chicken, all I did was marinate it in balsamic vinaigrette for about an hour and cooked on a hot grill.