The Walsh Cookbook

Cathy says "I improvised this salad because I had seen something similar (I think) at Joanne Rizzo’s 50th birthday party and lusted after it. We had a massive quantity of houseguests and so couldn’t actually stay longer than a few minutes at the party, but I took a quick look at the fabulous-looking food to see what I would be missing and saw an orzo salad that looked something like this. We all went to a concert at Red Butte not long after, so I threw this together with a lot of things that we like—especially the beautiful, tiny Sweet 100 tomatoes from Dad’s garden. Caity went crazy for this salad, so it has become “hers”. It’s best of course made in the summer when you can get gorgeous vine-ripe sweet cherry tomatoes and wonderful sweet corn on the cob, but it’s not bad with substitutes at other times of year--as long as you are still getting as good and fresh ingredients as possible. It’s beautiful, delicate and delicious." One year ago:  Sweet Chili Baby Back ...

This is just a variation of Brendan's Orzo with Parmesan and Basil that I made one night when I had a bunch of mushrooms to use up.  You could do it with whatever mushrooms you can find, but I love getting a range of different types and shapes.  My favorite place to find the weirder mushrooms is usually Asian stores, but some grocery stores have a good variety too, so you can just use whatever you can find! what you will need 3 Tbsp. butter 1 1/2 cups orzo  2 cups mushrooms, cut into bite-size pieces 3 cups chicken broth 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese 6 Tbsp. fresh basil sliced Chiffonade style salt and pepper to taste

I had never tried orzo until about 2 years ago. Actually, I had never even heard of it. But then one day I was begging Caity to feed me something and she mentioned orzo. I've never been one to turn down food and although I had never eaten orzo, I'll always try something at least once.  So she made it for me, and the great thing about it is it only takes about twenty minutes from start to finish. Also, after watching her cook it only once I was able to make it on my own. It's quick, easy to make, and serves as a great side dish with any kind of meat. Our favorite way to eat it is with pork chops. This recipe comes from the "Best of the Best" Canadian cookbook.  After that first taste I was literally obsessed with this orzo. Actually, obsessed doesn't really explain it. The word "addicted" paints a more realistic picture. I ate it almost every day for 2 or 3 months. I took a break after that but I still enjoy it once or twice monthly.  In case you ...