Chicken with Lemon Orzo, Mushrooms and Roasted Tomatoes

It was such a beautiful weekend in New Jersey.  A little cool and crisp in the morning, sunny and warm in the afternoon and just cool enough to sleep without heat or air conditioning at night.  I like to have a few days in between turning the air conditioning off for the summer and having to turn the heat on for the winter.  It just seems nice to have a month when you are not paying a big bill for either air conditioning or heating. This was a quick easy meal made even quicker with an already cooked chicken roaster from the food store. Grape tomatoes are so tasty when roasted in the oven.  I added mushrooms and sundried tomatoes in place of artichokes like the recipe called for.  This makes enough for 4-5 people as a main dish.  I served it with some crusty french bread.  This recipe was adapted from confections of a foodie bride.

Ingredients:
1 pint grape tomatoes
3 tbsp olive oil, divided
salt & pepper
1-1/2 cups dried orzo
1 yellow onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic minced
2/3 cup white wine (I used pinot grigio) or chicken stock
2 8 oz containers fresh sliced mushrooms
1/3 cup sundried tomatoes
2 cups shredded chicken
1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream
4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 tbsp fresh parsley chopped

Preheat oven to 450.  Toss tomatoes with 2 tbsp of olive oil, salt and pepper and pour into a baking dish and bake for 20 minutes while preparing the rest of the meal.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add orzo and cook according to package directions.  While the pasta cooks, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook stirring often until deep golden brown, 7-8 minutes.  Add garlic and cook another minute.  Add mushrooms and sundried tomatoes and cook for another 5-6 minutes. 

Deglaze the pan with the white wine or chicken broth scraping up any browned bits from the bottom. 
Drain orzo and reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water. 
Transfer the hot orzo back to the pot and toss with the sour cream and the lemon juice.

Add shredded chicken and cook until warm about 3 minutes. 

Add orzo to skillet and toss to combine.  Add pasta water 2 tbsp at a time to make pasta creamier.  Add roasted tomatoes with a slotted spoon to remove excess juice.  Top with chopped parsley.

Enjoy!  Susan