Slow-cooked cornish hens with herbs are extremely juicy, and the meat practically slips off the bone.
| Prep Time: | 35 mins |
| Cook Time: | 17 mins |
| Total Time: | 52 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups orzo pasta
- 1 zucchini, peeled and shredded
- 1 carrot, peeled and shredded
- 1 (16 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, undrained
- 1 (14 ounce) can vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
- salt and black pepper to taste
- ¼ cup chopped green onions
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 2 teaspoons grated lime zest
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese for topping
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the garlic and orzo pasta; cook and stir until pasta turns a light, golden color, about 5 minutes. Stir in zucchini and carrots; cook until vegetables soften, about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, vegetable broth, Italian seasoning, and basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat to medium. Cover, and simmer until almost all liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Stir in the green onions, parsley, lime zest, and lime juice. Remove from heat, cool slightly, and serve sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 535 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 87 g |
| Cholesterol | 11 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 7 g |
| Protein | 21 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Sodium | 579 mg |
| Sugars | 10 g |
| Fat | 12 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Loved it as is. Did add black beans. Extra veggies would work too.
Family loved it we will have it again in the fall
Ok but pretty bland
I love lime so I added extra but stayed true to the recipe otherwise and it was fabulous!
I thought this was actually quite good. I shredded the carrot but instead of shredding the zucchini I decided to cut it into slices, then cut each slice into quarters. It was the perfect size. I used a 14.5oz can of stewed tomatoes (I couldn’t find 16 oz). While it could have used some more liquid, I don’t feel like it was too bad. Next time I think I’ll used diced tomatoes though, because the pieces of stewed tomato were just too big for the dish. I don’t know how people think this was bland. The combo of tomato juice and lime juice was delicious and light. This is definitely not a heavy meal.
I loved it! I didn’t use the Orzo I used a Vegetable pasta instead, cooked it first then added it to the sauce and vegetables. I thought it would be heartier using the pasta for a main entree. I never thought lime would be this good in a pasta dish!
Love this! The only changes I made were omitting the parsley, using diced tomatoes instead of stewed, using vegetable Better Than Bouillon instead of canned broth, and adding extra parmesan. The orzo definitely did not cook fully in 10 minutes of simmering. I added about a cup of extra water, turned up the heat a bit, and cooked it 5 more minutes and it was done perfectly.
Next time I make this I’ll saute the veggies before adding them to the orzo. It’s really good as the recipe is written but I like my veggies to be a little softer. I also didn’t have Italian seasoning or green onions so I just used oregano and shallots which turned out fine. And I didn’t have beef broth so I used chicken broth which doesn’t exactly make it vegetarian completely but nonetheless I really liked how this turned out.
Great as is! Kids didn’t even notice the veggies.
Delicious, quick and easy weeknight dinner! Will make again. I followed the instructions exactly.
The lime made it strange for me, if I took the lime out I would probably make it again
A great way to eat some veggies! Loved it over angel hair pasta. Will make again!
I changed it a little as follows: 2 tablespoons minced garlic 4 small or 2 large unpeeled zucchini instead of just 1 2 carrots instead of 1 14.5 ounce canned italian herb stewed tomato zest and juice from 2 small limes, or 1 large lime.
My family gobbled it up, including my picky 1 year old. We need as much protein as we can get though so I did add chicken and used chicken broth instead of vegetable broth. I have also substituted lemon juice for lime since it is difficult to find limes where we live and used red onion instead of green onion. This is a great versatile recipe.
I love this recipe and have made it a bunch of times! I do, however, make several variations. I tried to gear more towards veggies so I cut the orzo to 1 cup. I add shredded onions, jalapenos, and usually use 2 zuchinni. I use reduced sodium vegetable broth and don’t add lemon or lime juice. Very good, thanks to whomever originally posed this recipe.
Left out the cilantro mostly because I didn’t want to take the time to chop it, and it was a delicious meal enjoyed by all!
Delicious! Just make sure your lime zest is very finely grated, or skip it altogether; otherwise you can taste its bitterness (I made this mistake). Also, when you’re going back and forth between the skillet and the recipe, it would be helpful if there was more than 1 step..
i made this about three times now. rather hearty for a veggie meal…which is good. family favorite. i do recommend prepping the ingredients ahead of time.
Very tasty!
This was great and easy to throw together. We had a strawberry and spinach salad with it.
Impressive! Delicious, easy and different. I added jumbo shrimp and man is this ever good! Thanks for sharing!