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Mariel here. Recently I’ve been feeling like a neglectful bloghost. Where I’d normally stop by the back-end every other hour to tend to Feast‘s stat log and answer any reader questions, now it’s more like every other day. I’m in the throes of several new work projects and they’ve been all but consuming my life….which is a good thing when you live and die by timely paychecks, but not such a sweet deal when you have a hungry little sapling of a blog growing faster than you ever thought possible. We welcomed our 500,000th visitor on Saturday, which felt like big news in these parts. Although my mom has picked up a new assignment of her own – she moved to a nursing role that entails more marketing and PR than blood pressure monitors and medication reminders – she has mercifully taken the reins on our little protege. It seems to cycle that way, sometimes I’m the slacker, sometimes she is, but that’s the beauty of running a blog with yo mama: you can call her up all teary-eyed and flustered, complaining about urgent deadlines and she’ll run right to your rescue, offering to serve up an all-you-can-eat buffet of posts while you bang your head against your keyboard, searching for new ways to teach women how to wear red lipstick. But I digress. I haven’t been doing too much cooking recently, which has been weird – and fattening – but I did manage to eek out this delightful recipe on Monday. I was starving and craving something creamy, refreshing, and unlike the pounds of pad thai and quesadillas I’d been consuming on the fly. I have no idea where or how this orzo dish started percolating in my brain, but let’s just say my hand was moved by divine inspiration. The last thing I remember was boiling water and before you know it, I was sitting in front of the tube eating the best darn summer pasta this side of the Olive Garden. If you think the ingredients sound like cousin-lovers, they’re not; they were made to co-mingle. Everything works so beautifully that I didn’t even need to season it, save for some salt and pepper, but that hardly counts. Until next time amigos, whenever that may be…
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Orzo with Creamy Brie, Bing Cherries and Fresh Basil Serves 5 as a side dish
Note: I think this works well as a vegetarian option, but if you’d like to add some animal, I suggest crisping up some pancetta or prosciutto in the oven (10 minutes at 400 degrees), then adding it to the mix. Ingredients: 10-oz of orzo – $1.79 1¼ cups cherries, pitted and chopped (about 20 cherries total) – $2.99 ¼-cup fresh basil, chopped – $0.89 1/3-lb of brie, chopped – $3.00 1 Tablespoon of pasta water reserved from cooking the orzo – stock A little salt – stock A good crack of pepper – stock Grand total assuming well-stocked kitchen: $8.67 Cost per serving: $1.73 Directions: 1. Cook the orzo according to package directions (be vigilant, this tiny pasta goes from al dente to al soggy super fast). 2. In a large bowl, combine the hot pasta, the brie and the 1 Tablespoon of reserved pasta water, stirring really well until the orzo is coated. You’ll still see some bits of brie, that’s ok. 3. Once the orzo has cooled to about room temperature (or a little warmer), add the chopped cherries, fresh basil, salt and pepper. Serve at room temp.
Sounds very good. What do you think about using pineapple instead of the cherries? Or Mango? I’m jealous that you can trade off blog duties with your Mom!
Hmmm, not sure about pineapple or mango (though they’re two of my faves), but I think blueberries might make a great substitute if you’re not a cherry fan
Brie is my absolutely most favoritist cheese in the world. I am going to make this for sure, and I’m already imagining the different stir in possibilities.
Basil and cherries combined with the brie? Wow, that’s a brand new combination for me. I can’t even imagine how it tastes, but I do imagine that it’d be good.
I’d like to try that if cherries are still on sale.
What a unique and interesting combination of flavors! I don’t think I’ve ever seen quite this mix before, but I’m oh so ready to give this a try. Simply fabulous.
huge ovation for this photo and recipe! What a great recipe idea
Anything with Bing cherries sounds yummy to me!
What a pretty pasta salad! You are so lucky to have your mom “co-blog” with you! Hope things settle down for you soon.
I love the combination of ingredients in this dish and cannot wait to try it! Hooray for impromptu delicious creations Mariel!
We all go through these phases – fear not we are still here. Decadent bowl of orzo you have there.
Have a happy day.
🙂 Mandy
Life happens and it gets in the way of blogging…I’ve learned that much. Don’t worry, though, we’re all still here. 🙂
But, um, WOW! This is a wonderful dish… delicious combination of flavors, and I love that you added some brie…that takes it just about over the top!
Love the cherries in this salad. Gorgeous!
I adore savory cherries! And an easy recipe to boot– I will have to whip this up sometime soon.
This is a gorgeous dish. Cherries and Brie?? Don’t mind if I do.. 🙂
Love the combination of basil and cherries. Sounds like a great recipe! I’d like to say I hope your life gets back to normal soon, but I understand how important it is to get those checks coming in too. Well, I’ll just say this – I hope your life remains full and that you find time for balance (and cooking)!
mmmm…brie!! love!
The grocery store near me didn’t have cherries, so I substituted with raspberries. It was DELICIOUS!
Oh my – That sounds fantastic!