Lemon garlic orzo with white beans and kale
Garlicky orzo simmered with creamy white beans and tender kale, then brightened with lemon and parmesan, a cheap, cozy one-pot dinner.
- 35 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.09 a serving
- 500 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 4 cups kale, stems removed, chopped
- 1½ cups orzo
- 3½ cups vegetable broth
- 1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- ½ cup grated parmesan
- 1 tbsp butter
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- ¼ tsp salt
Each serving has about 500 calories, 20 g protein, 72 g carbs and 15 g fat, and costs about $2.09 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No kale? Baby spinach works.
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No grated parmesan? Parmesan wedge works.
- No butter? Ghee works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the garlic. Strip the kale leaves off their stems and them.
Thinly slice. Thinly slicing means cutting slices about an eighth of an inch thick, roughly two coins stacked. Thin slices cook in seconds and soften fast, which quick dishes need.
How you’ll know: A slice bends a little when you hold it by one edge, and slow, steady cuts beat fast ones.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Dolly’s tip: Hold the stem and pull your other hand along it. The leaves strip right off.Heat the oil in a large, deep over medium heat. Add the garlic and pepper flakes and cook 1 minute, , then stir in the orzo for 1 minute.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heatTimer: 2 min
Pour in the broth, beans and salt, turn the heat to high, and .
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Turn the heat to medium and 6 minutes, stirring often.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min
Dolly’s tip: Stir often and scrape the bottom. Orzo loves to glue itself to the pot.Stir in the kale and 3 to 4 minutes more, until the orzo is tender and the kale is soft.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min 30 sec
Take it off the heat and stir in the lemon , 2 tablespoons juice, the parmesan and butter until creamy.
Zest. Zest is the thin, colored outer layer of citrus peel, rubbed off on the smallest holes of a grater. It holds the fruit’s fragrant oils, so it adds bright flavor without the sourness of juice.
How you’ll know: You see bright flecks and smell citrus right away; stop when you reach the white layer, which is bitter.
Taste, add salt or more lemon if it needs it, and serve.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
More dinners like this
Creamy tomato orzo
30 min
Creamy parmesan orzo with peas
25 min
Instant Pot mushroom orzo
30 min
Pasta e ceci
35 min
One-pan dinners ›Vegetarian dinners ›What to make with cannellini beans and parmesan ›