Beer Chicken and Orzo

So a while ago I made a skillet meal called Chicken and Orzo, and it came out awesome but I wanted to try something different.  As fate would have it, I was out of green peppers but did have some onions hanging around.  So I swapped out the ingredients and decided that there was only one thing that could make this meal even better...BEER!

The first time I tried adding beer to a dish was the Beer Chicken and Stuffing Bake, which ended up being one of my most popular recipes on Pinterest.  The fact of the matter is that that stuffing was nothing short of amazing, thanks to the sweetness the beer brought to the dish.  So I've been thinking about what I could add it to again, and this opportunity I just couldn't pass up.

I started out by cutting up some chicken and tossing it in salt and pepper.  I heated up a non-stick skillet, chopped some onion, then added it all together with a bit of olive oil.

Once the chicken was cooked, I tossed in some minced garlic and let it cook for another minute or two, until the garlic had softened a bit.

Next, I stirred in chicken bouillon, water, beer, pepper, orzo, garlic salt, parsley, and cayenne pepper and heat it to a boil.  I lowered the heat to a simmer, covered it, and  let it cook for 10 minutes, stirring it every now and again to prevent the orzo from sticking to the pan.

After 10 minutes, I added in the tomatoes and crushed red pepper and let it cook for another 10 minutes, until the noodles were fully cooked.

The orzo had absorbed most of the liquid, so I knew it was ready to go.

And the finished product, still steaming!

So this turned out great, but I will admit I made a mistake in pouring the beer in too early.  I should have saved it for the last 10 minutes when I added the tomatoes.  Although I could slightly detect the beer, it was faint and not quite as much as expected.  My thoughts for next time are that I may add more beer and will definitely wait until the second step.  The dish was still great, and my husband said he preferred this one to the original because he liked the onion better than the green pepper.  We had tons of leftovers and had lots of lunch for the next few days.  All in all, thumbs up!

Beer Chicken and Orzo

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 box orzo, uncooked (16 ounces)
2 chicken bouillon cubes
2 cups water
1/4 cup beer
1 teaspoon pepper
1/3 tablespoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon minced onion
1 tablespoon parsley

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Instructions:

Cut chicken into small pieces about 1-2 inches in size and season with garlic salt and pepper.  Next, slice the onion into thin pieces and brown with chicken in a large nonstick skillet in olive oil.  Add garlic and cook until soft. Stir in chicken bouillon, water, beer, pepper, orzo, garlic salt, parsley, and cayenne pepper and heat to boil.  Cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Stir in drained tomatoes and crushed red pepper and cook uncovered an additional 5-10 minutes, until the pasta is fully cooked.