Italian Orzo Salad

Serves 6 to 8

Italian Orzo Salad

1 cup Orzo
½ cup cucumber diced small
½ cup celery diced small
½ cup artichoke hearts in water diced small
¼ cup green onion diced small
¼ cup pimento diced small
1/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives diced small
¼ cup Italian parsley chopped fine
1 teaspoon of a lemon zest
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup Italian dressing
Cook Orzo according to package drain and rinse well with cold water. Toss orzo with remaining ingredients until well incorporated may serve immediately or refrigerate until serving

Rustic Southwestern Sheppard Pie

Rustic Southwestern Sheppard Pie1
1 ½ pounds potatoes Yukon gold skin on
1 tablespoon olive oil extra virgin
1/2 cup onions chopped
1 pound ground beef 93/7
8 oz. can Spanish style tomato sauce
½ cup canned black beans rinsed and drained
½ cup can corn drained
4 tablespoons canned chopped green chiles
½ cup cilantro chopped
4 oz. Colby jack cheese shredded
1 cup French fried onions
½ cup sour cream
Preheat oven 375 degrees. Coat a baking casserole with non-stick cooking spray set aside.
Boil the potatoes in salted water until fork tender drain well add 2 tablespoons of the green chiles and ½ cup sour cream. With a potatoes smasher roughly mash the potatoes they will be a little bit chunky. Set aside.
In a non-stick sauté pan add oil and onions sauté until the onions are tender. Add ground beef and cook until no longer pink while breaking the meat apart with a spatula. Add to the beef, tomato sauce, black beans; corn the remaining chilies and ¼ cup cilantro. Mix well.
Pour meat mixture at the bottom of the casserole dish top with potatoes and sprinkle with the cheese. Bake 15 minutes.
Remove Sheppard pie from oven top with French fried onions return to oven and bake an additional 5 minutes until onions are crispy and a golden brown.
Top Sheppard pie with the remaining cilantro.