one prep session, two meals
I was trying to come up with an easy dinner we could eat outside on evening and couldn’t decide between build-your-own Greek pitas or some sort of Greek orzo situation. And since I am forever trying to batch everything I do and work smarter, not harder, I figured… why not make both?
This ended up being one of those meals that looks like I put in way more effort than I actually did just because all of the colors are so pretty. See it in action here.
I put a pot of orzo on the stove and then made a big Mediterranean board with grilled chicken that Zach had already made for our weekly meal prep, pita, hummus and basically every Greek-ish thing I could find in the fridge. Everyone built their own pita, which is always a win when you have 4 kids.
Then instead of putting away 47 little containers of leftovers, I chopped up everything that was left on the board except for the avocado and tossed it straight into the cooked orzo. Dinner became lunch for the next couple of days and I only really made one meal. Winning!!
We’ve been crushing this and even my picky eaters like it (although the did take the olives out of the orzo mixture). The fact that this was two meals with maybe 20 minutes of actual work has earned it a spot in my meal rotation.
Mediterranean Pita Board
There really aren’t exact measurements here. Add more of what your family likes, skip what they don’t and use whatever you already have.
Ingredients
- Grilled chicken, sliced
- Pita bread, cut into wedges
- Hummus
- Cucumbers, sliced
- Bell peppers, sliced
- Tomatoes, sliced
- Kalamata olives
- Mozzarella pearls
- Avocado, chopped
- Balsamic glaze, optional
To assemble:
Put everything on one big platter or board and let everyone build their own pita. I usually put the hummus and olives in little bowls and pile everything else around them.
Warm the pita for a few minutes if you want, but that is about as complicated as this gets.
Day Two: Greek Chicken Orzo
Before dinner, cook a pot of orzo according to the package directions. Drain it and let it cool while everyone eats.
Once dinner is over, take whatever is left from the board—chicken, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, olives, mozzarella and avocado—and give everything a rough chop.
Toss it all into the cooked orzo and mix it together.
I like to add a little olive oil, salt and pepper and you could absolutely squeeze some lemon over the whole thing too. If you have leftover hummus, a spoonful mixed in is also really good.
Put it in the fridge and you have an easy lunch or side ready to go for the next few days.
One grocery haul. One round of chopping. Two meals. We love to see it.
