A cup or so of orzo

Even though the Italians know "orzo" to be a literal translation of barley, in the U.S. it commonly refers to a rice-style pasta that is delicious with seafood or in hearty soups. As we all know, once again, American english gets creative.

It takes only 7 minutes to cook, and a big batch of it can transform your lunches and dinners for a whole week.

I like to use it place of rice and tossed with olive oil, salmon or shrimp, capers and chopped asparagus. The beautiful thing about orzo is that it works deliciously whether served warm or cold - which is particularly handy for those offices without staff refrigerators or microwaves.

And, I've heard that some consider the combo of orzo with peas and mint to be divine. In fact, the combination is so tempting and rumored to be so tasty that the Lunchlady may have to put aside her distaste for peas and try it sometime. Stay tuned.