MONDAY MORNING RECIPE POST - ORZO SALAD - 4 SERVINGS

I have other Orzo salads on this blog already, but always enjoy a different version. I found this one at Julia's Album. She has many wonderful recipes on her food blog, and I recommend you go and see her orzo salad here, not only for the photos but for the great tips she gives, and also all the other delicious recipes. Julia describes this one as "a great dish to make ahead for sharing at potlucks, barbecues, picnics and cookouts."

It only takes approximately 20 minutes to make and can be serve chilled or at room temperature.

Orzo Salad - 4 servings and

approximately 407 calories per serving

For the pasta: 

1 cup uncooked Orzo pasta

For the salad dressing:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard or or to taste

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or Italian seasoning

1/4 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Salad ingredients:

10 ozs. cherry or grape tomatoes (red and yellow), sliced in half

2 medium cucumbers (I used 1 hot house cucumber), sliced and quartered

1/3 cup pitted black olives, sliced

1/3 cup pitted green olives, sliced (Julie used Castelvetrano olives. I used pimiento stuffed olives which I already had in the fridge)

4 ozs. Crumbled feta cheese

2 ozs. baby spinach

For the cooked pasta:

Cook 1 cup of orzo in 2 cups water for about 20 minutes on a simmer. Add small amounts of extra water if the orzo is still not cooked and the water is already absorbed. 

Once the pasta is done cooking (al dente), drain and rinse under cold running water in a fine mesh strainer.

While the orzo is cooking, proceed with the rest of the recipe.

Make dressing:

Combine the salad dressing ingredients in a small mason jar. Whisk with a fork until emulsified.

Assemble the salad:

In a large mixing bowl, add sliced cherry tomatoes, quartered cucumber slices, olives and salad dressing. Mix the dressing thoroughly with the veggies.

(Denise's note: when mixing the dressing we added enough to suit our own tastes, so a little at a time for us. We had quite a lot of dressing left over, but it's entirely up to you.)

Add the drained and rinsed orzo, crumbled feta cheese and baby spinach to the bowl with marinated veggies. Toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper and add more lemon juice if you feel it is needed.

Julie's notes and helpful tips:

Rinse the cooked orzo under cold water in a fine mesh strainer before adding to the salad. You want the pasta to stop cooking and prevent it from getting mushy.

Salad dressing options: make a dressing from scratch or use store-bought Italian or Greek.

Veggies: add mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, marinated artichokes or zucchini.

Add another choice of leafy greens, arugula for instance or a favorite.

Cheese: other options besides feta are small Mozzarella balls (pearls), sliced Mozzarella and cubed or grated Parmesan.

To make it gluten-free, use gluten-free orzo, quinoa, jasmine rice or the gluten-free pasta of your choice. Once cooked, rinse the pasta with cold water to prevent it from getting mushy. This is especially important for gluten-free pasta.

What did we think? An excellent salad for our make-again folder. 

Changes made: I had a jar of pimiento stuffed olives, and used those instead.

I also forgot to put the black olives in but added them the next day when we ate our leftovers.

I think that's about it but if you think you would like to try this and have any questions, let me know in the comment section.

I try to remember to leave the addy for those of you who prefer to copy and paste instead of using the link above.

https://juliasalbum.com/orzo-salad/