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Katie Cannon / Heavy Table
With the abundance of fresh vegetables bursting from gardens and CSA shares, it can be challenging to put it all to use. This summery orzo salad is quick to whip up, feeds a group, and is adaptable to the many summery ingredient combinations.
Summer Orzo Salad
Serves 6-8
1 lb orzo pasta, cooked and cooled
1 medium cucumber, sliced
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 c spinach leaves, torn into medium-sized pieces
1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
¼ c diced red onion
¼ c kalamata olives
¼ c crumbled feta cheese
Dressing
¾ c extra-virgin olive oil
¼ c lemon juice
¼ c chopped basil
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk dressing ingredients and toss with salad. Serve cold or at room temperature.
Additional serving suggestions: Add artichoke hearts, chopped chicken breast, or tuna. Substitute red wine vinegar for lemon juice in dressing.
[...] fresh meals at home without being overwhelmed. In fact, there was a couple weeks when I lived off this salad – I can’t get enough of it! Maybe I should whip up another batch [...]
[...] It started out innocently enough. My brother-in-law, returning from New Mexico, called to ask if we wanted a bag of chili peppers. He had more than he could use. I pondered whether Tammy Wong’s salt and peppers recipe could be adapted to use Hatch chilies instead of cayenne peppers. In the meantime, our CSA box had yielded two dozen tomatoes that we dutifully lined up on our kitchen counter while we decided their fate. Pan bagna sandwich? Tomates à la Provençale? Summer orzo salad? [...]