Thursday, July 14, 2011

Vegetable and Feta Orzo Pasta Salad

A dear friend of mine asked me to provide dinner to a leadership meeting she is hosting at the end of the month - woop woop!  I'm honored and excited to do this for her.  She came over yesterday to help me prepare for a baby shower, and of course, I had to start testing recipes.  I made this yesterday for lunch and we LOVED IT!  We decided that for the meeting, we would add black olives - but it sure was great as is :-)

Actually, a few weeks ago, I was at a cooking class and we made something similar but I adjusted the recipe according to my friend's specifications.  At some point later, I'd love to post the original recipe as that was delicious, too!

Vegetable and Feta Orzo Pasta Salad
Original Recipe by Lucia
Adapted recipe by Kitchen Groovy

Kosher Salt
1 lb. orzo
½ C freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
Extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1 lb. asparagus
1 pkg. grape tomatoes
1 cucumber, seeded and medium diced
¾ lb. feta cheese, crumbled
Parsley, or any other favorite fresh herb!

1.       Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2.       Place asparagus on baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and kosher salt – roast for 10 minutes.
3.       Fill large pot with water, add 1 T salt and bring water to boil. 
4.       Add the orzo, stirring occasionally to avoid sticking.  Simmer for 9-11 minutes.  Cook until it’s al dente. 
5.       Drain and pour into a large bowl.  Whisk together the lemon juice, ½ C olive oil, 2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. pepper.  Pour over the hot pasta and stir well.
6.       Add asparagus to the pasta, toss in the remaining ingredients, adding the feta last.  Set aside at room temp for 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend, or refrigerate overnight.  If refrigerated, taste again for seasoning and bring back to room temp before serving.

 Note: more salt is needed when serving dishes cold.




Doesn't it look absolutely refreshing??

Please click here for a printable version of this recipe - Kitchen Groovy

Enjoy and live with gusto!

2 comments:

  1. Oh my I LOVE THIS!!! looks so GOOD!!!

    We just started following you!

    Love,

    http://chickswholovetoeat.blogspot.com/

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  2. Hi Carina! Wow, yes, it does look refreshing. And it's so easy to prepare. I love it. The taste is very simple, and it's perfect side dish for something heavy, like BBQ meat or something. I like feta cheese in it. My kind of salad!

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