Orzo Greek Salad
I love any salad that includes pasta! Besides the fact that I love carbs, I find that I can make these salads a full meal because I’m full when I’m done eating! It seems to me that everyone loves a little Orzo in their life. Orzo is a small pasta that is shaped like a grain of rice. The word is Italian for barley, which is in reference to the shape. I thought this would be the perfect pasta for my Orzo Greek Salad.
Now, for this recipe, I did take the extra step in roasting my veggies. You can serve this salad warm or at room temperature. The other extra wow factor in this dish is the marinated artichokes. You can buy whatever brand you enjoy. You can keep the feta in or remove it if you are serving with meat- still will taste great. You can also add in some olives, but you know, I detest olives, so you won’t find any of those is ANY of my recipes… YUCK!
Give this salad a try as a main or a side, with or without feta. Either way, you will have a salad worth gossiping about!
Orzo Greek Salad
Yield: 6-8
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups orzo
1 red pepper
1 zucchini
1/4 red onion
1/4 cup marinated artichokes, chopped
5 cherry tomatoes, sliced
1 heaping tbsp fresh herbs, dill, basil, parsley mix
1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
Salt/pepper, to taste
DIRECTIONS:
In a pot, boil orzo until cooked through. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut the red pepper, zucchini, and red onion into large pieces and bake for 20 minutes (you could also grill on BBQ). Let cool.
Chop up all the vegetables into small pieces.
In a large bowl, mix the roasted vegetables with the orzo, herbs, tomatoes. artichokes and feta.
Add the dressing, mix and serve. Enjoy!
