Orzo Salad
I love a yummy tasting Summer salad and this Orzo Pasta Salad is perfect for that hot summer day. Using fresh ingredients and fresh herbs from my garden enhanced all the flavors so nicely. I do recommend making this salad several hours before serving or even the day before serving to give all the fresh ingredients plenty of time to marinate together. I also highly recommend making another batch of the dressing, or at least half a batch, if you do serve this the next day. The pasta absorbs a lot of the liquid ingredients the longer it sits, so adding a fresh dose of the dressing right before serving along with some additional chunks of feta is delicious!!
My kids drop by the house “just because” and it’s one of my very favorite things being an empty nester. The day I made this salad, my son did just that as he just appeared in my back door! He wanted to show me his new truck he just bought and since he lives about an hour away from me, he usually stays for awhile so we can chat for a bit. We drove around in his new ride for awhile and when we came back to the house, I served this salad, very impromptu, along with some warm pita bread and some fresh fruit as we had a lovely visit over a nice light and summery lunch. It was absolute perfection on such a hot summer day. I kept this in my fridge for about 5 days and it was very filling and so yummy!! I hope you all enjoy!!
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice 1/2 cup extra light olive oil
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh oregano 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1/2 teaspoon Salt 1/2 teaspoon Ground Pepper
1 (1 pound) box orzo pasta, cooked and drained 1 Seedless Cucumber, diced
1 Pint grape tomatoes, halved 1 (14 oz) can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
1 (6 oz) can whole pitted black olives, drained 4 oz feta cheese, crumbled
Garnish with fresh oregano
In a small bowl, combine lemon juice (I just used bottled lemon juice) olive oil, oregano, chives, salt and pepper, whisking to combine; Set aside
Cook your pasta, adding salt to the water. Drain but do NOT rinse all that yummy salt flavor out.
In a large bowl, combine pasta, cucumber, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, black olives, and feta cheese. I used a whole 14 oz can of black olives because that is what I happened to have in my pantry and it was great. I also buy block feta in the brine and crumble by hand. I like a really chunky salad and the feta chunks were perfect! Add your cooked orzo pasta
Pour lemon juice mixture over pasta mixture, stirring to combine well. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Garnish with more feta cheese and fresh oregano.
Orzo Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice - or bottled
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Tbls fresh oregano, chopped
- 2 Tbls fresh chives, chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 1 lb box orzo pasta, cooked according to package directions
- 1 seedless cucumber, diced
- 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 14 oz can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
- 1 16 oz can whole pitted black olives, drained
- 4 oz feta, crumbled (honestly the more feta the better this will taste)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, chives, salt and pepper. Whisk together. Set aside
- Cook the orzo pasta according to package directions. Add salt to the water as it's cooking. Drain, but do not rinse the pasta.
- In a large bowl, combine cucumber, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, black olives and feta cheese
- Add the cooked orzo pasta to the cucumber and vegetable bowl
- Pour lemon and olive oil dressing over the salad and mix well.
- Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Longer is better.
- Garnish with more feta cheese and fresh oregano and serve