Vegetable Orzo Pasta Salad

Orzo makes a perfect cold pasta salad for a hot summer's night dinner. Although orzo looks like rice, it is actually a pasta. It was my first time making orzo and since I knew it was a pasta and not rice I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Orzo has quite a nice texture as it is pretty fluffy and it makes for a nice light and refreshing dinner.

I browsed several orzo recipes and decided to do the following.

In a medium size pot, I put 1 and 1/2 cup orzo and let it cook for about 8-9 minutes. (you can follow the cooking instructions for time the package - the orzo should be al dente) Pour orzo into a strainer and let it cool.


While the orzo cools, in a large bowl, I put in two TBSP olive oil, one TBSP basalmic vinegar, a tsp of oregano, a tsp of basil, salt and pepper. I then cut up grape tomatoes, (about half a pint), cucumbers (two small ones), broccoli, and some red and orange peppers. After the orzo has cooled, mix the orzo in with the vegetables.





I squeezed about half a lemon into the orzo.

Then I add feta cheese (about half a container) and mix it all up. If you can, let it chill in the fridge for at least a hour.




It's nice to have as leftovers and tastes even better the next day!