Summer Orzo Salad

This orzo salad is a cost effective, easy and delicious dish to bring to your next cookout! It serves a large crowd and goes great with anything on the grill. The orzo only costs $0.99 and the rest of the ingredients (minus the pine nuts) total to be under $10. The pine nuts are a bit of a splurge as they are fairly expensive ($10 for 8oz!) but you can definitely leave them out if you want. There are a ton of ways to make this recipe your own by using different vegetables and herbs - spinach would work well! Make sure that you let the orzo cool before incorporating the other ingredients. If the orzo is too hot it will melt the feta and wilt the arugula. 

Serves 6 to 8 

Ingredients: 

1 1lb bag of Orzo 

1 pint of Cherry Tomatoes (I used a medley to add more color!) 

½ bag of Arugula (2 or 3 large handfuls) 

5 Basil Leaves

6 oz of crumbled Feta Cheese

⅓ cup of Pine Nuts

⅓ cup of Olive Oil 

1 lemon 

3 tbsp of Garlic Herb Seasoning (Garlic Salt, Black Pepper, Onion Powder, Sea Salt, Parsley, Thyme, Oregano, Rosemary) 

1. Cook orzo according to directions - only takes about 5 minutes once the water is boiling. 

2. Slice cherry tomatoes in half and wash arugula and basil. Finely chop basil.

3. In a small bowl combine olive oil, the zest and juice of one lemon and the garlic herb seasoning. I buy a seasoning that already has all of the spices combined but you can definitely make your own with what you have. You could also just use an oil based salad dressing that you like instead of making your own! 

4. Once the pasta is done cooking drain it and toss with the lemon garlic olive oil dressing. Let the orzo cool and then mix in cherry tomatoes, feta, basil, arugula and pine nuts. Enjoy!