Zippity Dooo Daaaa Orzo Salad!

love4culinary's Note:

This is a fabulous salad that is SURE to please all of your guests. It is easy to increase or decrease the size of the recipe to suit your needs. Dont use Extra Virgin Olive Oil for this salad. Use an olive oil suitable for salads. I really hope you enjoy my creation!!!

• Total Time: 2 hrs 50 mins
• Prep Time: 35 mins
• Cook Time: 2 hrs 15 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• ½ cup olive oil , for salads
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil , finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves , finely chopped
• 2 -3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• salt , to taste
• pepper , freshly ground, to taste
• 1 lb orzo pasta
• 8 ounces feta cheese , crumbled
• 1 large orange bell pepper , chopped small
• 1 large red bell pepper , chopped small
• 1 ½ cups tomatoes , seeded, and chopped
• 3 tablespoons capers
• ¾ cup kalamata olive , pitted and quartered
• ½ red onion , finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano , finely chopped
• 2 green onions , chopped

Directions:

1. First cook your orzo pasta per package directions, cooking until al dente, and drain.
2. In a medium sized, nonreactive bowl, gradually beat together the lime zest, lemon juice, salad quality olive oil, basil, garlic, and mustard until an emulsion forms.
3. Then season the oil mixture with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Mix your pasta, feta cheese, peppers, tomatoes, capers, kalmata olives, and chopped red onion together in a bowl.
5. Pour the vinaigrette over the pasta mixture and mix to combine.
6. Add oregano and green onions, toss, and then add extra salt and pepper to your tastes.
7. Chill salad for 1-2 hours for best results.
8. You can make this in the morning and even serve it in the evening, but dont save it for too long (you wont have leftovers I promise LOL).

Reviews

[Amy in Washington]

This was really good! While the pasta was boiling, I made the dressing. When it was done, I poured the pasta right in so that it could absorb all the flavors and I could adjust the seasonings if necessary. While that was chilling, I prepared the veg so they were ready to be added when the orzo was cold. Very nice, light side dish.

[CIndytc]

Very good salad, I used lemon zest instead of lime and left out olives. It was a wonderful light salad.

[Perfectionist cook]

This was a lovely salad and a change from the usual macaroni salad. I did use the olive oil and regretted it as it left a kind of aftertaste and the salad would have been much nicer with a light vegetable oil. I also scaled back the dressing ingredients by about a third and found it was just right. Finally I used dried basil and oregano but in much smaller quantities and omitted the red onion entirely. It was better the next day and I would recommend making it the night before a party.