Light and Refreshing Sesame Orzo Salad
photo by Vino Girl
- Ready In:
- 9hrs
- Ingredients:
- 18
- Serves:
-
10
ingredients
-
Salad
- 1 1⁄3 cups orzo pasta, uncooked
- 1 1⁄2 cups fresh broccoli florets, chopped
- 1⁄2 cup green onion, sliced
- 1⁄2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
- 1⁄2 cup frozen peas, thawed and drained
- 1⁄2 cup carrot, finely grated
- 1⁄2 cup fresh mung bean sprouts
- 1 (5 ounce) can water chestnuts, drained
- 1⁄2 orange
- 2 tablespoons roasted sunflower seeds
-
Dressing
- 2 tablespoons light sesame oil
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1⁄8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ginger, minced
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1⁄2 teaspoon soy sauce
directions
- Cook orzo pasta in boiling water for about 4 minutes.
- Rinse with cold water and drain.
- Place in a large bowl.
- In a liquid measuring cup with a spout, mix the dressing ingredients together.
- Slice the water chestnuts if they weren't presliced, and then cut the slices into quarters to make small pieces.
- Add these to the bowl with the pasta.
- Add the broccoli, onions, bell pepper, peas, carrots, and sprouts to the bowl, and mix gently but thoroughly.
- Add the dressing and mix again.
- Refrigerate several hours or overnight.
- Before serving, stir the salad up to remix it, and sprinkle sunflower kernals on top.
- Thinly slice the orange and then cut the slices in half.
- Stand these up around the edge of the bowl as a garnish.
- Serve cold or at room temperature.
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Reviews
-
my family loved this salad. i doubled the dressing and used all of it and found it to be just right. i made the salad 1 day in advance so as it sat in the fridge, it soaked up alot of the dressing. i added the sunflower seeds and the bean sprouts just before serving so they would still be crisp, and served it with teriyaki, cedar plank salmon that i broiled in the oven. YUM!!! i will definately make this again! thank-you for an original and tastey recipe!
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Vino Girl
United States
My husband and I married straight out of college in July of 1992. I work as the Assistant Manager at a wine shop which allows me to drink on the job! (OK, not that much, but it's still a fun job...) Besides helping customers choose wine they will like (and also help with food and wine pairings for their menus), I also get to help with the catering end of the business, so I get to spend a fair amount of time in the kitchen making fun appetizers and beautiful food displays. I also work part-time at the fromagerie next door. So yeah - that means I eat on the job, too. :^D
We live on several peaceful wooded acres on a cute little river in rural NE Wisconsin, with a cranky old-lady Burmese and whatever stray outdoor cats that have decided to adopt us on any given day. The cute puppy in the picture is Jake, our Elhew-bred English Pointer that we brought home on Easter weekend 2007. I've also got 2 painted turtles named Dennis and Fuzz, and a bunch of fish (koi and goldfish, along with the guppies & swordtails in the turtle tank).
I USUALLY eat and cook healthy, but I rarely pass up dessert, either. I do not eat red meat, and try to limit other animal products, too. I love to bake, although I seem to collect a lot of scone and biscotti recipes which I NEVER get around to making. I bake and eat A LOT of cookies and muffins... I almost always reduce the sugar by 1/4 and use whole wheat pastry flour for at least part of the flour. Those two changes do so much to make recipes healthier without compromising taste. I try to reduce fat whenever I can, too, but while I want to eat healthy, I still want to ENJOY what I eat!!!
I seem to give a lot of 4 and 5 star reviews here - I seem to have a pretty good sense of what I like by looking at a recipe before I try it. Thank you to anyone that tries my recipes in return, or photographs them.
Amber:
<img src="http://netnet.net/~mkburie/amber2.jpg">
........And a grown up Jake (one year old in January 2008) :) -
<img src="http://netnet.net/~mkburie/JAKE111307.JPG">
Charlotte (May 27, 1992-June 1, 2009):
<img src="http://netnet.net/~mkburie/Charlott.jpg">
Ashley: Adopted October 8, 1996 - Passed Away January 6, 2009
<img src="http://netnet.net/~mkburie/ashley2.jpg">
Mike: September 26, 1994 - March 19, 2004<img src="http://netnet.net/~mkburie/mike1997-lr.JPG">....
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