Pasta Salad
photo by kolibri
- Ready In:
- 20mins
- Ingredients:
- 18
- Serves:
-
4
ingredients
- 1 cup orzo pasta
- 1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
- 1⁄2 cup sun-dried tomato, cut into strips (not packed in oil)
- 1 yellow bell peppers (capsicum) or 1 orange bell pepper, cut into strips (capsicum)
- 1⁄2 small red onion, diced
- 15 kalamata olives, pitted and halved
- 1⁄2 jalapeno pepper, minced
- 1⁄4 cup fresh parsley or 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 ounces feta or 2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
- 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt (to taste)
- 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper (to taste)
- 1 (2/3 ounce) package good seasons Italian salad dressing mix
- 1⁄4 cup cider vinegar (I like to use a bit more vinegar and reduce water accordingly)
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil or 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1⁄2 cup water, plus
- 3 tablespoons water
directions
- Cook orzo in 2 quarts water for 8-10 minutes or according to package directions and drain.
- Add other ingredients up to Italian dressing mix and toss gently with a large spoon.
- Combine the vinegar with 3 tablespoons water. Add Italian dressing mix and shake well. Add oil and rest of water and shake well. Measure out a quarter cup, pour over salad and toss gently.
- Taste and add more dressing (a little at a time) if desired. Can be served immediately, at room temperature or chilled.
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Reviews
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I brought this to our ladies bunko night and it was a big hit! I used 3/4 cup of dressing. I did not rinse the pasta and, of course, it got sticky. I mixed 1/4 cup of the dressing into the pasta and mixed it in to loosen it up - worked great and the pasta absorbed the dressing. It sat while I prepped all the veggies. A repeater!
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This was a very good salad packed with all kinds of wonderful flavors and colors. I especially liked the instructions for the dressing; it was just the right touch. I made a few minor tweaks to the ingredients, using roasted red pepper instead of sun-dried tomato, and using green bell pepper instead of yellow or orange. I also left out the onions. This was very good, leftovers were great the next day for lunch, too.
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This salad was outstanding! All the ingredients blended together for a wonderful flavor. I added fresh mozzarella and used black olives instead of kalamata. And I couldn't find any tomatoes not packed in oil. So I rinsed them first before adding them to the salad. I also used 3/4 of the dressing then chilled the salad and added the rest of the dressing the next day before serving. My shower guests loved it. I will definitely make this recipe again!
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Tweaks
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This was a very good salad packed with all kinds of wonderful flavors and colors. I especially liked the instructions for the dressing; it was just the right touch. I made a few minor tweaks to the ingredients, using roasted red pepper instead of sun-dried tomato, and using green bell pepper instead of yellow or orange. I also left out the onions. This was very good, leftovers were great the next day for lunch, too.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Kumquat the Cats fr
New York City, 72
<p>Clockwise from upper left, my dear friends Cranberry, Quincy, Kumquat and Kiwi. All of our cats were born in the wild and adopted by us. Zaar Chefs I have met so far: Elmotoo, justcallmeToni, ~Rita~, Midwest Maven, Bird&Buddha (both of them) and most recently, Ms*Bindy from upstate New York:) Wonderful, sweet, friendly people and great chefs! Most relevant thing to mention here is that I am a vegetarian, and recently became a vegan (almost 100%). To put vegetables and other things not meat or fish on the table I work as an actuary (in my case anyway, a combination of statistician, number-cruncher and/or programmer). For fun I like to travel. Just came back from Namibia, a peaceful democracy in Africa with lots of animals! Got some terrific pictures of lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants, rhinocerous, hyenas, all kinds of antelopes, giraffes and zebras. Namibia is the second most sparsely populated country per square mile, just behind Mongolia. Update: We went to Italy this Spring. We had lots of pizza and pasta. The pizza is so much better in Italy, particularly the crust. The Amalfi coast was absolutely beautiful. Spectacular natural scenery (Canada and Alaska are really beautiful, Patagonia in Chile is sublime, Iceland is unique) has been my latest passion as far as travel destinations but I have seen quite a few big cities too (Paris, Berlin, London and Madrid to name a few). On my bulletin board at work I keep a list of every country I've visited (other than the U.S. of course). So far I've made it to five continents: Europe, Africa, South America, Asia and North America of course. I've got only two other continents to conquer:) I don't usually have difficulty finding vegetarian dishes here in the U.S. or overseas, but finding vegan dishes is much harder. I have no kids, just cats, Kumquat, Cranberry, and more recently Quincy and Kiwi. They are purebreds, of the breed alley caticus (okay, American shorthair I guess). Our cats are not vegetarians, though my boyfriend (significant other, long-term partner, whatever) is. I am a friend of all animals both tamed and wild. In addition I am a freethinker and my boyfriend studies philosophy. Either way, we get along pretty well. Also, please allow me to say that my BF and I recently bought a condominium in NYC.:) Pet peeve? Okay, I don't like public scenes, especially parents yelling at their children, lovers' spats, etc. If it must be done please do it in private:D Participation & Awards:</p>