Orzo Salad – and a delicious red wine vinaigrette

Fresh Basil from the garden

This is a wonderful recipe I am passing on, the original was from Giada de Laurentis and I’ve since doctored it up to suit my tastes.  Upon going to prepare recipe I realized that I didn’t have any garbanzo beans so I substituted red kidney beans.  Feel free to add and subtract ingredients and  do whatever you like with this delightful recipe.  Sometimes you feel like pasta but not really and this is it.   It is perfect at room temperature. What I mostly like about this recipe is that you can use what you have in the pantry and in the house. I have to say the mint and the basil gave it a wonderful fresh flavor and I wouldn’t omit them.  Super Fresh! The vinaigrette is delicious and fresh tasting as well, so give it a try. It also cooks up very quickly which is always a plus for me.

Ingredients: 

4 cups chicken broth ( to keep it vegetarian just use vegetable broth) I like the broth rather than plain water . It adds extra flavor to the orzo.

1 1/2 cups orzo

1 15 oz. can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed , I used 1 can of Red Kidney Beans because I wanted to make recipe and didn’t have Garbanzo Beans, it was just fine. Any type of bean is fine.

1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes, if you can get those great little yellow ones do so. Halve the tomatoes. Use red and yellow. So pretty!

*app. 3/4 cup chopped red onion — If you don’t like onion you can omit it or add a little less

1/2 – 3/4 lb. feta cheese ( sometimes I use crumbled and sometimes I cube it) makes no difference ( I love the cheese but you can omit)

*1/2 bag frozen green peas ( also optional) didn’t use this time–optional

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

3/4  to 1 cup of the Red Wine Vinaigrette dressing ( listed below) but you’ll use as much or as little as you like

Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste

Directions for the Orzo:

Bring broth to a boil in a heavy large saucepan. Stir in the orzo. Cover partially and cook until orzo is tender but still firm, stirring frequently, about 7 – 10 minutes. Drain the orzo as you would pasta in a colander. Transfer the orzo to a large wide bowl and toss and let the orzo cool down. Set aside to cool completely.

When orzo is cooled down, toss the orzo with the bean, tomatoes, onion, basil , mint and enough vinaigrette to coat. Season the salad, to taste with additional salt and pepper, and serve at room temperature.

Red Wine Vinaigrette Ingredients:

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons honey

2 teaspoons kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Mix the vinegar, lemon juice, honey, salt and pepper in the blender. While machine is running , slowly add in the olive oil. Season to taste, with more salt and pepper if desired.