Salad · Sides

Mediterranean Orzo Salad

Colleen

I feel like I’ve been on a weeklong food binger. The holidays are rough, really rough. There’s cookies and candies and pies and turkey and stuffing galore.

Now is the time to start getting through the end of the leftovers and then rebooting the system. I’ve got to get some more greens and roughage in this house!

One of the things I made for our Christmas Eve snack party was this pasta salad. I know pasta isn’t the healthiest, but this salad is vibrant and refreshing; a change of pace from all the heavy hors d’eouvres. I love the inclusion of orange zest and juice in this salad. It adds this extra depth of flavor that goes so well with all of the other ingredients.

I raided the fridge for the rest of this recipe. Sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, pine nuts—this pasta salad has it all. It’s a great addition to any party or picnic you might be planning. It’s a little early for a picnic (dead of winter, don’t you know), but you might want to keep this in your back pocket for later use.

Enjoy!

Mediterranean Orzo Salad

  • Servings: 7-8
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

A refreshing pasta salad with olives, sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts and fresh basil.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup orzo
  • 3 TBS. olive oil
  • 2 TBS. fresh basil, chopped
  • Juice of 1 orange
  • Zest of 1 orange
  • 1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
  • Salt & pepper
  • 1/4 cup kalamata olives, sliced & pitted
  • 3 TBS. pine nuts, toasted
  • 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

Directions

  1. Cook orzo according to package instructions. Drain and let cool.
  2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together oil, basil, orange juice & zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper. In a large bowl stir together pine nuts, olives and tomatoes.
  3. Add orzo and juice mixture and toss until well mixed. Serve.

Step-By-Step Instructions

Toast the pine nuts for a few minutes in a pan.

Cook orzo according to package instructions. Drain and let cool.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together oil, basil, orange juice & zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper. In a large bowl stir together pine nuts, olives and tomatoes.

Add orzo and juice mixture and toss until well mixed. Serve.

Published by Colleen

I'm a photojournalist for a local television station in OKC and love to cook (obviously). I'm four years removed from college (BA in Mass Communication) and I'm just trying to guide through my mid-twenties with a relative ease. We'll see how this goes!

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