I’m all about some easy and delicious summer salads for my family. Usually when I’m looking for a great summer salad, I turn to my friend friend Sheri McShane for her advice. She sent along this yummy Mediterranean Orzo Salad recipe to me and I (literally) drooled on the spot with the photos. It’s everything I’ve been looking for and then some because it brings together some of my fave foods! I’m thrilled to share this recipe with you today on the blog and hope that you make this all summer long (and beyond!).
Mediterranean Orzo Salad
What made me really jump at this salad was the kalamata olives. I’m a HUGE lover of those olives. I knew that whatever the recipe was for the Mediterranean Orzo Salad – as long as the olives were there, I would be there! I’m just obsessed with delicious olives because they add such a fantastic taste to this salad. Not to mention – they just look fabulous in the salad, too.
Whether you’re looking for a side dish for a party at your house or a dish that you can include at dinner, this is a perfect salad. I’m all about “dressing up” dinner with something yummy for my family. I’ve always felt that dinnertime should be celebrated and that special dishes are important to add in. Sheri’s the queen at making recipes that are not only pretty, but delicious. I’m not so like this, it’s usually one or the other! (I wish I was kidding.)
Let’s dive into this yummy Mediterranean Orzo Salad and share how to make this happen for you and your family and/or you and your friends! I’m telling you – this will become a staple at home for you!
Make sure you have these salad ingredients on hand:
1 Box of Cooked Orzo
1 cup grape tomatoes halved
½ cup pitted kalamata olives halves (or any olive of your choosing)
½ cup drained and rinsed chickpeas
½ cup crumbled feta
1 tbsp capers chopped
Handful of chopped parsley
Dressing for the salad ingredients:
½ cup olive oil
Juice from 1 lemon
1 clove of chopped garlic
1 tsp honey
Salt and pepper
Once you have all the ingredients laid out on your counter, just take a look. The colors together are so beautiful and just so colorful! All the ingredients together look so pretty and really just make me happy! Not to mention they are so amazingly delicious together, too!
Let me walk you through these steps of the Mediterranean Orzo Salad:
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Cook orzo and set aside to cool.
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Make dressing by whisking all the dressing ingredients together.
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Add salad ingredients to orzo.
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Toss with dressing.
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Optional: add toasted pine nuts for crunch
Let me showcase the images below so that you have an idea of what you’re supposed to be doing! I work better with images on the recipe front.
I’m all about this salad and YES it tastes as good as it looks! I love that Sheri made it so easy to make, too. In the summer you don’t want to be slaving away in the kitchen! It’s hot and gross and sticky. You want to be outside with your family and friends, especially when it comes to entertaining. This salad (as you can see) is super easy to make and just the perfect addition to every summer side dish.
*Also – in case you’re wondering what orzo is, let me share. Orzo, also known as risoni, is a form of short-cut pasta, shaped like a large grain of rice. Orzo is a rice-shaped pasta that you can cook and serve in much the same way you do rice.
Make sure you check out more summer salads that I have, too:
Hellmann’s Organic Mayonnaise Review
Worth Appreciating. Great work.