The weather is getting warmer and it’s time to bring on the spring and summer pasta salads. Today I took one of my favorite combinations and put them together, in a light, healthy, low-calorie pasta salad. This is one of those recipes I have been wanting to make. It is my Greek Orzo Pasta Salad. The salad is made with cucumbers, tomatoes, roasted red peppers, banana peppers, fresh herbs and of course orzo pasta. This makes for an easy side dish, a perfect salad for a party or great for lunches. I seasoned the salad with just a bit of olive oil and lemon juice. I went simple on the ingredients because I wanted to taste the flavor of my vegetables and herbs. I started out by making my pasta and then coating it in olive oil. I used my Crisp Cooking Straight Peeler to peel the cucumber. It is my favorite peeler! It peels perfect without ruining the cucumber. I have had peelers that have put dents in my produce and I don’t like that. But I have the perfect peeler now! Then I chopped my cherry tomatoes in half, sliced my roasted red pepper from the jar, and chopped up my banana peppers. I use my Crisp Cooking Straight Pairing Knife. As you know I have mentioned in past posts that this is by far my favorite little knife for cutting produce. It’s sharp enough to cut through any fruit and vegetable and it even comes with its own knife sharpener. I kid you not, I think I use this knife every day. The last thing I did was cut my herbs. I used the scissors to cut the chives, but used my Crisp Cooking Herb Mincer to cut the parsley. The Herb Mincer is so perfect for making your herbs nice and small. I don’t like having big chinks of parsley in my salad, blah. By the way I heard that parsley is going to be the new big, and upcoming herb. It used to be basil, but now it’s parsley. I added all my vegetables, herbs to my bowl of orzo pasta and added a pinch of salt pepper and lemon juice. It is truly a delicious little salad! I love it!
A light refreshing greek salad made with orzo pasta, cucumber, tomatoes, peppers and seasoned with lemon juice and fresh herbs.
Author: Jennifer Drummond
Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: Greek
Serves: 7 cups
Ingredients
1 cup orzo pasta
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
2 cups cucumber, peeled, diced small
1 roasted red pepper from jar, chopped small
¼ cup chives, chopped small
¼ cup parsley, minced
½ cup banana peppers, from jar
20 kalamata olives,pitted
½ lemon,juiced
salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
In a large pot bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Add orzo pasta and cook for about 8-9 minutes until pasta is cooked. Let the pasta cool and add to a bowl and stir in 1 tablespoon olive oil.
In the bowl with the pasta, add tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, parsley, chives, banana peppers and olives. Mix until combined. Add lemon juice.
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