Mediterranean Orzo Salad

To be honest, now that we are entering fall, it doesn’t quite seem appropriate to share this Mediterranean orzo salad with y’all! This chilled orzo salad is so tasty and colorful, so it feels like more of a summer dish. But considering it doesn’t actually get cool here in Charlotte until later, it’s basically still late summer here. Plus this salad is just so good, I just have to share!

I had to make it one last time for the summer because I was CRAVING kalamata olives. Funny enough, I actually only recently started liking olives. I think maybe something changed within me during pregnancy. But now I seriously cannot get enough of them!

This recipe makes a pretty big amount, so when I made it last week, I ate on it every day for almost a week for lunch!

This is a dish my mom makes a lot and I’m not sure where she got the original inspiration from, but she kind of tweaks it every time she makes it and I’ve since tweaked it a bit since she told me how she makes it too!

This would be really great for a barbecue or picnic because you can make it ahead of time and its kind of a refreshing side. It’s not as heavy as a pasta salad with mayonnaise, plus it’s packed with lots of tasty veggies! It’s really one of my favorite side dishes.

Plus all of the colors from the veggies makes it really gorgeous to serve!

It also goes without saying that you can use another type of pasta noodle if you prefer. Bow-tie pasta I think would also work fine in this dish. I think orzo is perfect though because you can really get more of all of the veggies in one bite with how small the orzo is.

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Mediterranean Orzo Salad

Ingredients

• 1 pound orzo
• 1 cucumber diced
• 3 handfuls baby spinach chopped
• 6 oz pitted kalamata olives drained & halved
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
• 7 oz roasted red peppers diced
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• kosher salt & fresh black pepper to taste
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 5 oz crumbled feta cheese

Instructions

1. Cook orzo according to package instructions

2. Add chopped spinach to a large bowl and once orzo is cooked and drained, add the orzo on top (while still hot) and stir together so that spinach wilts

3. Mix in olive oil, lemon juice, seasonings, cucumber, peppers, tomato, and olives. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover with plastic wrap and let refrigerate to cool.

4. Once cool, mix in crumbled feta and serve!