Orzo Pasta Salad

August 06, 2007

Orzo Pasta Salad

Toga! Toga! Toga! Mr. L and I were invited to a Greek party this past weekend. As the hosts were providing a nice juicy BBQ Leg of Lamb, guests were asked to contribute some sort of Greek side dish. I had been running across orzo recipes for ages and thought that something made with it would be a great dish to bring. I wanted to make a cold pasta salad thinking that would save the hosts trouble from trying to reheat it and cold pasta was something I could prepare ahead of time. Unfortunately, all the orzo recipes I came across were heated (don't worry, I took notes and will make them later!). Most of the recipes also had way to many ingredients and I was looking for something simple that the kids at the party might eat. Failing to locate anything in my cookbooks that seemed to go with the dish I had in my head, I, GASP, improvised and kind of put something together from all the recipes I found.

I think this turned out ok. I thought it was a bit dry, but Mr. L said it was fine. The party went well, the lamb was delicious, my toga was made out of a white curtain I found tucked away in a closet and Mr. L won the Olympic game of "one minute to eat five saltine crackers without water"...not an easy thing to do!

ORZO PASTA SALAD

16 ounces orzo pasta
4 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons Red Wine vinegar
1/2 cup minced red onion
1 6oz container crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook orzo according to package directions. Drain pasta and transfer to large bowl. Stir in the olive oil, vinegar, red onion, feta cheese, lemon juice and basil. Toss to combine. Season with Salt and Pepper.

Though several recipes had adding tomatoes to the recipe, I didn't add them. I used them as a decoration instead. Serves 10 to 12.