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.
Yum.....that really looks good.
Posted by: Jan | August 07, 2007 at 05:17 AM
Miss "I don't cook" is becoming quite a cook, eh? That looks very tasty and the garnishes are a nice touch.
Posted by: Mike | August 07, 2007 at 07:37 AM
yum! orzo feta salad is my favorite! the only thing missing is sun dried tomatoes. :)
Posted by: barbie2be | August 07, 2007 at 10:00 AM
This was not bad. I am not a lover ot cold pasta salads but this was okay!
Posted by: Roz | August 07, 2007 at 05:26 PM
Mike - Thanks!
Barbie2be - I thought about adding some oil-cured sun-dried tomatoes but I was afraid some of the kids at the party might not go for that.
Posted by: Mrs. L | August 15, 2007 at 02:13 PM
Pasta salad.. that's cool..first time to see that..:) it looks delicious...
Posted by: order fioricet online | September 17, 2009 at 09:27 PM