Picnic Orzo Salad
Ingredients
- ½ pound orzo pasta
- 1 pound grape or cherry tomatoes sliced
- 2 large carrots shredded
- 1 cucumber diced
- 1 can of garbanzo bean rinsed and drained
- ⅓ cup finely chopped red onion
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro chopped
- ¼ cup fresh parsley chopped
- ¼ cup fresh basil chopped
- ½ pound feta cheese crumbled
- 1 avocado diced
Dressing
- Juice of 3 lemons
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 garlic clove
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water according to the directions on the package.
- Drain well and allow to cool. Place the pasta in a bowl and add the tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, garbanzo beans, red onion, cilantro, parsley, basil, avocado and feta.
- For the dressing: combine the olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, lime juice, salt and pepper and whisk to combine. Pour the dressing over the pasta, and toss well.
In my fantasy world, I live in a beautiful house, with a huge organic garden in my backyard, where I grow my own fruits, herbs and vegetables. In this fantasy world, I wake up in the morning greeted through the large bedroom windows by beautiful, tall tomato plants and green herbs. Then after I finish drinking my morning coffee, I go outside and choose my fresh produce for the day.
However, in my reality, no plant survives for more than a week in my hands! I am a disaster with plants. I've even killed a cactus! If you don't believe me, just ask my husband. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to tell you the story 🙂
I love cooking and feeding my family with as much fresh, local ingredients as reasonably possible, but lets be honest, fresh produce doesn't keep long. I have learned some tips through the years to extend the life of my fresh produce, such as, washing fruits and vegetables just before I am ready to use them and putting my greens in plastic bags then placing them in the coldest part of the fridge, where they last more than a week. But, when I saw these cool webisodes from Freshpedition featuring the new French Door Refrigerator from GE, I started thinking about just how convenient it would be to have one of these in my kitchen.
According to GE, this fridge has the most advanced ice and water filtration system for drinking and cooking, an auto-fill dispenser that fills 90%-95% automatically and large enough for a cooking pot, a dual evaporator system for longer food life, an electronic temperature deli pan, and LED lighting for greater visibility. Check out their website for more information about this beautiful fridge.
I also want to share a salad with you today that I make often, and that we all love, in which I use local and organic vegetables. This orzo salad is a true feast for the senses. Vibrant colors, wonderful textures, and bursts of incredible flavors. What I love about this dish is that it is versatile and can be made using several varieties of fresh and seasonal vegetables. Feel free to use your favorite pasta shape and be sure you make double portions of the salad, as it tastes better the next day. Buen provecho!
Be sure to visit the GE Appliances brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers' posts!
Barbara @ Barbara Bakes
This looks so fresh and tasty!
Karen
I love pasta salads... this looks so good and summery.
Joanne
I love all the fresh flavor in this salad! So good!
Jenn and Seth
so fresh and vibrant - looks delicious!
Norma-Platanos, Mangoes and Me!
Looks wonderful Erica..
rebecca
great salad 🙂 and fun pictures
Juliana
Nice pasta...so pretty the tasty...indeed great for picnic.
Hope you are having a wonderful week Erica and thanks for this recipe 🙂
Jeannie
Wow! what a colorful salad! That fridge sounds like a good investment too.
Farmgirl Susan
Your salad looks fantastic! What a beautiful combination of colors and flavors. Definitely my kind of meal. Thanks for the delicious inspiration. 🙂
Jenny
This salad was delicious,Erica. All the layers of flavors were amazing. thank you this recipe is going to be on my menu forever.
Erica
Thanks for all your comments, guys!
Jamie
I just came across this recipe and it looks amazing. I have a question though, in the directions for the dressing you mention adding garlic. In the ingredients listed for the dressing, it doesn't mention garlic. Is this a typo? If not, how much garlic should be used for the dressing?
Thank you!
Erica
1 garlic clove....I fixed it! Thanks!
Angela
This looks delicious! I too am a disaster with plants and have also killed a cactus. I thought I was the only one!
katie
How long would you say this lasts in the fridge? I want to make it one night & have it for lunches at work.
Priscilla
I made this for a wine tasting dinner last night and everyone loved it! Thanks so much for sharing this easy to make recipe! I pinned my recreation on my Pinterest board - food under my account: Priscilla Pilon
Thanks again and cheers,
Priscilla
Kyle
Cool! I've seen people put yoghurts and smoothies into jars but never a salad. Definitely something I'll be trying this summer, getting a bit fed up of soup and sandwiches.
Sylvia
Just made this salad and it taste wonderful. I can't wait to have more later.