I Love Having Carbs In My Salad
One of the many things I love about the summer is pasta salad. Pasta salads are filled with fresh ingredients and are great to make for gatherings because they can be made ahead of time. When the pasta marinates with the ingredients and sauce, it absorbs all the flavors, creating a delicious pasta salad! An additional bonus of pasta salad is that you don’t have to spend time heating up leftovers! Just take it out of the fridge and you’re good to go!
The Creative Process
I first made this salad while I was staying with my cousins and their parents in California. I had an internship at the Pelican Hill Resort, and they were kind enough to let me stay with them. One night, I wanted to make them dinner, and I created this orzo pasta salad. When I create recipes, I usually start with an already developed recipe. I set up my Google Drive with different folders and documents to categorize my recipe repertoire. I start by finding a recipe that interests me. From there, I begin changing the ingredients — adding what I want and taking out what I don’t want. I sometimes find myself with a completely different recipe by the end, which is what happened with this pasta salad.
Herbs Make the World Go Round
This orzo pasta salad has cherry tomatoes, corn, feta, cucumber, spinach, mint, dill, and a basil vinaigrette. It is so refreshing and aromatic with all of the seasonal ingredients and herbs. However, the herbs are the main component as to why this pasta salad is so fresh and flavorful. None of the other ingredients have a robust flavor that would be so prevalent. The flavor of this dish stems from the herbs because, they’re the base of the vinaigrette, which then gets absorbed by the ingredients.
Thank You For Your Support!
I’m going to go off on a tangent, but I want to thank everyone who has supported me. As I said, I was staying with my cousins and their parents when I first created this recipe. When I was refining the recipe, I thought about how lucky I am to have a supportive family. I know not everyone grows up in a nurturing environment, which is why it’s important to realize what you have. You may not have the biggest house or most expensive car, but you could have the most loving family, which can be taken for granted.
With that said, I wanted to thank everyone, family or not, for supporting me on my journey. I could not have furthered my career and experiences without your love. Even if you have just recently discovered my blog, know that your love and support does not go unnoticed. You all keep me motivated to continue following my dreams and producing content!
Freshen Up Your Day!
So, now that all the mushy stuff is over with, I hope you try this orzo pasta salad! Make it ahead of time and take it with you to the beach, make it for a picnic, or your next gathering. Whatever the occasion, this pasta salad will be a refreshing and flavorful boost to your day! Again, thank you to everyone who has supported my blog so far! As always, I’ll see you in my next post and have a great day!
Orzo Pasta Salad with an Basil Vinaigrette
Ingredients
For the Orzo Pasta Salad
- 1 1/2 cups Orzo
- 2 ears Corn (shucked)
- 2 cups Grape or Cherry Tomatoes (halved)
- 1 Large English Cucumber (deseeded and 1/4 inch dice)
- 3 cups Spinach (packed)
- 1 cup Feta (crumbled)
- 1 tbsp Mint (chopped)
- 1 tbsp Dill (chopped)
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
For the Basil Vinaigrette
- 1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 1/2 tbsp White Wine Vinegar
- 1 1/2 tbsp Lemon Juice
- Zest from 1/2 a Lemon
- 1/2 Shallot or 1 Small Shallot (roughly chopped)
- 2/3 cup Basil (packed)
- 1 Garlic Clove
- 2 tbsp Mint
- 1 tbsp Dill
- 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
Instructions
For the Basil Vinaigrette
- Add all the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Set aside.
For the Orzo Pasta Salad
- Bring 2 pots of water to a boil. One pot will be for the orzo and the other for the corn. Alternatively, you can grill the ears of corn instead of boiling them if you would like. In the pot for the orzo, add salt into the boiling water and then add in the orzo. Cooke the orzo until al dente, about 7 minutes. When the orzo is done, pour the orzo into a strainer and rinse under cold water until the orzo has cooled. In the pot for the corn, do not add salt and add in the corn. Cook for 5-7 minutes. When the corn is done, remove it from the water and allow it to cool.
- Pre-season the halved cherry tomatoes by mixing them together with 1/2 tbsp pf olive oil and 1/2 tsp kosher salt. Set aside.
- When the corn has cooled, stand the corn ear on its bottom end and slice the kernels off of the cob.
- In a large bowl, mix together the orzo, tomatoes, cucumber, corn, spinach, feta, mint, dill, and basil herb vinaigrette. Lastly, season with 1 tsp of kosher salt and mix until incorporated. Enjoy!
This is a fantastic salad. I made it for dinner tonight and it looks beautiful! Perfect for a summer hot day when I didn’t want to turn on the oven. I made it early as you recommended and then set it on the table for dinner with a warm fresh baguette. Your cousins were lucky to have you cook for them! 🙂
Yay! I’m so happy it turned out well and that you all liked it!