Greek Orzo Salad

Blogging Marathon# 60: Week 2/ Day 1

Theme: Take-Away dishes from Metropulos, Santa Barbara

Dish: Greek Orzo Salad

My theme for this week's blogging marathon is very interesting. Valli gave us a list of 10 best take-out restaurants in 3 travel destinations. We had to pick a destination and a restaurant from that list and cook 3 dishes for the week.

After a lot of browsing, I chose Metropulos restaurant from Santa Barbara. It is a fine foods market that sells amazing sandwiches, paninis and a ton of gourmet specialty food items. After reading about the place I have added it to my bucket list of places to visit :-)

Their menu had a ton of dishes that I wanted to try but I found some that I really wanted to make on their catering menu. So for the first day, I made this quick and easy Greek Orzo salad. It is packed with veggies and herbs and tasted very good. The dressing is light and fresh and does not weigh the salad down.

Salad tasted good when served right away, but tasted even better after a few hours. I think this will make a great dish to make for a potluck, picnic and lunch boxes.

Greek Orzo Salad

Ingredients:

• 1cup
• Orzo
• 1cup
• Artichokes, drained and chopped
• ½cup
• Kalamata Olives
• 1cup
• Cherry or Grape Tomatoes, halved
• 1
• Medium Cucumber, seeded and diced
• 4
• Green Onions, chopped
• ⅓cup
• Fresh Parsley, chopped
• ¼cup
• Olive oil
• 2tsp
• Dijon Mustard
• 3tbsp
• White wine vinegar
• 3tbsp
• Fresh Dill, finely chopped
• 3tbsp
• Fresh Parsley, finely chopped
• As needed
• Feta Cheese, for garnish
• To taste
• Salt & Pepper

Method:

Cook orzo according to package instructions which is same as any other pasta. Bring a pot of water to boil, add orzo and boil for 7~9 minutes. Drain and set aside.

In the meantime, whisk olive oil, mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper in a small bowl.

To the cooked orzo, add chopped artichokes, olives, tomatoes, green onions, dill, parsley and the dressing. Toss, taste and adjust the seasoning. Sprinkle with feta cheese and serve.