Orzo is that funny little noodle that looks like a rice imposter. At first glance when introduced to this ingredient I really thought it was some exotic form of specialty rice. I never grew up eating orzo pasta salads. I did however watch Giada De Laurentiis prepare a variety of orzo salad on her show on food network always was very intriguing to me. So I am happy to have finally caught on to this delicious and versatile ingredient. A good pasta salad is great to keep in the fridge, it develops flavor better after a few days and is just nice to keep on hand for those days when you just don’t know what to have for lunch. So I recommend making alot of this salad and just keeping it in the refrigerator.

This Orzo Salad is light, refreshing, tangy, and super hearty hope you enjoy the recipe and if you have never worked with Orzo before enjoy the introductory recipe to just one way it can be utilized.

Ingredients

• (1/2 lb) Orzo Cooked

• Garbanzo beans, cooked (or 1 can drained) pre roasted

• 15 brussels sprouts pre-roasted

• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters

• 1/4 cup chopped basil

• 1 cup of arugula

• 2 tablespoons of cashew Parmesan (see recipe)

• salt and pepper to taste
  

  Method

  1.) Boil and cook orzo. Strain and let cool.

  2.) Meanwhile, roast the brussel sprouts and chic-peas in a oven at 375 degrees for 30mins roast with a drizzle of olive oil salt and pepper

  3.) Combine roasted chic-peas and brussel sprouts, chopped tomatoes, arugula, cashew parm, basil- all ingredients in a large bowl and toss with the vinaigrette.

Easy Tangy Vinaigrette

• 1/3 cup of olive oil (best quality you can get)

• 3 tablespoons of dijon mustard or a grainy mustard

• 5 tablespoons of lemon juice

• 1 clove of garlic, zested

• 1/4 tsp pinch of sumac

• black pepper and salt to taste

• 1 tablespoon of maple syrup or 1/2 tablespoon of brown sugar

Method for Vinaigrette

1.) combine in a glass jar with lid and shake until the oil and other ingredients have emulsified or become thick.