Grilled Vegetable and Orzo Salad

This is quite possibly one of the easiest BBQ sides I have ever put together.  I knew a few things: I wanted grilled vegetables, and I didn’t want them on a salad, and I didn’t want them plain. While I love grilled vegetables plain I wanted to spice it up. When you put grilled vegetables on a big salad they all sink to the bottom and end up making the lettuce soggy. While a grilled vegetable salad can be plated nicely individually, it’s not as successful as a big dish.

This salad was also met with rave reviews; it’s been awhile since I had such a rush of requests for a recipe. A few other great things about this recipe: it can be made ahead, and I can attest to this because I ate every last bit of the leftovers. It can also be eaten warm or cold (versatility at its finest). It’s a GREAT summer salad because there is no mayo in it or anything to get all nasty when you leave it out in the sun while you are distracted playing bags (I know I’m not the only one). You can feel completely safe about eating round two hours after this salad has been sitting out. Feta cheese is one of those great cheeses that never really melts and never gets the greasy sweat that other cheeses sometimes do. Perfect for something like this.

By far- the best part of this recipe is how damn easy it is. Cook some orzo, skewer some vegetables, and crumble some feta…delicious amazing salad complete.

Grilled Vegetable and Orzo salad

Ingredients:

1 cup orzo pasta, cooked and drained

¾ to 1 cup block feta cheese, crumbled

1 zucchini, cubed

1 yellow squash, cubed

10 asparagus spears

15 (or so) cherry tomatoes

1 medium Vidalia (or sweet) onion chopped in large pieces.

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Method:

Skewer the zucchini, squash, cherry tomatoes, and onion. Skewer only one kind of vegetable together. The onions will take a little longer, and the tomatoes will take the least amount of time which is why I keep like vegetables together. For the asparagus, prepare a foil packet for the grill and toss the asparagus with olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper before sealing up. Drizzle the skewers with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and a healthy grind of pepper. Over medium heat grill each of the skewers until each of the vegetables has a nice light char. Onions first; asparagus, zucchini, and squash at the same time, and tomatoes a quick turn last. While the vegetables cook (or before) cook the orzo according the the directions on the box.

In a large bowl top the orzo with the vegetables and the feta cheese and toss.

Add a drizzle of olive oil and a few grinds of pepper (no salt is necessary, the cheese has plenty) and serve.

A few notes:

You could use any kind of vegetable here. Bell peppers would be lovely (if I liked them) along with eggplant, or any other vegetable (I can’t think of any other vegetables you grill, but maybe you can).

I love grilled (or roasted) tomatoes, but this salad could also be served with them fresh.

I highly recommend trying this as is first, but a bit of fresh basil, or other fresh herbs, would be wonderful.

-Sue

Special Pasta

It may seem like a strange name, but this pasta really is special. Years ago (think middle school) for Father’s day, I bought my Dad one of those pasta kits, complete with a spice packet. The pasta was amazing and my parents figured out the spice mix (or at least pretty damn close) so we could replicate it. So we started calling it Dad’s Special Pasta, and well, the name stuck. This is a family staple for us, we often had this with grilled or parmesan chicken and we frequently made it when we had company. Everyone loves it. In fact, when Cat and I started this blog my old roommate Kate specifically requested this recipe….so Kate, here you go!

Now, I should tell you that the original recipe has bell peppers in it. Lots and lots of bell peppers, but as it turns out I’m not a huge fan of bell peppers. So I have modified this recipe to include zucchini and yellow squash. In my opinion, I think the best part about this pasta is the olive oil/spice mix and the gooey melted cheese, so whichever vegetable you prefer will work.

Ingredients:

10 oz rainbow pasta (Wacky Mac is my personal favorite)

2 small zucchini, 2 small yellow squash (OR ½ each of yellow, red, and green pepper, thinly sliced)

8oz brick of mozzarella cheese

¼ cup parmesan, freshly grated

¼ cup olive oil

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

1 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp dried basil (I used 1 tsp dry, and about 5 leaves of fresh)

¼ tsp thyme

2 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed

Method:

Prep the vegetables first. I cubed the squash and sautéed it lightly with a drizzle of olive oil.

I like squash at least lightly cooked, so this is the method I prefer but you could also julienne them and keep them raw. If you are using the bell peppers slice them as thinly as possible. The best method for this is a mandoline, or a food processor fitted with a slicer attachment.

Cook the pasta while you cube the cheese and prepare the olive oil spice mixture.

For the spices, I crush them with a mortar and pestle, but you could also do this in the palm of your hand. It’s important to crush them otherwise they do not distribute as evenly throughout the pasta

Add the crushed spices, and the minced (or pressed) garlic to the olive oil. Mix to combine. By this time the pasta should be about done. Drain the pasta and toss into a large bowl, topped with veggies, cubed mozzarella, and the olive oil/ spice mixture. Mix well until all ingredients are distributed evenly. Top with the parmesan cheese and mix one more time. Now, this is where the magic happens. The hot pasta will melt the cheese creating ooey-gooey-cheesy deliciousness.

-Sue