Mediterranean Orzo Salad*

This pasta salad—loaded with Kalamata olives, sweet grape tomatoes, capers, and a twist of lemon—bursts with summer flavour. You can serve it warm as a side dish or chilled at a picnic with roast chicken and a green salad.

recipe image

Ingredients (Serves 6-10)

1 lb orzo pasta (about 1 1/4 cups), or other small pasta
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp grated lemon zest
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 cups chopped Kalamata olives
2 pints grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise, or 1 large yellow or red tomato, cubed (about 4 cups)
1 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup drained capers
1/2 cup lightly packed chopped fresh parsley leaves

Instructions

  1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
  2. Add orzo, and cook until al dente, about 9 minutes, stirring occasionally. Use a fine-mesh strainer to drain pasta well. Transfer pasta to a large mixing bowl.
  3. While pasta is still hot, add olive oil, vinegar, lemon zest, and lemon juice and stir to combine. Let pasta cool for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. Add olives, tomatoes, red onion, capers, and parsley, and stir to combine.
  5. Season with salt and pepper to taste (you probably won’t need much salt). Serve warm, at room temperature, or cold.

Excerpted from Stonewall Kitchen Favorites by Jim Stott, Jonathan King and Kathy Gunst. Copyright © 2006 by Jim Stott, Jonathan King and Kathy Gunst. Excerpted by permission of Clarkson Potter, a division of Random House of Canada Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.