Monday, April 18, 2016

Orzo Salad with Tomato, Feta and Basil

There is something about a salad chock full of carbs, leafy greens, tangy feta cheese and fat grape tomatoes that commands attention. Here is another of Curtis Stone's recipes that we loved. So far he's batting a thousand and I am finding more and more to try from his website and cookbooks. So happy that I ♥ Cooking Club selected him as the resident chef for these next 6 months.

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The theme this week is Something to Eat on the Sofa so I am guessing you may do an eye roll or wonder, who eats salad on a sofa? Well, if we decide to watch a movie and move our trays out to the living room, it isn't always hand held foods such as pizza or quesadillas. Just sayin'

Here is a closeup of the magical, healthy and delicious star of the plate. We decided this would go into the meal rotations.

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Orzo Salad with Tomato, Feta and Basil

Salad:
1 1/2 cups orzo pasta
3 cups (not packed) fresh baby spinach leaves
12 grape tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
2 tablespoons thinly sliced flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup coarsely crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

Vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook the orzo according to package directions. Drain and cool.

In a medium bowl, whisk the vinegar, shallot, and garlic. Slowly drizzle in the oil while whisking to blend well. Stir in the basil and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Now grab a large bowl and toss the orzo, spinach, tomatoes, nuts, and parsley with enough of the vinaigrette to coat. Fold in the cheese. Season the salad to taste with salt and pepper.

You could mound the salad onto the center of a large platter, sprinkle with the chives, and serve. I just put it on the table and we served ourselves, grabbed as much as we wanted.

Check out I ♥ Cooking Club and see what others served up. Also linking up to Deb at Kahakai Kitchen for her Souper Sunday and with Beth Fish's Weekend Cooking Series.
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SouperSundaysCurtis Stone Badge Resized



29 comments:

  1. Just reading the recipe for the vinaigrette has my mouth watering! I'm so glad you've enjoyed and had good luck with Curtis Stone's recipes. I've always loved him on every show I've seen but I've never really tried much from him. Thanks for reminding me to make an effort to give his food a try!

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  2. Such beautiful ingredients and flavours. I would love a bowl of that right now!

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  3. Thanks, Katherine. I looked up a video of him cooking and was surprised by his strong accent. He just seems like a nice guy!

    Zosia, it's super easy to make but you can come over now and have some with us :-)

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  4. This is an awesome combination with orzo, spinach and feta. I did something similar before. Definitely worthy to be included in the meal rotation.

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  5. Looks really good! And it's so hot and humid that a salad would be a perfect meal.

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  6. I consider salad great sofa food -- And this looks like a home run. I'm so glad I haven't yet shopped for the week. It's going on the list. I may top with tuna for dinner and have it vegetarian for lunch the next day.

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  7. I'm liking the dressing for this. We eat all kinds of stuff in front of the TV!

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  8. Your pictures are stunning! They are begging me to try this salad. Thanks.

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  9. I always eat salad on the sofa! ;-) It looks really yummy--especially with the pine nuts and feta.

    Thanks for sharing it with Souper Sundays too!

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  10. Your mouth-watering photos have me wanting to whip up this salad. I'm waiting for my Curtis book and will join in more then perhaps.

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  11. Your pictures are beautiful! I'm longing for local summer tomatoes! I'll bookmark this for my husband. He'll love it. Though I can't imagine that the dressing wouldn't perhaps spill on the couch. ;<))

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  12. Love the little rice like pastas. Have a great week. Cheers from Carole's Chatter

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  13. We eat a lot of salads on the sofa these days, and it's fine, though a little messy sometimes! I make a lot of salads like this one in the summer, especially, and love the flavor combination. Great photos, too!

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  14. I am also glad that we chose Curtis Stone:) I share your thoughts that any food can be eaten on the couch. This salad looks delicious and I will have to add it to my to-do list.

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  15. Lovely bowl of orzo salad! I have so many of CS's recipes bookmarked too, looking forward to try as many as I can!

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  16. This looks delicious. You can do the same with lentils and maybe add cucumbers.

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  17. This salad looks absolutely appetizing, although I am not a sofa salad eater ;-)

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  18. This sounds delicious. "Salades composes" is what the French call salads like this... we just ate some of them for lunch where we are visiting in the south of France. We were wondering why they aren't more popular in restaurants at home.

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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  19. This is the perfect Sunday lunch recipe- thanks for sharing.

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  20. Tina - I agree. There is no end to what I'll eat on the sofa, including salad. This particular salad is perfection. I'd eat it everyday and just about anywhere! Looks so pretty.

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  21. You had me at "tomato, feta, and basil" This sounds absolutely delicious!

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  22. Me too, I love everything with tomato, basil, feta. :)

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  23. LOVE the food close-up. All those lovely ingredients.

    We often eat on trays so many of our meals are 'sofa' meals. Great thinking on this one.

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