Greek Orzo salad

The first time I ate Orzo (or the Greek equivalent (kritharáki)) was over 20 years ago on a very hot day in Delphi in Greece, home of the legendary of oracle in a stunningly situated taverna overlooking the gorge.  So that's how an orzo based Greek salad came about plus we have a couple of cucumber plants which are producing legendary quantities of fruit, so a Greek influenced pasta salad it had to be.

Delphi was the one place in Greece I would like to return to as it situated in the mountains, so its a little cooler than the plains and there was history at every turn, plus the views were amazing. Our hotel simply furnished overlooking that impressive gorge,I can't for the life of me what it was called but its probably still there as its that sort of place.

On to our delightfully simple recipe, which makes an ideal accompaniment to grilled chicken or fish or as part of a mezze or salad selection for a barbecue or party

What you need

• Roughly 1 dessert bowl - Orzo pasta - cooked and cooled by rinsing in cold water 
• 1 Red onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 whole Cucumber -peeled and chopped in to small chunks
• Tomatoes - chopped into small chunks or cherry halved
• Feta cheese - crumbled
• Bunch of fresh basil
• Freshly ground pepper
• 4 tbsp Olive oil 
• 1 tbsp Lemon juice
• 1 tsp Honey
• 1 tsp Mustard - I used Dijon

What you do

• Cook the orzo pasta according to the instructions on the packet, once cooked rinse under the cold tap to cool rapidly.
• Place in a large bowl with the chopped onion, cucumber and tomato
• Crumble the feta cheese over the top and tear the basil leaves also on the top
• Quickly mix the olive oil, lemon juice,  honey and mustard in a separate bowl to form a dressing, my tool of preference is a small whisk, season with some freshly ground pepper
• Pour on to the contents of the large bowl and toss to ensure everything gets coated with dressing
• Ta dah ! your salad is ready. Chill if you like and it keeps for a couple of days in the fridge.

We are linking up this post to Recipe of the Week over on A Mummy Too

                                                               

And Simple and In Season over on RenBehan, a linky for seasonal food

And we will also be linking up to a few other challenges later in the month once the linky's are live

No Croutons Required hosted by Tinned Tomatoes

                                                                 

Meat Free Mondays over on Tinned Tomatoes

                                                            

And also to Pasta Please created by Tinned Tomatoes and hosted this month by A Mummy too

                                              

Minestrone soup with orzo

Minestrone must be one of the easiest soups in the world to make, infinitely forgiving as it uses what ever vegetables you have left moldering in the fridge and any small starch grain to bulk it out to give that rib sticking quality that you need on a cold day. In fact as long as it contains tomatoes it pretty much qualifies, Italian in origin and you can see why this is frugal cooking at its best, it can be a vegetarian or meat based soup, its a great dish served with homemade bread.

Ingredients

• 2 sticks of celery chopped
• Tin of tomatoes
• 1 onion - chopped
• 1 small red pepper chopped
• 2 small carrots - peeled and chopped
• Couple of cabbage leaves - finely chopped
• Vegetable stock
• Handful of Orzo pasta ( rice, vermecelli, broken spaghetti, etc)
• Salt and pepper
• Parmesan cheese to serve
• Little oil or butter
• Herbs

Method

• Heat the oil or butter in a large saucepan
• Add the onion and garlic and sweat off to soften without colouring
• Add the carrots, celery, pepper, to the pan
• Now add the tomatoes and the vegetable stock just enough to cover the vegetables
• Bring to a gentle simmer 
• Add the cabbage, and continue to cook until all the vegetable are softened slightly
• Now add the orzo and herbs if using and simmer until the orzo is cooked
• Serve in warmed bowls with grated parmesan cheese and chunky slices of bread.