Summerlicious Greek Salad

Hearty and healthy greek salad with orzo pasta

Hearty and healthy greek salad with orzo pasta

Who doesn’t love Greek salad!!! It’s refreshing, healthy and delicious! It’s also a great dish to bring to a BBQ or a picnic.

The original recipe for this salad can be found at Feasting at Home, a fabulous recipe blog website. I modified this salad and renamed it Summerlicious Greek Salad.

This isn’t like any other greek salads I’ve tried… because of the orzo but also because the onions were marinated in balsamic vinegar. This is a new trick I learned through Feasting at Home and Sylvia explains really well what this does to the onions. The short version is that it’s like pickling onions and it makes them easier to digest and more palatable. I also love orzo pasta and have been looking for ways to incorporate it in my dishes. Now, if you don’t want to add carbs to the salad, feel free to omit. I personally didn’t want to cook carbs the same night, so I figured to make this a hearty recipe - 2 for 1 dinner deal!

I like to start cooking by prepping all the ingredients on the cutting board. Here’s what you need for the salad and the dressing. The dressing is finger licking good!

Greek salad ingredients:

  • 3 -4 Persian cucumbers

  • 1 cup of cherry tomatoes (cut in halves)

  • 1 cup of Apetina Arla Feta Cheese cubes (you can get any kind of feta cheese, I’d recommend going with regular feta rather than a light version)

  • 1/4 of red onion, sliced and soaked in red vinegar OR balsamic vinegar for 30 minutes prior to serving (this is a fermentation process which actually sweetens the onions and makes them easier to eat - for anyone who can’t stand the smell and taste of raw onion)

  • 1/2 cup of kalamata olives - halved

  • dried oregano

  • fresh parsley and dill

  • 1.5 cups of cooked orzo pasta (cook 1.5 cups of pasta in about 500ML of salt water for 10 minutes; drain the water, set aside to cool)

Greek salad dressing:

  • 1/4 cup of squeezed lemon juice

  • 1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar (in lieu of red wine vinegar)

  • 1 teaspoon of dijon mustard (I like Maille brand)

  • garlic aioli powder

  • 2 teaspoons of dried oregano

  • 1 teaspoon of sea salt

  • 1/2 teaspoon of pepper

  • 1/2 cup of olive oil

  • Mix all of ingredients above in a small bowl. Stir and taste. Add extras as needed. Pour into a jar and store it in the fridge (can be stored for a few days)

Greek salad recipe:

  • Find a large salad bowl and add the cooked orzo pasta

  • Add chopped dill, parsley, cucumbers, sliced tomatoes, kalamata olives, and mix everything with a salad spoon

  • Add in 1 cup of feta cheese, and mix again

  • Add in the sliced onions (only after they have marinated in balsamic or red wine vinegar for at least 30 minutes) and mix

  • Once everyone is ready to eat, add in the 1/3 cup of salad dressing and mix one last time

  • Taste it to make sure it’s to your liking, serve and enjoy!

*This recipe serves about 6-8 people with potential for yummy leftovers!

Liza Benkovitch