Veggie-Forward Orzo Pasta Salad

I, like many others, am trying to find some bright spaces in order to keep myself afloat during COVID19 and the subsequent social distancing/quarantining taking place. My brightest space has been in the kitchen. While I have always been passionate about food, I have truly fallen in love with the process of cooking as much as the end result. 

In order to continue to #usewhatyouhave, I decided to make a very veggie-forward orzo pasta salad yesterday. I posted a picture of the process and the end result on Instagram and a few people said they wanted to see the recipe! So, here we are! Most of the ingredients can be found in your cabinet/refrigerators already, so please be sure to #usewhatyouhave before rushing to buy more! his pasta salad can be accommodated for so many different lifestyles (note how I didn't say diets!) and I will be including those substitutions at the bottom of this post. Let's get cooking! 

Ingredients: 

1 whole red onion
1 extra-large cucumber 

6oz radishes 

12oz cherry tomatoes

2 cups of dry orzo or pasta of your choosing (or more, do you!)

A generous glug of olive oil (probably 1tbsp, but I didn't measure)

Another generous glug of balsamic vinegar 

The juice of one whole lemon

Salt + pep + garlic powder

As much goat cheese as you want

Steps: 

1. Put a pot of water on the stove to boil. 

2. While that boils, chop your vegetables: 

• I chose to dice my onions, thinly slice my radishes (but not julienne because I don't trust a mandolin), and did a variety of shapes for my tomatoes and cucumbers to keep things interesting

3. Place your veggies in a large bowl once finished and let them hang out for a minute or two.

4. Once the water boils, cook your orzo for 8-10 minutes or until you reach your desired texture. Once cooked, drain and run cold water over the pasta to cool. 

5. Add the pasta to the bowl and mix until the veggies and pasta are all best friends. 

6. Add the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, salt + pep + garlic powder. 

7. Mix again until everything looks all glossy and delicious. 

8. Place your desired serving of pasta salad onto a plate/into a bowl and top with some goat cheese. 

Substitution/Accommodations:

1. To keep things raw: omit the pasta and goat cheese. Add arugula or a dark leafy green of your choosing, or eat the veggies as is! Add some hemp seeds for extra protein, flax seeds for some omegas, and maybe some nooch! Go to town! 

2. To keep things vegan: make sure your orzo doesn't contain eggs and omit the goat cheese. 

3. To keep things keto: swap out orzo for right rice.

4. To keep things grain free: swap out orzo for some banza rice. 

Enjoy!

- a.