REFRESHING SUMMER ORZO SALAD

Refreshing Summer Orzo Salad image

This is a wonderfully light salad for those hot summer nights. If you like, it goes well with the addition of either tuna or grilled chicken, and you can vary the amount of feta depending on your taste.

Provided by prell2k4

Categories Salad 100+ Pasta Salad Recipes

Time 35m

Yield 8

Number Of Ingredients 14

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Ingredients

4 cups chicken broth
1 (16 ounce) package orzo pasta
1 ½ tablespoons butter
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 ½ teaspoons minced garlic
½ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup pine nuts
1 cup pitted kalamata olives
1 (2 ounce) jar capers, with liquid
12 ounces basil-flavored feta cheese
1 (10 ounce) bag fresh spinach leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Steps:

Bring the chicken broth to a boil over high heat. Add the orzo pasta, and cook until al dente, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain well, then pour the orzo into a bowl, and toss with the butter to keep it from sticking; set aside.
While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, and cook until the garlic softens and the aroma mellows, about 2 minutes. Stir in the basil, thyme, red pepper flakes, and pine nuts. Cook and stir until the pine nuts have toasted to a light golden brown.
Stir the pine nut mixture into the orzo along with the olives, capers, feta cheese, spinach, and lemon juice. Serve either warm or cold, but it's better the next day.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 553.5 calories, Carbohydrate 49.6 g, Cholesterol 43.6 mg, Fat 32.3 g, Fiber 3.8 g, Protein 19.3 g, SaturatedFat 10.8 g, Sodium 1004.1 mg, Sugar 4.8 g