Marinated Vegetable Orzo Salad

We love this salad – packed with veggies and Orzo pasta. The dressing is super easy to make and comes together quickly. Serve the salad as a side dish or check the notes below to turn it into a main dish.

We love this cold salad on a warm summer afternoon and it packs up perfectly for a picnic.

Marinated Vegetable Orzo Salad

Course: Salads, Side Dish
Servings

6-8

servings
Prep time

30

minutes
Marinating time

2

hours

Beautiful and Tangy Summer Salad

Ingredients

  • Dijon Marinade
  • 1 cup extra virgin olive oil

  • 2/3 cup white wine vinegar

  • 3 tsp Dijon mustard

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

  • 2 tsp salt

  • 1/2 tsp pepper

  • Vegetables
  • 4-5 carrots, peeled and sliced

  • 1 head cauliflower, separated into pieces

  • 1 lb broccoli

  • 1 lb asparagus

  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes

  • 2 cans pitted ripe olives, drained

  • 1 lb box Orzo pasta, cooked and cooled

  • fresh baby spinach

Directions

  • In a bowl combine the marinade ingredients and beat with a wire whip until smooth.
  • In a vegetable steamer, steam the carrots and cauliflower over boiling water until just softened, about 5-7 minutes. Set aside to cool.
  • Separately steam the broccoli and asparagus until tender about 2-4 minutes and plunge into chilled water to retain the bright green color. Drain well.
  • Marinate the carrots, cauliflower, olives, cherry tomatoes at least 2 hours, or overnight. Leave out the broccoli and asparagus and keep separate to retain green color.
  • Cook the Orzo as per container directions, set aside to cool.
  • When ready to assemble, add marinated vegetables to cooked Orzo and toss in the broccoli, asparagus, and fresh spinach leaves. Any remaining marinade can be added for additional dressing.

Notes

  • To turn this into an entree salad, just add meat and cheese cubes.

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