Orzo Salad with Spinach, Tomatoes, and Feta

 

So this is totally like I’m an old lady and this recipe is straight from my head... so the measuring is weird, I know.  It’s a mix of a few different recipes but it’s one of my favorites.

 

Ingredients

·      1 cup of Orzo pasta (pre-cooked)

·      A drizzle of olive oil (I don’t know how much a drizzle is…)

·      1 garlic clove – minced

·      4 Plum tomatoes - seeded (cut these in half – then cut the halves into fourths…got it?  Cool)

·      1 ½ Cups chopped spinach (I cut the stems off and cut them in half… it’s the only way I can get myself to eat greens)

·      ¼ cup of pine nuts

·      Juice from half a lemon

·      ½ cup of feta cheese (or however much feta you’d like)

·      Salt

Directions
Cook the pasta according to the directions. Add a little salt to the water. Be careful not to overcook the orzo… You’ll want it to be “al dente” (soft to the touch but firm to the bite… you know).  
After it’s cooked, set the pasta aside for now.

 

Drizzle a little bit of olive oil into a frying pan (you can use EVOO if you want… this is sort of a salad)
Add the minced garlic (I don’t turn the heat on until after I’ve added the garlic… that way it doesn’t burn too quickly. I don’t know what the culinary rules are for garlic roasting).  (medium heat)
After the garlic is lightly golden add the tomatoes that you’ve seeded and diced (the less juice the better).
Cook the tomatoes for about 5 minutes until tender (medium heat)

In whatever dish or bowl you have the orzo in, mix in the juice from the lemon half, the  pine nuts, spinach, and tomato mixture. Top with feta and refrigerate.  This is a salad so its best served cold.