Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Greek Orzo Salad with Shrimp



Can you hear me smacking my lips? Can you see me drooling? This salad was fantastic! What made it so different from any other summer salad? The vinaigrette - simple and fresh tasting.

We were taking a trip to the lake this past weekend to spend some time on the boat and, of course, I was thinking about what to pack in the cooler for our lunch. As I sat making a list for my trip to the grocery store, I was also wading through the posts in my Google reader when I came across a post for this salad on Stacey Snacks. I don't know what prompted me to use the link to her original post, but I did. When I scrolled down the page, I saw that Marie @ Proud Italian Cook (one of my absolute favorite food bloggers) was the first person to leave a comment on Stacey's post. Marie raved about the salad. Well, I am, too.

This salad was a perfect lunch on the boat. But, next time, I taking a bottle of wine to go with it.

This recipe made a lot, so we decided to have it the next day with dinner. To freshen it up a little, I made half the vinaigrette recipe and tossed it with the leftover salad and we had it with more grilled shrimp! It was just as fresh tasting Sunday as it was Saturday.



This salad will become a summer staple at our house.

Greek Orzo Salad with Shrimp
Adapted from Stacey Snacks


1 box of orzo (cooked per package directions)
1 lb. cooked shrimp (Stacey grills hers; I used a grilling pan)
1/2 red onion, diced
handful of green onions, chopped
handful of kalamata pitted olives, chopped
1 cup of cherry tomatoes, quartered
handful of fresh dill, chopped
handful of fresh parsley, chopped
1 hot house cucumber, sliced
7 oz. container of chopped feta cheese

Vinaigrette Dressing:

juice of 2 lemons
1/4 cup of red wine vinegar
1/2 cup of good olive oil
kosher salt and pepper to taste

Cook and drain the orzo pasta. While it is still warm, mix with a little of the vinaigrette. Set the pasta aside to cool while you prepare the other ingredients.

I had a little over a pound of shrimp, 16-20 count. I cleaned them, sprinkled them with Cavender's Greek Seasoning and cooked them in a grilling pan for about 90 seconds on each side. They were pretty big for a salad so I cut them in half.

I mixed the rest of the ingredients with the pasta, adding the feta cheese last, then tossed the salad with the remaining vinaigrette.




5 comments:

Bunny said...

Wow this looks fantastic, i was just saying to a friend that I think I OD'ed on mayo for the holiday. This would be a fantastic change from mayo based salads!

Anonymous said...

Looks great. (I'm mailing you a hanky for the drool and some chapstick for the lipsmacking.)

Proud Italian Cook said...

Terri, You're the sweetest! Wasn't this so good? It makes a ton and it's is for a party. I once doubled the recipe and brought it to a shower, everyone loved it! It's definitly a keeper. I like the Greek seasoning you used, I'll have to try that next time. Oh I love your hot tub, what a relaxing backyard you have!

Lori Lynn said...

Yep, I saw it too. Looks mighty tasty, happy to see your version.
LL

So So Simple said...

That's a keeper I think I may just make it tonight. Thanks Terry

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