Presto Pasta Night: Orzo Salad

It's week #52 for Presto Pasta Night. and that means Happy Birthday is in order.

I love birthday parties and I'm sure this one is going to be alot of fun. Easy to transport, I'm bringing an Orzo Salad.

Here's a look at some of the "usual suspects" for this salad.



The key for this cold salad is, of course, orzo - looks like rice but it's really pasta.



Orzo is one of those deceiving ingredients. It doesn't look like a whole lot when you're measuring out a cup.



But, once it's cooked, it bulks up to much more volume than you would have imagined. One cup of uncooked orzo makes enough base for your salad for at least 4 healthy portions.



Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked orzo
1 small red pepper diced
1 small green pepper diced
1/2 red onion diced
1 small tomato seeded and diced (I used vine ripened)
1/2 English cucumber skin on and sliced in fourths
1/2 cup marinated artichokes plus a little marinating liquid for dressing
1/2 cup sliced black pitted olives
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Process:

1. Cook orzo in good amount of salted water (approx. 1 cup orzo to 4 cups water),for approximately 7-10 minutes. Drain. The orzo shouldn't be mushy.



2. Prepare all diced vegetables, olives and artichokes, add to cooked orzo
3. Mix together and add some of the artichoke marinating liquid as dressing.

Note: I didn't add any salt or pepper, but you could season to your taste.