Mind Over Matter

Alright my dear readers, it’s officially summer! We had our first real hot summer day here yesterday and from what I heard it was almost 90 degrees F!! I checked the forecast for today’s high which is going to be 89 ohhh baby that’s sizzling. So of course I wanted to make something refreshing for dinner. I didn’t want to eat anything hot especially after spending some time at the skatepark here in NYC.

For the ingredients I have to give y’all a heads up. In the photo above, I actually did not end up using the chickpeas because I simply forgot however feel free to keep them! Also for the dressing, after tasting I did add some honey which is not shown in the photo. This is just a part of cooking, when you taste, you adjust as necessary. The chicken you can cook however you like, I did not include the method I used because the focus is on the orzo salad. You will need orzo, red onion, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, feta, lemon, dijon mustard, honey, red wine vinegar and olive oil.

Step one: Bring a pot of water to a boil, add some salt then add the orzo. Cook for about 8-9 minutes.

Step two: Once cooked, ladle out just a teeny weeny (about 2 tbsp) bit of the pasta water into a glass and set aside. Then drain out the remaining water. Put the orzo into your desired serving bowl. Add the starchy water you saved and stir the orzo so it doesn’t stick and stays moist.

Step three: Wash your cherry tomatoes then slice in half lengthwise. Aren’t they so pretty? These delicious babies mm mmmm! Add them to the orzo.

Step four: Wash the cucumber and then cut into four long strips. Then proceed to give them a good chop into small pieces. Add them to the orzo.

Step five: I used half of one large red onion here. I gave them a chop into bite sized pieces. Add them to the orzo.

Step six: Add the feta, give them a chop into bite sized pieces. To make the dressing, combine red wine vinegar, honey, olive oil, lemon juice and seasoning. For seasoning I used dried oregano, garlic powder and a pinch of salt & pepper.

That’s all there is to it! A beautiful, tasty, cool dinner recipe on a hot summer day. Just what I needed. It’s really so refreshing with that lemon-dijon-honey dressing. You have to give it a try and let me know in the comments below. Enjoy!

Prep: 5 mins Cook: 10 mins

Ingredients:

• 8 oz orzo pasta
• 1 cup cucumber (diced)
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes (halved)
• 1 cup chickpeas (I did not use but you totally can)
• 1/3 cup red onion (diced)
• 1/2 cup feta (diced)
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• Salt & Pepper