Orzo and Vegetable Confetti Salad

This is one of my most favorite things to eat in the summer.

I found it years ago in a Williams Sonoma cookbook and fell in love.


Unfortunately, the cookbook belonged to my then-step-mother. And when her & my dad divorced, I didn't get the opportunity to copy down the recipe. So for years, I didn't have it. And then after much digging, I found it online at the Williams Sonoma website. And let me tell you, I was VERY happy! You can find the actual recipe here, but I don't really change much about it.

Ingredients:

• 1 box orzo
• olive oil
• 1 tsp. grated lemon zest
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 12 radishes, diced*
• 3 carrots, peeled and diced*
• 8 green onions, green and white portions, thinly sliced*
• 2 Tbs of capers, drained
• 1 lemon, cut into 6 slices

Directions:

In a large pot over high heat, bring the water to a boil. Add the 2 Tbs. salt and the orzo and cook until tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Drain the orzo and immediately toss it with 1 Tbs. of the olive oil. Cover and cool completely. You can put it in the fridge for this, but I usually don't. I toss it with the olive oil & just let it sit out on the counter to cool, stirring occasionally while chopping the veggies. By the time the veggies are chopped, the pasta will be cool enough to add them to the mix.

In a large bowl, whisk together 4 Tbs. olive oil, the lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Add the radishes, carrots, green onions, capers and orzo. Toss to mix well.

It's pretty easy and straight forward, and best of all, it has a very fresh and light flavor.

*note: the quantity of carrots, onions & radishes may vary according to taste & size of said vegetable. I get my veggies from a local farm where they grow outrageously huge, so I only had to use a carrot & a half & 6 radishes & 6 onions. The whole thing is pretty much to taste anyway. It's a pretty flexible recipe.

Pesto Penne

This, my friends, is my new favorite summer dish.

EVER.

This is the most awesomest & most brilliant and delicious thing I've eaten in quite a while.

And the best part about it, is that it's super quick and easy!


Recipe:

• 1 box of penne pasta - boiled
• 1 package of pesto sauce - prepared
• 1 box of cherry tomatoes
• fresh mozzeralla
• kosher salt

boil the pasta until it's al dente, splash with a little bit of olive oil & set aside to cool
prepare the pesto & set it aside to cool a little bit, then pour over the pasta & toss well.
while that's cooling, chop the fresh mozzerella into bite sized pieces. put it in the pasta & pesto & toss well again. this time, add some kosher salt
half the cherry tomatoes, add to the mix & toss well again.

and that is it!

it's so good i almost cried. seriously.

i will give you this piece of advice on this:
be sure that the pasta & pesto have cooled well before adding the cheese, or it will melt. not that that's a big deal, but this is a cool to room temp served dish & the cheese really shouldn't be all melty for this.

i see myself eating this all summer.

Never's Nasty Pasta Salad

My husbands nick name is "Never". Don't ask. So hence forth, I will refer to him as such. He's a VERY picky eater. Generally speaking, we very rarely like the same foods, and more often than not, we both find that what the other one is eating is totally disgusting.

This pasta salad is an example of that.

Since I'm the kitchen wench, I make it, but to his liking.

Other people who've tried this say they like it, but I tell you, this is NOT something I'd put in my mouth on purpose. So, maybe someone out there will like this, but I'm just saying, this is something strictly for my husband. I DO NOT eat this. It's pretty to look at. As far as pasta salads go. It's just not yummy.

This is typically a summer dish, but he had a random craving for it & wants to take it in his lunch this week, so I made it again.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
• 1 cup mayonnaise (or vegonaise to make it vegan)
  
• 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons SPICY yellow mustard
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup sliced black olives
• 2 green bell peppers
• radishes to taste
  
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Step 1: Cook the macaroni. (duh.)
Step 2: When the pasta has cooled add the vinegar, mustard & mayo
Step 3: chop up the bell pepper, olives and the radishes & toss them in. Salt and pepper to taste.
Step 4: Stir well & chill in the fridge

serve cold.

enjoy (even though I think it's oogy)