Serving
(click to enlarge)

 Greek Salad with Orzo
Greek
Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:		 6 salad
**
3/4 hr +rest
Better
A superbly flavorful salad for when you want more than just greens. Orzo is a rice shaped pasta but as a variation you could make this salad with long grain rice (cooked, of course). The recipe amounts produce 2-1/4 pounds of salad.

1/2
8
12
4
7
4
1/2
1
3
3
3 		c
oz
oz
oz

oz
t
T
T
T
oz 		Orzo (3-1/4 oz)
Cucumber (1)
Tomatoes ripe
Green Bell Pepper
Olives Black (2)
Onion Red
Peppercorns black
Oregano fresh
Lemon Juice
Olive Oil extV
Feta
    Prep
  1. Cook ORZO in salted boiling water like for any other pasta, making sure you don't overcook it. Drain, mix in a little Olive Oil to keep it from sticking together and chill.
  2. Cut CUCUMBERS in lengthwise quarters. (peel and remove seeds if using green blimps) and slice crosswise about 1/8 inch thick. Place in a bowl and sprinkle with salt. Let sit for a half hour or so, tumbling now and them.
  3. Peel the TOMATOES and dice small. Drain well but do not squeeze (much of the flavor is in the jelly surrounding the seeds).
  4. Dice GREEN PEPPER small. Pit OLIVES and slice. Dice ONION small. Chop OREGANO fine. Mix all together.
  5. Rinse Cucumbers lightly and drain well.. Mix into the salad, followed by the Tomatoes.
  6. Grind Peppercorns and add to salad. Mix in Olive Oil, then Lemon Juice.
  7. Stir in the Orzo until well mixed. Crumble the Feta and stir in lightly.
  8. Set aside for a while in a cool place (or a bit longer in the fridge), turning occasionally.
  9. Serve cool but not refrigerator cold.
NOTES:
  1. Cucumber   Preferably use a smaller, unwaxed cucumber, Persian, Mediterranean, or similar that you don't have to seed or peel. If you use Kirbys, seed them. If all you have are regular green blimps, peel them and seed them (weight is then after seeding and peeling).
  2. Olives: Use large Greek Black Olives or similar. The dryer oil cured are fine too, but not canned black olives which have an entirely different flavor.
  3. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch
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