Greek salad with Orzo

Took me: 40 minutes total in the kitchen

I'm a vegetarian. But I hate salad. I just don't find anything about eating lettuce appealing. Pretty much the only exception I'm willing to make is for Greek salad. It's still not my favorite thing, but with enough feta cheese it becomes bearable. So as you'd imagine, I was overjoyed when I found a way to cheat! I could still have all the things I love about a Greek salad without any of that nasty lettuce stuff! The secret is orzo. The Greek Orzo Salad you see here was inspired by this recipe. My version is a little lighter on the taste-buds, and absolutely the perfect thing to make on a nice spring evening. It was super quick and easy too!

Greek Orzo Salad

2 cups Orzo

1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut into halves

3/4 cup traditional, crumbled Feta Cheese

3/4 cup Kalamata olives, cut into halves

1/2 cup peeled, diced cucumbers

Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. If you're like me, and suffer from the compulsive desire to watch a pot boil, you can entertain yourself by cutting up all the veggies. You'll have to do it eventually anyways. Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to the water, and stir in the orzo. While you wait for that, it's time to make your dressing. You're going to need:

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon Deli-style mustard

2 tablespoons chopped basil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest

Mix the lemon zest, lemon juice, and mustard until well-combined. Whisk in the 1/4 cup olive oil, then stir in the basil until everything is evenly distributed.
Once the orzo has cooked to your taste (I only boiled mine for 8 minutes, but I like it al dente), drain it and rinse with cool water. Place it in a pretty bowl and toss with the cucumber, tomatoes, olives, and feta. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and mix until everything is covered. Serve with cold drinks and be thankful that spring time is here!