Tomato, Feta, & Orzo Salad

A few posts back I talked about how to carve up a pork loin to make several meals. Well I thought I’d share one of the recipes I made to go with one of the cooked pork loins. Although the weather is cool right now, this salad is the perfect addition to springtime meals. It goes great with grilled meat and veggies. 

Tomato, Feta, and Orzo Salad

Vinaigrette:

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp honey

1/3 cup olive oil

salt and pepper

Salad:

10 ounces orzo pasta

6 cups chicken broth

3 roma tomatoes, diced

4 tbsp green onion, sliced thin

3 tbsp fresh basil, chopped

1 cup baby spinach, chopped

1 cup feta cheese

Directions:

Mix together all of the vinaigrette ingredients and set aside. Cook the orzo in the chicken broth as directed or until tender. Drain well but do not rinse. Let cool to room temperature. I added a little of the prepared vinaigrette to the orzo as it cooled to keep it from sticking together. Once cooled, add the orzo to the other salad ingredients and toss. Mix in vinegraette. Taste and add additional salt and pepper if needed. Salad can be served immediately or you can refrigerate to allow the ingredients to marry together. 

Note: you can add slivered almonds or pine nuts for an added crunch. Recipe source is from Mel's Kitchen Cafe with a few slight modifications. 

This lovely salad went together wonderfully with my grilled pork loin which I prepared using this recipe. I served the meat and salad along with sautéed barbecue corn, which is so easy. The kids love anything barbecue flavored. 

A couple other suggestions of menu pairings for this salad:

Marinaded Chicken Kabobs

Best Garlic Bread

Balsamic Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Fresh Peach Pound Cake

Enjoy! This is a winner. I can't wait to try it again this spring with these other recipes.