Friday, August 24, 2007

Yum Dizzle

My very first installment of "I can cook!" is ready! Here is the menu from our Lost Lake Picnic and hike (Amazing photos and story to come). Since I packed this as a picnic, everything was eaten at room temperature. Or Rubbermaid cooler temperature I guess. But it was good, no matter the temperature!

First up - Orzo Pasta Salad

Yum Dizzle

I have made the same sort of salad many times for parties, but as a Barefoot Contessa recipe. That particular one is much more expensive, because it has roasted prawns and premium cheeses. This is my version that I kind of made on a whim one day and loved.

1/2 lb Orzo Pasta
About a cup of chopped cucumber (I like the hothouse)
About a cup of grape tomatoes
One bunch scallions, chopped up (white and green parts)
Half a red pepper, finely diced
1/2 cup crumbled Feta cheese
Salt & Pepper

Cook the orzo according to package and drain. Throw in the rest of the above ingredients, and then dress with this vinaigrette: (Or, if you are lazy like I am sometimes, you can pour a bottle of Italian dressing or whatever you like over it. But try it once with the homemade dressing - it is really worth it!)

2/3 cup olive oil
Juice and zest from one lemon
Juice and zest from one lime
A pinch of salt & pepper

If you dress the salad hot, it kind of flavors the orzo. Then, chill the salad and eat it.*

I also made Hummus and cheese sandwiches with rolls from Safeway. The Hummus you can buy, or make. It is surprisingly simple!

1 can Garbanzo beans
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp Tahini
1 tsp salt
A little H20

Put this in here and blitz like crazy. Before we had a Cuisinart, I only would buy it. For the cheese, we like Laughing Cow, Provolone, Brie - whatever is handy. I rounded out the picnic with Hermiston Watermelon my Mom brought last week. It was a hit!

*Don't let Ben get ahold of it if you want any. Standard rule applying to most all food.

6 comments:

kalurah said...

YUM, YUM, YUM!!!
I will definitely try that Orzo salad. It looks delicious and I LOVE cold pasta salads!
as for Hummus, never tried it.
but I am almost willing to give it a go, if you say it's good. ;)

INSANITY ENJOYED said...

Ok now Im hungry. I too will have to try the orzo salad. And I loooove Hummus! The only thing is..so do my kids and they try to eat it all. I dont have a food processor (can you believe that!) but Ive made it in my heavy duty blender. Im jealous..I want a food processor!!

Deb said...

I had the honor of eating the spendy version at Miss Margot's Birthday Bash and it was wonderful! I look forward to future posts!

The Clarks said...

That looks so yummy! We always loved eating over at your house because you have the best recipes . . . I can't wait to try this one out!

Lauren said...

Great guys!

I hope you all enjoy the salad, and I have a few more things picked out for the coming week!

Be sure to report back!

carrie said...

Yummmmm! I love orzo and hummus... I think I'm going to have to make this very soon! I can't wait to see what other recipes you have in store... :)