Orzo Salad with Tomatoes, Cucumber, Feta & Lemon Basil Dressing

This was so delicious I can't even tell you.  It is so light, summery and flavorful.  I mixed a few recipes into one.

Ingredients


1 1/2 cups orzo
1 large cucumber, diced
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 cup feta cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste

For the Lemon Basil Dressing

 3/4 cup basil leaves, packed
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
A large splash of white balsamic vinegar

Cook and drain orzo pasta and run cold water over the top to stop the cooking, while in colander.  Transfer to a large serving bowl. 

Make the lemon basil dressing by throwing all ingredients into a blender and blending well.

Toss cucumber, tomato, feta, lemon basil dressing and salt and pepper with the orzo.  Serve cold or at room temperature.

This was a real crowd pleaser!

Basil Balsamic

I made this basil balsamic last night.  I think I've found the secret to GREAT dressing - WHITE balsamic vinegar instead of just balsamic vinegar.  It's so yummy.  This took minutes to throw together and was the best dressing I've had in a long time.  I'm obsessed with it.  I used fresh basil from my garden and I halved this recipe to make a smaller batch.  I put it over a salad with cucumbers and tomatoes from our garden, too.  Yay for harvest season! Here's the recipe.

Cobb Salad

I was on vacation for awhile and missed my kitchen while I was away.  It was nice to get back home and start making homemade meals again.  Although I didn't miss doing the dishes.  We have a ton of lettuce in our garden so I decided to make a cobb salad.  I found THIS RECIPE in my Taste of Home magazine.  The dressing was so delicious and this was fresh and yummy.  A favorite for summer, that's for sure.  Recommended!

The Bovine's Apple Poppyseed Dressing

This Apple Poppyseed Dressing is seriously easy to make & pretty delicious - especially on a fall salad with apples and goat cheese. Yum!  There is something really rewarding about making your own dressing.

Here is where I got the recipe.

the bovine's apple poppyseed dressing:
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons frozen apple juice concentrate
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons light tasting olive oil
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon molasses (optional - I didn't use because I didn't have it)
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons dried onion flakes
4 to 6 dashes salt, or to taste
1 tablespoon poppyseeds

Combine all ingredients but poppyseeds in a blender.Mix well until blended. add poppyseeds. Mix well. Refrigerate 4+ hours to let onions rehydrate and flavors meld.

Cilantro-Tomatillo Dressing, Cilantro-Lime Rice, Mexican Pulled Pork [Mexican Pork Salad]

Cafe Rio is a big hit around these parts and I used to be a huge fan.  I think I was too huge of a fan because now I don't really have the desire to go there.  I can still recognize how delicious it is, though, and I wanted to attempt a couple of their recipes at home.

I made their cilantro-tomatillo salad dressing.  This was my second ever salad dressing and it was very easy to make.  I just threw all the ingredients in to my trusty Magic Bullet and voila!  It turned out well, but it is very spicy.  Unless you love extreme spiciness, I would recommend using a very small jalapeno, half a jalapeno, or make sure you take the seeds out before throwing the whole thing in.  I thought I wanted a lot of flavor and that a whole jalapeno with seeds and all would be fine - not really so.  I had to add quite a bit of sugar just to make it  slightly less spicy.  It is a very good recipe though, and tastes exactly like Cafe Rio's (other than the extreme kick).  I used the recipe from a distant-acquaintance's awesome food blog.  Go HERE!

(Now we have a year's supply of spicy dressing.)

I made the dressing because I wanted to make a salad.  I found a slow cooker recipe for Mexican Pulled Pork that I wanted to try.  I have tried the sweet Cafe Rio pork recipes a couple of times and never really loved them - so I wanted to try something a little bit different.  This recipe was so easy to throw together!  I got it from THIS website. It turned out so well!  8 hours in the slow cooker and it shreds with barely being touched and the sauce is really yummy.  I will keep this recipe on hand and use it all the time.  It is really versatile.  Definitely try it if you want a fool-proof Mexican pork.  

I had a little extra time and ingredients on my hands so I decided to throw together the Cilantro-Lime Rice for the salads, too.  Again, I used Wire Whisk.  I don't really like rice much so this was my first time making it.  Ever.  It turned out okay... I think the recipe itself is good but my rice was brown instead of white, I didn't have enough of it (1 cup) and it was a little too limey and not cilantro-y enough.  I would follow the recipe closely if you make this one and I bet it turns out great. My husband liked the way ours turned out, though, so maybe I'm being too critical.

I crisped flour tortillas on the stove top, put them in bowls and filled them with lettuce, black beans, shredded cheese, rice, pork, sour cream and the cilantro dressing.

WHOA!  They were scrumptious!  I was truly, pleasantly surprised.  They tasted a lot like Cafe Rio salads but with the satisfaction of knowing I made them - they were better! Maybe.

This was a fun little experiment and I'm happy to report it turned out so well.  I'll definitely make these again.