Confetti Orzo Salad

 

Yet another way to use all of those zucchini in your garden

     I don’t grow zucchini, never have. Until recently, I wouldn’t eat them either.  The zucchini I was offered as a child were cooked with onions on the stove until it was soft and slimy.  It was a total texture violation for me.  It is hard to get past food phobias from childhood and try things that repulsed you long ago.

     I guess I needed to put my money where my mouth was when I was telling Alex and Elliot, ” You should try this, just because you didn’t like it one time, doesn’t mean you won’t like it now”  I hate it when I say stuff like that.  I threw down the gauntlet, and now I had to eat my words.

     I followed the  rule  for eating things you dislike; mix one thing you don’t like, with at least 3 parts that you do like. That seemed to work for me, at least in this instance.  The trick for me is not cooking the zucchini too long.  Just a quick saute to make it al dente and I was good to go.

    There will be lots of zucchini this weekend at the Farmers Market, don’t worry.  I hope this recipe inspires you to come up with creative ways to use all of that pesky, prolific vegetable that ends up on your doorstep in the middle of the night.  I will be making this salad with fresh veggies from the market and providing samples of this to taste on Saturday, I hope you will come out and say “Hello”.

 

Confetti Orzo Salad

Serves 10

1 pound orzo cooked according to package directions

corn from 5 ears of corn cut off the cobb

6 small zucchini diced

1 sweet red pepper diced

1 jalapeno minced 

1 red onion chopped

1 cup basil torn

4 ounces feta cheese                                                                            

Dressing

1/4 cup olive oil

juice of three lemons

1 Tablespoon lemon zest

salt and pepper

Sprinkle zucchini with salt and let sit for 15 minutes, rinse.  In large pan  with 2 tablespoons olive oil cook zucchini and corn for a few minutes, only until tender.

Mix corn and zucchini with orzo, red pepper, onion, basil and jalapeno. Toss with dressing and crumble feta over top. 

Can be stored in airtight container for 2 days in refridgerator. 

 

Keep eating locally,

Barbie Hahn