Orzo Salad

Orzo Salad

This colorful, Mediterranean-inspired orzo salad is a crowd-pleasing side dish for a picnic or potluck, and can be a satisfying, vegetable-packed lunch. The trick to a flavorful pasta salad is adding the dressing while the pasta is hot, so it can soak up plenty of flavor as it cools. This recipe takes that method a step further by tossing the hot orzo and dressing with the chickpeas, tomatoes and olives, giving the ingredients ample time to marinate. If olives aren’t your thing, try adding diced roasted red peppers or marinated artichokes for a burst of briny flavor in each bite. If preparing for a larger gathering, this recipe doubles easily, and leftovers keep well in the refrigerator, making it a good choice for meal prepping. 

Yield: 8 servings

Salt

1 ½ cups orzo

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

¼ cup finely chopped red onion

1 medium garlic clove, grated or minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Black pepper

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed

½ cup pitted Kalamata olives

6 ounces feta, crumbled or diced ½-inch (about 1 ½ cups)

½ English cucumber, diced ½-inch (about 1 ½ cups)

⅓ cup chopped fresh parsley, dill or mint (or a combination)

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the orzo and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender. Drain and transfer to a large serving bowl.

While the orzo cooks, make the dressing: In a medium bowl, combine the olive oil, vinegar, red onion, garlic, oregano, ¾ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper; whisk vigorously until smooth.

Pour about half the dressing over the hot orzo, then add the tomatoes, chickpeas and olives; toss well. Set aside to bring to room temperature, about 20 minutes. Add the feta, cucumbers and herbs along with the remaining dressing. Toss, taste for seasoning and serve.

TIP: I make a variation of this often (weekly in the summer!) and it’s a crowd pleaser. To enhance the flavor, I either roast or burst the tomatoes with extra garlic than the recipe calls for. Mixing it in when the orzo is still hot infuses the flavor nicely. For a more Italian bend, I use fresh basil and mozzarella pearls (instead of feta). Yum!

Please don’t cook the orzo until it is soft. Make sure it is truly al dente, otherwise, adding the dressing to the hot pasta will just ensure that it is mushy with zero bite at all.

I sauté 1/2 C of the Orzo to a light brown color before cooking it with the rest of the Orzo. Gives a nice look and slightly nutty taste to the salad. I start out with 1/3 C of EVOO and add more as needed to the dressing. No other changes. Great other kind of pasta salad.

Frozen Strawberry Fluff

Frozen Strawberry Fluff

With a texture that lands somewhere between soft serve ice cream and freshly whipped mousse, this dairy-free, no-bake dessert is so much greater than the sum of its parts. Using three simple ingredients — egg whites, sugar and strawberries — frozen strawberry fluff is ideal for a hot summer day, an easy finish to a dinner party, or anytime you’re hankering for a sweet treat that’s free from gluten and dairy. Closely related to raspberry spuma, this recipe uses frozen berries to lower the egg whites’ temperature, making the consistency silkier and creating a perfectly cool and refreshing dessert.

Yield: 4 servings

3 large/100 grams egg whites

⅓ cup/70 grams granulated sugar

12 ounces/340 grams frozen strawberries  

Freeze-dried or fresh strawberries (or a combination), optional, for garnish

In a medium saucepan over high heat, bring 2 inches of water to a boil. Reduce to medium to maintain a vigorous simmer.

In a medium heatproof bowl that can rest on the saucepan without the bottom touching the water, combine the egg whites and sugar. Set the bowl over the saucepan and whisk vigorously and constantly until most of the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is foamy and reaches 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 2 minutes.

Transfer the foamy egg whites to a food processor and blend for 3 to 4 minutes, until white and velvety, like a pourable meringue. While blending, gradually add the frozen strawberries through the feed tube, blending for 1 to 2 minutes until the mixture is smooth. Its light, airy texture will land somewhere between soft serve and mousse. 

Serve immediately in chilled glasses or bowls. If desired, add a handful of freeze-dried strawberries to a fine-mesh sieve and press them against the sieve to sprinkle the dust on top. Top with a whole or halved fresh strawberry or two if you like. To make this ahead, see Tip.

Tip: To make this ahead, refrigerate the cooked egg white mixture (from Step 2) for up to 2 days. Right before serving, continue with Steps 3 and 4.

I've made this for many years, but my recipe was with raspberries. It's a perfect easy, quick summer dessert that's delicious and fluffy, and always a hit. My recipe called for combining the egg whites, frozen raspberries and sugar to taste in a KitchenAid mixer with a whisk, or a food processor. I've never cooked anything, just throw it all in the mixer. You can use any frozen berries. You need to serve it asap. If there are leftovers which hardly ever happens you can freeze it and then whip it again.

No, you need to melt the sugar and heat the egg whites or they won’t fluff up enough and won’t be stable enough to hold the berries. You can’t skip the heating.

Smoky Red Devil Eggs

Smoky Red Devil Eggs

Standard deviled eggs are undeniably good, but adding a touch of tomato paste and a generous pinch of smoked paprika makes them a bit more sophisticated. The flavor is gently sweet, forcefully spicy and perfectly smoky.

Yield: 24 deviled eggs

12 large eggs

1 fat garlic clove, minced

¼ teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste\

½ cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar, more to taste

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon hot smoked paprika, more to taste and for garnish

Place eggs in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a full boil, let cook for 1 minute, then turn off heat and cover pan. Allow eggs to stand for at least 15 minutes.

Once eggs are cool enough to handle, peel and cut in half lengthwise. Scoop yolks into a bowl; place whites on a serving platter.

Using a sharp knife or mortar and pestle, chop or smash garlic with salt to make a paste. Add paste to yolks and mash together with a fork. Add mayonnaise, tomato paste, red wine vinegar, pepper and paprika and continue to mash until mixture is smooth. Taste and add more vinegar, salt and paprika if desired.

Spoon yolk mixture into whites and dust with paprika.