Orzo Pasta Salad with Oven Roasted Corn

Light and Fresh!

It's a wonderful day at Creole Contessa. It's Monday, I am back to cooking after taking a couple of family days...O.K. I wouldn't call them family days...I just wanted to go out and eat a whole bunch of pizza from Round Table Pizza!

I grew up eating Round Table Pizza, and since we moved from California when my Baby Girl was just a little bitty person, she didn't have the privilege of eating all that spicy, saucy, pizza goodness! So imagine my surprise when I found out, Round Table Pizza has opened up in the dessert!

Yep...we ate pizza for two days straight...yep...it was so good! Now...I need to create a light dinner for the next couple of days after all that pizza! Baby Girl, suggested I make my Orzo Pasta Salad. I love the fresh, light, flavors of this salad, and today I decided to add a little oven roasted organic corn to the mix.

This dish is really simple, but it's full of flavor. I started off by cooking up some Orzo pasta, drain the pasta and please rinse it in lots of cold water and toss in a little olive oil to prevent sticking.

And if you're wondering, yes, that's my Easy Greasy that was the giveaway prize last week. If you didn't win, you still need to go out and purchase one. You want be sorry!

I made up a quick lemon vinaigrette in the jar. You just place olive oil, lemon juice and zest, rice wine vinegar, a little apple cider vinegar and spices.

Now...shake...shake...shake...don't forget to put the lid on the jar before the shaking process beings!

It's time to toss everything together in a big bowl.

You can eat the pasta salad at room temperature or chill it for a couple of hours then serve it with a nice side of crusty bread.

I decided to eat it at room temperature, and forgo the bread...I told you I was eating light today...lol.


Orzo Pasta Salad with Oven Roasted Corn

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 6-8

Ingredients:

2 cups Barilla orzo
1 small bell pepper, diced1 small red onion, diced
1 organic cucumber, seeded, diced
1 tomato, seeded, diced
1/2 bunch green onions, diced
5 oz. feta cheese
1 can organic corn or 2 cups fresh or frozen corn
1/2 cup sliced olives
1/2 cup Italian parsley, minced
extra virgin olive oil
creole seasoning
black pepper

For the Vinaigrette:

1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 lemon, zested, juiced
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon creole seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried, crushed, oregano
pinch of crushed red pepper

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to broil.

Place rinsed and drained corn on baking sheet. Sprinkle with a little black pepper and creole seasoning and about 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.

Roast corn for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook orzo according to package directions. Drain, rinse, drain again and coat with about 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.

Place all vinaigrette ingredients into a lidded jar. Shake well and place in a large bowl.

Add all vegetables, orzo and cheese to bowl with vinaigrette, mix well, and chill, until ready to serve.