Vegan Orzo Salad
This delicious vegan orzo salad is a delightful summer salad with loads of fresh veggies and a light, tasty dressing. Perfect for those days when you don't want to cook.
Servings 6
Calories 278kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups orzo cooked
- 2 Cucumbers
- 2 cups Cherry Tomatoes
- 1 cup parsley
- 1 onion small
Dressing
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
- 1.5 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic finely minced
- 1 tsp. Brown sugar or maple syrup
- 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp. Pepper
- ½ tsp. Salt
Instructions
- It is super easy to make this salad. If you have cooked pasta in the fridge then it takes only 10 minutes to put it together. Otherwise, first cook orzo as per cooking instructions on the package.
- Once cooked, drain and lightly toss with olive oil so that it does not stick together on cooling. Then just let the pasta cool down before tossing in the salad.
- Chop all the vegetables you are using. I peel the cucumbers and then cut them in half moons. Cherry tomatoes can be halved and parsley is chopped as well.
- In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the dressing well. That’s it. Now all you need to do is assemble.
- Take chopped cucumber, halved cherry tomatoes, cooked and cooled orzo, chopped parsley in a large bowl. You can drizzle the dressing all over the salad and toss well.
- Your delicious orzo vegan pasta is ready to serve. Refrigerate for the flavours to meld though I do serve it right away.
- This salad will keep in the fridge when stored in an air tight container for 2-3 days.
- You can add any protein of choice to the salad to make it more substantial. Crispy tofu is a good idea. If you eat cheese, crumbled cheese on the salad can be used. You can also use chopped avocado, corn or peas in the salad too.
Notes
Use fresh vegetables. You can prep by chopping them and storing. Any fresh vegetables that don’t need cooking can be used here.
Cooling the pasta before assembling the salad is important so that you don’t start cooking the vegetables in the salad.
You can customise the vinaigrette as per taste. Skip the sweetener if you so desire though I like to add a little for balanced flavours.
Cooling the pasta before assembling the salad is important so that you don’t start cooking the vegetables in the salad.
You can customise the vinaigrette as per taste. Skip the sweetener if you so desire though I like to add a little for balanced flavours.
Nutrition
Calories: 278kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Sodium: 196mg | Potassium: 480mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1237IU | Vitamin C: 31mg | Calcium: 69mg | Iron: 2mg