Greek Orzo Pasta Salad

Hi All -

I was recently going through my Pinterest recipes, looking for something somewhat specific but yet not. I knew I wanted something Mediterranean so I went through using different words to find something that would catch my eye. I came across Joy the Baker's "It's Not Summer Yet Greek Pasta Salad." I liked the idea but knew I would want to change it up. So here's my take on it:

For the Dressing:

1/3 cup olive oil

1 1/2 lemons, juiced

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

For the Pasta Salad:

5 cups cooked (cooled) orzo pasta

3 chopped Persian cucumbers 

2 cups halved cherry tomatoes

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/2 cup chopped red onion

1/2 cup chopped heart of palm

1/2 cup kalamata olives, halved

sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large bowl toss together orzo pasta, cucumbers, tomatoes, feta cheese, onion, heart of palm and olives.  Add olive oil, lemon juice and garlic powder. Mix well and add salt and pepper to taste. You can serve immediately or chill and then serve. Personally, I like it a bit chilled once all the ingredients have been mixed together. 

I would like to say that every time I make this, I base it off of taste. Some days I go with more lemon, some days more olives, more garlic (so I’ll add fresh crushed garlic on those days), or whatever else I might be craving. Being Middle Eastern, it’s REALLY hard for me to stick to any sort of recipe. 98% of the time I ask my mom or one of my aunts for directions on how to cook something, they never use measurements so that's also become a habit for me. I do recommend that you do that also every once in a while and listen to your taste buds when they're craving!

I hope you enjoy this recipe! And thank you to Joy the Baker for inspiring me. :) Enjoy and talk to you soon!