Day 102: Summer Orzo with Radicchio ♥


Great for Meal Prep. Potluck Favorite. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real.
Tasting Radicchio For the First Time
I mixed my first bowl of Summer Orzo way back in 2005 during A Veggie Venture's first year when I cooked a vegetable in a new way every single day for an entire year. Back then, radicchio was a new green, er, red! for me. I fell hard for radicchio's distinctive flavor but hadn't learned, yet, to identify that flavor as bitterness, one of the five distinct flavors for which humans have taste receptors. (Some of the other distinct flavors are more familiar. Think sweet, think sour, think salty. Think savory and "umami".)Taking Liberties
Back in 2005, I took considerable liberties with the inspiring recipe:


Even with such substantial changes, the dish remains a pasta salad (vs a vegetable salad with some pasta) and it's easy to imagine going even further, adding still more sun-dried tomatoes and olives plus a whole handful of other ingredients.
I've even made Summer Orzo without radicchio! Radicchio's red color does make for a very pretty salad. But it's expensive, not always easy to find and at least in my kitchen, hardly a pantry ingredient. The great news? The salad still looks great and to my taste, still tastes great even without the radicchio.
Summer's Essential Salads
Now even many years later, Summer Orzo remains my "go to" pasta salad for summer. I love its fresh flavors. I love how it's great for meal prep, an easy salad to have on hand in the fridge. It's very light tasting, a great side side because it simply doesn't fight with any other foods.WHAT IS RADICCHIO? Even though its tightly wound whorls are a lovely shade of warm burgundy and crisp white, radicchio is what we call a "bitter green". Learn more here in Vegetables 101: What Are Bitter Greens? You might call radicchio (rah-DEE-kee-o) "chicory" and in appearance and texture, it's easy to mistake radicchio for red cabbage, especially once it's chopped up in a salad. The flavor, however, is very different than cabbage, slightly bitter rather than cabbage sweet. In my supermarkets, radicchio is kept in small baskets (along with the endive and other specialty lettuces) near the fresh lettuces. I have a few more radicchio recipes.
RESOURCES I use two inexpensive cooking tools to make Summer Orzo. The first is a fine microplane (soooo many Microplane size and shape choices anymore!) to grate the garlic into a fine paste that melts into the pasta salad. It's easy, just rub the clove against the Microplane until the flesh spurts out the back side, leaving the skin behind. The second tool does double duty, pitting both cherries and olives. Again, there are many styles and shapes and price points for combination cherry and olive pitters. I only use mine a few times a year but there's really no replacing it other than sheer tenacity and the flat of a knife.

LOVE ORZO? Those tiny pasta bits are intoxicating! Don't miss out on BLT Pasta Salad and Garden Pasta Salad with Mint Vinaigrette or the gorgeous summer main dish Baked Orzo Casserole with Eggplant, Olives, Goat Cheese & More. For something super-fast and simple? It's Orzo with Spinach.
SUMMER ORZO with RADICCHIO
Hands-on time: 25 minutes (more with olives that need pitting)
Time to table: 3 - 4 hours
Makes about 7-1/2 cups
Time to table: 3 - 4 hours
Makes about 7-1/2 cups
ORZO
About 5 cups water
2 teaspoons table salt
1-1/2 cups (336g) orzo (or other tiny pasta)
ORZO SALAD
2 cups radicchio (170g), from about half a small head, cut into thin ribbons
8 ounces (225g) pitted Kalamata olives, halved or quartered
3 ounces (85g) no-oil sun-dried tomatoes, minced small
2 large cloves garlic, grated on a Microplane
Hot, Drained Pasta
1/4 cup (65g) white balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup fresh basil, cut into thin ribbons
COOK THE ORZO Bring the water to boil in a large pot over MEDIUM HIGH. Add the salt and pasta. Stir lightly to separate the pasta, then cover, reduce heat to MEDIUM and simmer until tender but still firm to bite (exactly how long will depend on your pasta). Drain the pasta, no need to reserve the cooking water.
MIX THE ORZO SALAD While the pasta cooks, prep the radicchio, sun-dried tomatoes, olives and garlic, collecting them in a large bowl. Stir into the hot pasta. Stir in the vinegar and olive oil, stirring well. Let the salad cool a bit, then stir in the basil.
REFRIGERATE Technically, Summer Orzo is ready to eat but the flavors do meld so a few hours in the fridge will be appreciated.
MEAL PREP Summer Orzo with Radicchio is definitely a make-ahead salad to keep in the refrigerator. Make it a day, even two days, ahead of time.
OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS The inspiring recipe called for 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts and 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese. To my taste, these add nothing more than extra steps, extra expense and unneeded calories. That said, I can imagine stirring in some other Mediterranean-style flavors such as good feta, roasted red pepper and capers. Going still further but veering from the Mediterranean cast, I can also imagine uncooked corn kernels, briefly cooked asparagus tips. Summer Orzo, make it your own!
MAKE IT FREESTYLE FRIENDLY Skip the orzo entirely and use zero-point quinoa. Bulk up with free vegetables like cucumber and roasted red pepper. Switch from sun-dried tomatoes to good summer tomatoes. Skip the oil, a little clumping won't hurt anyone. Don't skip the basil! Or the olives! Or even the radicchio!
ALANNA's TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES




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MORE FAVORITE PASTA SALAD RECIPES
~ Summer Orzo with Radicchio ~~ Spicy Thai Noodle Salad ~
~ Israeli Couscous Salad with Yellow Squash & Sun-Dried Tomatoes ~
~ more pasta salad recipes ~
~ Seasonal Soups & Salads – July ~
from A Veggie Venture
~ Greek Pasta Salad ~
~ BLT Pasta Salad ~ Garden Pasta Salad with Mint Vinaigrette ~
~ more salad recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade, my food column
SEASONAL EATING: THIS SAME WEEK ACROSS THE YEARS
No-Cook Tabbouleh (< a summer staple in my kitchen)




















Looking for healthy new ways to cook vegetables? A Veggie Venture is home to hundreds of super-organized quick, easy and healthful vegetable recipes and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables. Join "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg to explore the exciting world of common and not-so-common vegetables, seasonal to staples, savory to sweet, salads to sides, soups to supper, simple to special.
© Copyright Kitchen Parade 2005, 2007 & 2019
© Copyright Kitchen Parade 2005, 2007 & 2019
mmmm - this looks really nice. Would be a perfect Root Source Challenge submission.....orzo closes tuesday!
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