Summer's Simplest Spinach & Orzo Salad

A bowl of orzo salad with spinach and feta, sitting on a weathered wooden deck

This is it. The one salad you’ll make on repeat every summer and fall.

It’s so easy and endlessly adaptable, and it’s a surefire crowd pleaser. My family has been enjoying this for years, and I bring it to most family gatherings and pot luck events. It’s a great side dish to serve with grilled chicken, lamb or fish, and it’s filling enough to eat on it’s own as a meal. As a bonus, it’s easy on the budget too. In today’s world, that means a lot! The recipe is pretty simple and perfect for kids to help with.

Ingredients

• 1 package of dried orzo pasta

• 1 large package of pre-washed baby spinach

• 1 lemon

• Feta cheese - whatever type you like, and as much as you like. I usually use around 1 cup

• Olive oil

• Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

• Cook the pasta in salted water until al dente. Drain and place in a heatproof bowl.

• Drizzle the warm pasta with approx. 3 tablespoons of olive oil and stir through

• Squeeze the juice from the lemon over the pasta

• Season with salt and pepper to taste. It should taste slightly lemony and salty!

• Let the pasta cool.

• Once the pasta is cooled, chop the baby spinach and stir through. Use all of the spinach for a very “green” salad, or use less, depending on your preference.

• Crumble the feta into the salad and mix together.

This is a great recipe for little hands to help with! Kids of any age can do the following:

• stir the olive oil into the cooked pasta

• squeeze lemon (make sure to smell & taste the tangy juice!)

• sprinkle salt and pepper

• chop or tear spinach (using a child safe knife)

• crumble feta cheese

• mix the completed salad together

Use this recipe as a starting point and adapt it to whatever you have on hand and whatever you think would taste good! Ask your kids what they’d like to add. Here are a few easy and yummy suggestions:

• sliced cherry tomatoes

• sun dried tomatoes

• olives

• cooked chicken

• shredded veggies - eg. carrots, cucumbers, cabbage, radicchio

• drizzle with balsamic vinegar

How would you adapt this recipe? Drop a comment and let me know!