When I saw that Ina Garten had a Greek orzo salad, I knew my Greek parents had to try it.
My parents immigrated to the US from Greece in the 1980s, and they made sure to teach me about Greek culture through food. My dad made his delicious pastitsio (like lasagna, but better) every week, and whipped up avgolemono soup whenever one of us was sick. Every Christmas was celebrated with a big pan of baklava, and youvetsi was a dinner staple.
But my parents are always willing to try something new — they tested 15 different “Greek” products from Trader Joe’s to see which tasted authentic! So, when I told them Garten had a Greek orzo salad, they were super excited.
Ina Garten’s Greek orzo salad is packed with fresh ingredients.
To make Garten’s Greek orzo salad, which serves six, you’ll need:
- 1 cup of orzo (about 8 ounces)
- 1 cup of canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 2 cups of baby arugula
- 4 ounces of Greek feta, ½-inch diced (not crumbled)
- ½ cup of good olive oil
- ½ cup of diced red bell pepper (¼-inch)
- ½ cup of diced red onion (¼-inch)
- ½ cup of kalamata olives, pitted and halved lengthwise
- ¼ cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus extra for serving
- 3 tablespoons of capers in brine, drained
- 3 tablespoons of minced fresh dill
Garten’s Greek orzo salad, which appears in her cookbook “Go-To Dinners,” was inspired by Round Swamp Farm, a third-generation family farm in East Hampton.
“Their prepared food and baked goods are simply outstanding,” she writes. “This recipe was inspired by one of their salads; it has all the Greek ingredients that I love — orzo, olives, feta, lemon, and dill.”
The first step to making Garten’s salad is prepping the orzo.
I brought six cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan.
I added the orzo and one tablespoon of salt to my saucepan.
Once you’ve added the orzo, Garten says you should return the water to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for eight to 10 minutes.
You’ll know it’s ready when the orzo is al dente.
While my orzo cooked, I began cutting my veggies.
I diced the red onion and red bell pepper.
I prepped my chickpeas and capers.
I rinsed and drained the chickpeas and made sure to drain my capers.
I also halved my kalamata olives, minced the dill, and diced my feta cheese.
Garten’s Greek orzo salad comes together quickly — the only real work is cutting the herbs and veggies!
It didn’t take long to make the dressing.
I just whisked together the lemon juice and olive oil with two teaspoons of salt and one teaspoon of black pepper, and voilà! It was ready.
Once the orzo was ready, I drained and transferred it to a large bowl.
Now I could build the salad.
First, I poured the vinaigrette over the warm pasta.
I made sure to stir it well so the orzo would absorb all that delicious flavor.
Then I added the onion, bell pepper, and chickpeas.
Everything was already looking so colorful.
I topped it off with the dill, olives, capers, and feta, and mixed everything together.
I used two spoons to carefully combine all the ingredients.
I stirred in the arugula just before serving.
Garten says you can enjoy her salad either warm or at room temperature, but hold off on adding the arugula if you’re making it the day before — no one likes soggy leaves in their salad!
Once you’re ready to serve, add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and taste for seasoning.
I should also note that Garten recommends serving this with sliced lemon. My parents didn’t love the idea of whole lemon pieces in the salad, so we decided to nix them.
Garten’s Greek orzo salad looked fresh and vibrant.
I always love serving a salad full of color, and Garten’s Greek orzo salad has plenty.
The pop of red from the bell pepper, the fresh green from the arugula, and the bright purple from the onion all worked together to make a beautiful plate.
My parents looked impressed as I brought the salad to the dinner table. But would it taste as good as it looked?
Garten’s Greek orzo salad was super delicious — and now my parents can’t stop making it.
The orzo soaks up Mediterranean flavors familiar to any Greek — salty chunks of feta intertwining with the rich kalamata olives, the texture of crisp bell pepper and crunchy red onion dancing together, that pop of fresh lemon brightening every bite. There were so many different components to the salad, but everything was perfectly balanced.
My parents now love whipping up Garten’s Greek orzo salad, and I’m not surprised. The dish tastes like something we would’ve eaten while watching the turquoise waves of the Aegean Sea during our summer trips to Greece.
“Ina must have been Greek in one of her previous lives,” my mom declared.
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