As the summer months approach and the grocery cart is filled with the season’s freshest ingredients, I can’t help but get excited for those hot summer days when a cold salad goes perfectly with everything. Last week I was unpacking groceries when our daughter came home. She grabbed a bag to help and smelled the fresh basil – her response was, “I could eat all this basil!” The fresh scent immediately brings summer to life. When I was looking through the recipes on Simply Delish Eats this month, I kept coming back to this Orzo Pasta Pesto Caprese Salad.
I know in a matter of a month the picnics will kick up and the long slow afternoons at the pool – which means I will want to have a quick recipe on hand to offer as cool refreshment alongside our favorite grilled items. With tomatoes at their peek, this will be a go to for us this season. And if you love pesto, Luca has a few other recipes on her site Simply Delish Eats that include it as well! She is a southern girl living her dream in California working as a fashion buyer…who also has a love and passion for food too, which I’m thankful for because I love her recipes!
This has to be one of the easiest recipes I have posted. I love orzo but have been dwindling our pasta consumption here, so I substituted sprouted brown rice instead. It also makes it gluten free for our ever growing list of friends with gluten allergies. That was the only change I made to this simple, full of flavor recipe. The original recipe can be found HERE.
‘Orzo’ Pasta Salad: Pesto Caprese
5 cups of cooked rice, we used sprouted brown rice
1 8 oz package of mozzarella pearls
1-2 cups of cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
6-8oz jar of pesto
Cook rice, cool slightly and add the pesto. Put in refrigerator until cooled off so tomatoes and cheese won’t wilt or melt, about 30 minutes. Add cheese, basil and tomato – mix well. Enjoy! How simple is that? If using orzo pasta, cook pasta and drain then follow the rest of the instructions.
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