With summer, comes abundance - especially of squash! This past weekend, Mark and I tried to make a dent in all the summer squash we have accumulated from our garden and from our CSA. We made Chocolate Zucchini Cake, Zucchini Bread, and a Crookneck Orzo Pasta Salad. The recipe for this dish was inspired by the Polka Dot Pasta Salad in Pure Flavor, a cookbook from the Pacific Northwest. Of course, being me, I tweaked it to work with what we had and it came out wonderfully and was pretty to boot.Here's the recipe as I made it:
1 package orzo
6 T olive oil (I used an herb infused oil from some marinated mozzarella balls I had.)
1 1/2 t grated lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
3 small garlic cloves (from our garden)
kosher salt to taste
fresh ground black pepper to taste
ground cayenne pepper to taste
2 plum tomatoes, diced (CSA)
3 small yellow crookneck squash, seeded and diced (CSA)
3 red scallions, sliced (CSA)
1/2 cup chopped parsley (from our garden)
2 T chopped fresh basil (from my bedroom window herb garden)
Cook the orzo and rinse with cool water, let drain.
Combine all the other ingredients, add orzo, and toss well.
