Roasted Vegetable Orzo Salad – Undertaking Meal Plan

This colourful Roasted Vegetable Orzo Salad is a flexible and scrumptious recipe filled with bell peppers, zucchini, and roasted garlic. Make-ahead for a weeknight aspect dish or pair with a protein for a filling meal prep Lunch!

What are the substances on this Roasted Vegetable Orzo Salad?

No large surprises right here, a lot of the substances are named within the title! Apart from the greens and the orzo, we’d like only a couple pantry staples to carry this salad to life. Right here’s an inventory of the whole lot I used on this recipe, and a bit of information on every:

• crimson onion – Have you ever ever had a roasted crimson onion? Roasting brings out the sweetness of the onion, and I really like how tender and scrumptious they develop into!
• zucchini – Attempt to however your zucchini into roughly the identical dimension as your bell peppers. Too skinny they usually could begin to burn. Too thick they usually could end up a bit mushy.
• bell peppers – You should utilize any mixture of bell peppers you want, inexperienced is in fact the most cost effective, however attempt to throw in not less than one totally different coloration, as different colours are sweeter than inexperienced.
• garlic cloves – As an avid roasted garlic fan, I’m obsessive about this technique of roasting. I discover that the cloves cool off wayyyy faster than an entire head of garlic coated in foil. I’ve no endurance for that and all the time burn my arms 😂
• further virgin olive oil, kosher salt & contemporary floor black pepper – For one of the best tasting roasted veggies, preserve it easy with EVOO, salt and pepper. SO scrumptious!
• orzo pasta – Remember to salt your pasta water with a pleasant 1/2 tablespoon or so not less than. This helps infuse extra taste within the orzo because it cooks.
• sun-dried tomatoes – So as to add one other part and depth of taste, a small quantity of sun-dried tomatoes are the proper addition! I like to cut them up fairly small so that they disperse nicely.
• crimson wine vinegar – A small little bit of crimson wine vinegar provides a fragile however zippy taste increase that brings out the style of every vegetable within the salad.
• contemporary basil – Though elective, including a little bit of contemporary basil provides a pungent and really barely peppery style that contrasts nicely with all of the roasted flavors within the recipe.

Gear you’ll must make this recipe:

To make this recipe, you’ll want a couple of kitchen staples to assist transfer issues alongside. Listed below are my suggestions:

• reducing board – There are numerous greens to chop up right here on this recipe, so it’s greatest to equip your self nicely. I like to recommend the Greener Chef XL Bamboo Cutting Board (affiliate hyperlink!). It’s pictured right here, and I exploit it for the whole lot besides reducing uncooked meat.
• sharp knife – My favourite knife is a Misen Chef’s Knife (affiliate hyperlink!)! Reasonably priced and well-made.
• saucepan – Any stovetop protected small saucepan will work for cooking the small quantity of orzo wanted on this recipe.
• all goal bowls – I exploit bowls from this 8-Piece Pyrex Sculptured Mixing Bowl Set (affiliate hyperlink!) almost on a regular basis. It’s also possible to see them pictured right here on this submit.

How you can make this Roasted Vegetable Orzo Salad:

Probably the most time consuming a part of this recipe is roasting the greens, in any other case it’s extremely simple to place collectively. Prep all of the veggies, roast them, cook dinner the orzo, after which put the entire thing collectively.

Begin by preheating the oven to 400F. Line two rimmed half sheet pans (affiliate hyperlink!) with parchment paper. Toss the greens in a big bowl (one of many sculpted bowls I discussed works nice right here) with the olive oil and a beneficiant quantity of salt and pepper, about 1/2 tablespoon every, however I by no means measure 😬

Unfold all of the seasoned greens in a single layer throughout each trays. When you attempt to match it on one tray, they received’t have sufficient room to brown correctly! Roast for 35-40 minutes, swapping the trays round from prime to backside and tossing the greens with a spatula midway via so that they cook dinner evenly.

In the meantime because the veggies roast, cook dinner the orzo in a pan of boiling, salted water for greatest taste. Cooking occasions differ from model to model (some orzo is sort of flat and a few might be fairly rounded and require an extended cooking time), so you’ll want to examine your particular bundle instructions. When it’s finished, drain the cooked orzo very nicely and put aside.

As soon as the greens are finished roasting, rigorously take away the garlic cloves from the sheet pans and scrape the remainder of the greens into a big mixing bowl. Get as a lot of the cooking juices from the trays into the bowl as doable – this provides extra taste and moisture!

As soon as they’re cool sufficient to the touch, squeeze the roasted garlic from their skins into the bowl with the greens. Add the cooked orzo and blend the whole lot collectively to mix and disperse the pasta.

Subsequent, stir within the sun-dried tomato items and crimson wine vinegar. Add extra salt if it wants extra of a savory notice, and pepper should you’d like to provide the salad a bit extra depth. Positively give it a style via the top of meeting. That is learn how to make one of the best salad in line with YOU!

Lastly, fold within the roughly chopped basil simply earlier than serving. Don’t add the basil should you’re planning for leftovers of this salad. It’s nonetheless scrumptious with out, and the basil goes a bit darkish and loses taste after a couple of days. It additionally doesn’t style nearly as good when the salad is reheated.

What to serve with this orzo salad:

Listed below are three wonderful concepts for serving this orzo salad (it’s actually good by itself too!):

• Add some easy however good seasoned cooked rooster, as pictured under! That is my favourite strategy to eat this salad. I’m biased, however I feel it’s unimaginable tasting as nicely.
• Add one drained can of chickpeas to the sheet pan veggies after about quarter-hour of cooking. The chickpeas might want to roast for less than 20-Half-hour.
• Add some feta or crumbled goat cheese for added creamy texture and protein.

Methods to customise this Roasted Vegetable Orzo Salad:

Listed below are a couple of other ways to customise this recipe and make it your individual:

• swap the veggies – Add some cherry tomatoes, radishes, squash, and even potatoes. Seek the advice of this vegetable roasting chart for extra concepts.
• use a unique pasta form – Be at liberty to make use of no matter pasta form you have already got if not orzo!
• add a sauce or citrus – One instance is including pesto, like my Roasted Veggie Pesto Pasta Salad. Hummus can be scrumptious, plus an enormous squeeze of lemon juice!

Methods to meal prep this recipe:

There are a pair methods to avoid wasting time by making ready all or a part of this recipe forward of time. Listed below are some choices:

1. Ingredient prep: The entire veggies together with the crimson onion, zucchini, and bell peppers may very well be chopped up and saved within the fridge for as much as 48 hours earlier than cooking.
2. Full meal prep: Make the recipe as written, however portion the orzo salad evenly into 4 containers with lids to get pleasure from inside the subsequent 4-5 days. You would additionally add some cooked diced rooster to every container for a extra filling meal (eat inside 4 days).
3. Get pleasure from now & later: Put together all of the substances and make the recipe as written. Get pleasure from some now, then retailer leftovers in meal prep containers with lids and dissipate inside 5 days.

Is that this recipe freezer-friendly?

No, I might not suggest freezing this recipe because the roasted greens wouldn’t do nicely after thawing.

How you can retailer Roasted Vegetable Orzo Salad:

Don’t add the basil should you’re planning for leftovers of this salad. It’s nonetheless scrumptious with out, and the basil goes a bit darkish and loses taste after a couple of days – it additionally doesn’t style nearly as good when the salad is reheated. Retailer leftovers in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 5 days.

How you can reheat Roasted Vegetable Orzo Salad:

This orzo salad might be served chilly or warmed; I truly favor it freshly made or chilly from the fridge. Reheat within the microwave for 30 seconds blasts, stirring in between. Add 1-2 tablespoons of water to create steam if it appears dry.

Recipe developed by Rachel Phipps.