Orzo and Nasturtium Salad
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I realized I had a work potluck at the last minute and hadn't prepared anything.
Luckily, with a quick trip to the garden I pulled some unorthodox ingredients together into a sweet and zesty salad.
Ingredients:
- garden greens;
- nasturtium flowers (or another edible flower);
- orzo;
- tomatoes;
- olive oil;
- red wine vinegar;
- za'atar seasoning.
Gather Greens
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When I went out to the garden to gather some greens for a salad, I noticed that my nasturtiums were in gorgeous full bloom!
Nasturtiums are an edible flower that taste peppery, almost like a radish.
I rinsed both the greens and the blossoms and spun them in a salad spinner to remove most of the water.
Cook Orzo
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I searched through my cupboards for my regular salad addition (quinoa) and couldn't find a grain!
I substituted orzo for a different twist to this salad.
Orzo cooks in about 10 minutes, and then I set it aside to cool.
Assemble Salad
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After cool, I added the orzo to the garden greens.
I then tossed in some grape tomatoes and about half of the nasturtium blossoms.
Dressing and Garnish
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I looked through my cupboard for something to make a dressing from and spotted the za'atar. Za'atar is a seasoning made from sumac, thyme, sesame seeds, hyssop, and oregano. The sweeter seasoning is just what I needed to offset the spiciness of the nasturtium flowers.
I quickly mixed up some salad dressing using olive oil, a pinch of the za'atar seasoning, and red wine vinegar. This was an experiment that turned out well! I left the mixture in a small mason jar to mix just before serving.
I garnished my salad with the nasturtiums, and kept it cool in the fridge for my potluck tomorrow. This might become a new go-to salad!