A happy accident. Where you just throw a bunch of ingredients together haphazardly and it ends up tasting AMAZING and maybe even being the BEST thing that ever came out of your kitchen!
This was me tonight. I was still recovering from a cold, you know when you can finally get up and do stuff for a few minutes but end up in a full-blown sweat, and soon back on the couch. I finally had a bit of an appetite for supper, but not for anything heavy… Not having done groceries in a couple of weeks, there weren’t too many options in the fridge. Hmmm… what to do? (I should mention that I have been reading Stanley Tucci’s new book, “What I Ate in One Year,” and watching The Pasta Queen while laid up on the couch for the past few days, and I guess it inspired me!) All of a sudden I remembered we had some halloumi, tomatoes (that really needed to be used up), 3/4 of a red onion, a jar of roasted peppers, Kalamata olives, pesto in the fridge, and some orzo in the cupboard. Inspiration took hold, and voilà! These amazing ingredients became THE MOST DELICIOUS SALAD I HAVE EVER MADE!!! Seriously.
I chopped the halloumi into 1/2- inch chunks and then fried it to make a kind of halloumi crouton. I cooked up 1 cup of orzo in 2 cups of boiling water.(Yes, I added salt! Don’t want The Pasta Queen hunting me down for fear I forgot to add salt to my pot of water!) I dumped it into a pretty white pasta bowl (thanks IKEA!) and let it cool (just a little, as I was starting to get pretty hungry…ok, full disclosure: I didn’t really let it cool). I added 2 huge dollops of pesto (very big soup spoons) to the orzo. Sliced some (15-20) cherry tomatoes and threw them into the bowl with orzo. Sliced a whole roasted pepper (packed in oil, from a jar) into chunks and also added that to the bowl. Then came the Kalamata olives (about 10 or so… your salad, you decide). I finely diced about 1/4 cup of red onion. Then added the halloumi croutons. After tossing it I remembered I had some pine nuts in the freezer (please tell me I’m not the only one to keep pine nuts in their very full freezer…) and toasted about 1/4 cup of them and tossed them in the bowl. Then came another aha! moment: I had a few prosciutto slices left somewhere in the cheese drawer, and I added a slice to my serving of orzo salad. Done.
It.Was.So.Good.
Upon reflexion, the only thing I think could possibly improve this salad is maybe a few basil leaves or some arugula that may be hanging around. (maybe spinach?) I may add some kind of leaf in future salads. (cuz I will definitely be making this salad again, and again… on repeat this summer, green leaves or not!!!) Perfect for a quick lunch full of flavour!
Now what do I call it? Leave your suggestions in the comments below!
