The weather has been so hot recently, I have been doing a little bit of cooking one or two days a week and trying to stretch out leftovers as long as possible to avoid my steamy kitchen. Most nights recently we’ve been making chicken or veggie burgers on the grill and serving them up with a green salad and some kind of a cold side dish — this simple pasta salad has been a favorite. I had the idea for making this pasta salad with orzo, but I’ve scoured all of the grocery stores near me and couldn’t find orzo pasta anywhere. Stumped for a substitute, I stumbled on these tiny farfalline, itty bitty mini bowtie pasta that are so cute! They were a great replacement and melded perfectly with the chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumbers and fresh herbs in the dish. My first ripe tomatoes and baby cucumbers are starting to pop in our veggie garden, so I’ll be making this with fresh ingredients all summer long.
- ½ lb. of Farfalline or Orzo, cooked to al dente
- ½ cup of diced cucumbers
- ½ cup of diced tomatoes
- ½ cup of chickpeas
- 2 Tbsp of minced red onion
- 1 Tbsp of chopped fresh parsley
- 1 Tbsp of chopped fresh chives
- ½ cup of Italian Dressing
- Olive oil
- Salt and Pepper
- Cook pasta as directed to al dente, drizzle lightly with olive oil and set aside to cool.
- In a large bowl, combine the cooled pasta with diced cucumbers, tomatoes and chickpeas. Add in minced red onion and chopped herbs.
- Drizzle Italian dressing over the ingredients and toss to combine; season with salt and pepper to taste.
