Orzo Pasta Salad

This orzo pasta salad is packed with Mediterranean flavors and it comes together in less than 20 minutes! It's made with cherry tomatoes, artichokes, cucumber, olives, and vegan feta, all tossed in an easy lemon herb dressing.

Course Salad

Cuisine Mediterranean

Diet Vegan, Vegetarian

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Servings people

Calories 447kcal

Author Sina

Ingredients

For the Salad:

7 oz orzo
2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut into halves
1 English cucumber
7 oz marinated artichoke hearts in oil
1 red onion, cut into thin slices
20 black olives
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

For the Vegan Feta:

8 oz very firm tofu
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt

For the Dressing:

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons white or red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste

Instructions

The night before making the salad, cut the tofu into small cubes. In a small bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the marinade. Fill the tofu and the marinade into a ziploc bag and store it overnight in the fridge.
Cook the orzo according to the instructions on the package. After cooking, drain it with a colander and run it under cold water. It will quickly cool it down and it will prevent it from clumping together.
Roughly dice the cucumber. Cut the cherry tomatoes into halves and the red onion into thin slices.
Make the dressing: in a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, the white wine vinegar, the dried oregano, basil, thyme, the lemon juice, the salt, and pepper.
Place all of the ingredients for the salad in a large bowl.
Add the freshly chopped parsley and toss with the dressing to serve immediately or store it in the fridge for later.

Notes

If you don't have much time, you could also get away with marinating the vegan feta for about 4 hours. But it's definitely better if you marinate it for a longer time. Also make sure that you've got very firm tofu. It makes the best texture!
The orzo salad is also great without the vegan feta. You could replace them with canned chickpeas if you want for an even quicker version.
For a gluten-free version, you could replace the orzo with gluten-free pasta or even with brown rice.
If you store the dressing and the salad ingredients in different containers in the fridge, this salad will last 3-5 days. If you've already added the dressing, it will keep well in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Nutrition