Orzo is one of my favorite pasta shapes because it's so versatile. It goes great in soups, as a pasta salad that's easy to eat, it can mingle with rice to give a dish an interesting variety of textures, and it's the perfect backdrop for a boatload of vegetables.

I've been noticing that eating pasta or other carb-heavy lunches is killing my afternoon energy levels even more so than normal so I've been really cutting back on lunch carbs. But pairing the carbs with fiber and protein, like found in spinach and all these vegetables, can help when you just want a little pasta hit anyway. Pasta for lunch is so easy and it serves up so nicely for days after its made that it's hard to ignore as a lunch option. If you haven't seen my other roundup of lunches that are easy to take to work, this one is definitely getting added to that list too.

If you want to take it a step further, sub in this whole wheat orzo instead of regular orzo for something easier on your body on the glycemic index. I'm no nutritionist, but I'm given to understand that any little bit helps when it comes to not putting things that are or will turn into straight sugar into your body.

But this pasta salad, whole wheat or no, packs in a lot of veggies and a lot of great garlic flavor. If you love garlic, you loooove garlic.

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Garlic Vegetable Orzo

A summery orzo pasta salad combines the best produce of summer, but feel free to swap out some of the veggies for whatever you have on hand. The garlic is a must though!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword garlic, orzo, spinach, tomatoes, zucchini

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 30

Servings 8 servings

Author April

Ingredients

2 medium zucchini diced in ½" chunks
2 cups orzo
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic minced
1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
2 cups spinach chopped
1 ½ tbsp lemon juice
6 basil leaves julienned
2-3 sage leaves chopped finely
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a large pot. Salt the water once boiling, add orzo.
Lower the heat to medium low and simmer the orzo for 9 minutes. Remove from heat and drain. Set aside in a large bowl.
Drizzle the orzo with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and toss to coat.
Dry out the pot the orzo was cooked in and add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Heat over medium high, and once warmed thoroughly, add minced garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring to keep from burning.
Turn the meat to medium and add the sliced tomatoes, zucchini, basil, and sage. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5-7 minutes.
Remove from heat and add the zucchini mixture to the couscous, making sure to scrape in all of the garlic-infused oil.
Add spinach to the hot mixture and stir to cover so the spinach wilts.
Stir in lemon juice, salt, and pepper and mix well. Add a pinch of garlic powder and mix in if you want even more of a garlicky flavor.
Eat while warm or serve room temperature or cold. It's good at any temperature!