Orzo Salad

                Roberta's Revised and Annotated

          Phil's Aunt Shayna's Friend Joy's ORZO SALAD

Can be made a day ahead.  Or more than a day.  Vegetarian.  Vegan if you use soy cheese.  Firm tofu might be fine too, but R3A2 Moosewood Tofu Salad, to be posted soon, is my first choice with tofu.

     1 box orzo (16 oz)

          I prefer the rice shape to the teardrops.

          You can use any noodle, but orzo makes it easy to

          serve with a single big spoon.  

     1/2 big red onion, chopped

     1 pint kalamata olives, halved to remove pits. 

          Or sliced into smaller pieces. You can slice pitted 

          ones, but I find they have less flavor.

     3 Tb dill, fresh    )

     3 Tb parsley, fresh ) stems removed and chopped

          Who can accurately measure dill or parsley?

          I use 4 or 5 good-sized sprigs of each.  More is fine,

          too.

     12 oz feta (I like Bonfiore brand), crumbled by hand

           In Israel, cubes of white Bulgarian cheese work fine.

     4 Tb lemon juice

     1/3 c olive oil

     Salt to taste (I use very little, < 1/4 tsp, because feta 

            is very salty)

    

Start boiling the water and then do the chopping while the noodles cook.  When the noodles are al dente, rinse them but not so much that they get cold.  Add the rest of the ingredients to the warm noodles and mix. The warmth of the noodles melts the smaller crumbles of cheese and blends the flavors.  You could serve immediately but I refrigerate and serve cold or at room temperature. 

"Serve with tomatoes" wrote Joy but I never do.

Still tastes great a week later, if you have any left.

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