Review - Orzo Salad with Corn, Tomatoes, and Basil - July '01

[Peggy]

I love all of these dinner salad recipes in the July issue! We have been having temperatures in the 100's for the past week, so salad for dinner is perfect. The Orzo salad was very easy to make and delicious! The only change I made was to double the dressing recipe (except for the olive oil and salt). I was afraid the orzo would soak up too much dressing and the salad would be on the dry side. It was great! Definately on the repeater list in my home.

Peggy

[RunnerKim]

I agree Peggy! I've tried several the meatless main dish salads in the July issue and been very pleased with them. They're great for this time of year. I particularly liked the grilled veggie salad (that's not the name of it).

Kim

[Peggy]

Kim,

Are you referring to the Summer Vegetable Salad with Grilled Bread ? I just looked at it and it does look really good. Grilled vegetables are soooo delicious! Not to be a "dressing pig", but was there enough dressing for this salad? Looks like a lot of vegetables... And sometimes, I think CL salads can be a bit dry. Would love to hear more about it! I missed the reviews when the BB was down.

Thanks!

Peggy

[Rae]

I was just reviewing this recipe, to make sure that I pick up everything that I need to make it this weekend, and I noticed that the recipe does not say to cook the fresh corn. Do you just cut it off the cob and add it raw? I guess I eat all kinds of other vegetables raw, but I've never thought of not cooking corn. As I'm trying to imagine this both ways, I think that the raw corn would give the salad a nice texture, I'm just not sure about flavor and especially color. Please let me know what you all have done. TIA.

[mb]

rae, i just used frozen corn kernels (defrosted, of course!) since that's what i had on hand. it worked well, but fresh would probably taste better. you're right though, i've never really thought about eating raw corn either!

i was afraid there wasn't going to be enough dressing, but i just followed the recipe, figuring i could just make more dressing if it needed it. it didn't.

we served this warm, with some garlic toast, and it was a definite repeater.

[Ralph]

Used raw, fresh corn here & it came out fine! I've come across a few recipes in recent months calling for uncooked corn, and have always enjoyed it. (Just don't ask me for those recipes - I can't remember what they were!)

[funnybone]

I haven't tried any of these recipes, but I find that some local corn is so sweet, you could almost eat it raw. I just immerse it in hot water for about 5 minutes though. I always think I would get stomach cramps if I ate it raw.

[RunnerKim]

Peggy - I'm sorry I didn't see your question before. I thought there was plenty of dressing and I think I even make a bigger salad than it calls for. I know I put in the whole can of beans and I'm pretty sure I often have just a "little more" veggies than it calls for. I get carried away at the Farmer's market.

It just love this salad and its great for lunch the next day (I keep the grilled bread seperate and add just before eating).

Kim

[Peggy]

Thanks Kim!

Your reply was just in time. I made the grilled vegetable salad last night and it was wonderful! The amount of dressing was perfect.

Peggy

[kristalsnow7]

Wow, this is an old thread! Peggy mentioned this recipe recently, and I finally made it for lunch today. It was delicious. I was a little concerned about the raw corn, but I had super-fresh, super-sweet corn, and it worked fine. I used a beautifully ripe heirloom tomato, so I didn't think the salad was too dry. I'm looking forward to the leftovers! Thanks for reminding me of the recipe, Peggy.

[Carrie W]

We LOVE this recipe!

[Peggy C.]

Another thumbs up, even the leftovers were yummy.