This Cheesy Zucchini Orzo Pasta Salad is easy and delicious. It’s perfect for a quick summer dinner, and with all that zucchini you can count it as a healthy vegetable!
Cheesy Zucchini Orzo Pasta Salad
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I made this delicious Summer Vegetable Orzo Pasta Salad a few weeks ago, and I had a ton of leftover orzo pasta. So I had to figure out something else to do with all that pasta! I started thinking about other things that I often have “too much” of, and zucchini came to the top of the list!
Summer vegetables are amazing – and almost everyone around here has their own garden. We grow a lot of zucchini. We eat some, we give some away, and some of it goes bad before we can get rid of it. (We try to feed it to the cows before it gets to that point!) We also end up with more zucchini than we grow… When John goes on farm calls, he often comes back to his vet truck to find that his client has snuck some “extra” zucchini in the passenger seat while he wasn’t looking!
So what to do with all that zucchini… Mix it up with some orzo pasta and Parmesan cheese!
This pasta salad can be served cold, but I think it tastes a little better warm. Just heat it all up in a skillet until the cheese is melted, and toss it on a plate. It’s the perfect side dish to go with any summer meal. It’s light (even with those carbs!), so it won’t weigh you down in the hot summer weather. And it uses up some of that plentiful zucchini that I know you have hanging around!
Enjoy!
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- Summer Fruits & Vegetables in Season – free printable!
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Printable Recipe Card for Cheesy Zucchini Orzo Pasta Salad
- 1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium zucchini, chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups cooked orzo pasta
- ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- Heat oil in a large skillet.
- Saute the zucchini and salt in the oil for 5-7 minutes, until the zucchini is tender.
- Add orzo to the skillet and cook for 5 more minutes, stirring frequently, until the orzo is heated through.
- Add the cheese, stir well, and keep on the heat until the cheese is melted.
- Serve immediately.
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Sounds like you found a simple and delicious solution to your problem 😉 Thanks for sharing your recipe on the Celebrate 365 Blog Party!
I love recipes that solve problems, while being simple and delicious! Triple Winner!