Mediterranean Couscous Salad

This recipe was inspired by an Orzo Salad that I purchased at Whole Foods on Mother's Day.  What a fabulous salad this was!  Cool, refreshing and oh so cravable....

We only bought a small container of it which lasted maybe an hour after we got home and the closest Whole Foods is almost three hours away so I simply had to figure out how to recreate it.   I started by Googling  "Whole Foods Orzo Salad recipe".   My search results brought me to Recipezaar  where I found this recipe that I used as the beginning of my creation.   

2 cups  uncooked orzo pasta

1/4 cup  sun-dried tomato, chopped

1/4 cup  kalamata olive, chopped

1/2  bell pepper, chopped (red or yellow)

1/4 cup red onion, chopped

1/4 cup feta cheese

1/4 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped 

 salt and pepper

Cook Orzo al dente, 5-6 minutes.  Drain and cool in a large bowl.  Add olive oil to pasta to prevent sticking. Toss olives, pepper, onion, tomatoes and cheese in with pasta.   Add vinegar and basil and toss.  Salt and pepper to taste.

I think I've shared with you that I'm not good with recipes. I usually take a combination of two or three different recipes and combine them together with whatever I have on hand.  Rarely do I ever follow a recipe exactly as it is written. 

This time I decided to use couscous instead of the pasta.   I had some Near East Pearled Couscous  in my pantry so I used that.    I decided to substitute halved grape tomatoes instead of sundried tomatoes since I had some really good ones on hand.  I didn't have any bell pepper when I made this the first time so I left that out.  I added the tomatoes, onions, olives and feta until it looked right to me.  I didn't measure them.  The only thing that I actually measured was the rice wine vinegar.  I think if you added roasted red peppers and/or sundried tomatoes that it would be fabulous.

My version of the recipe turned out great so please have fun with it. I'm sure I will make it differently next time depending on what I have on hand.   This was great for lunch with grilled chicken.