Grilled Vegetable Orzo Salad with Goat Cheese & Balsamic Dressing

This easy Grilled Vegetable Orzo Salad with Goat Cheese & Balsamic Dressing is a great side dish recipe for any summer meal. A mixture of grilled vegetables tossed with orzo pasta, goat cheese, and a fresh homemade balsamic dressing it’s sure to become a family favorite.

For a few other healthy orzo recipes, take a look at this Mediterranean Orzo Salad Recipe and this Lemon Parmesan Garlic Orzo. You’ll want to make these as a side dish for all your meals!

The weather here in Tejas has finally started to warm back up again, which means it’s grilling time baby! I LOVE to grill, in fact if I could grill everything I would. The smoky flavor that the grill gives off makes me want to eat more and more… and more.

My mind tends to think along the lines of “efficiency” for good or bad. So in order to be efficient and keep the grilled flavors rolling all week I usually will grill a bunch of vegetables at once and use them throughout the week for different meals. One of the best things you could EVER buy when grilling large quantities like this is a grill basket. (picture shown below) It will save you so much time, no need to soak wooden sticks and alternate vegetables. Just throw them in the basket and stir. AA- mazing! (you can get it at Bed, Bath, & Beyond for like $10) So, the recipe below has extra vegetables to grill that you will portion out to use later this week for a Helping Hubbie.

Easy Orzo Salad Side Dish Recipe 

Since it’s Valentines Day week, I thought I would make a fancy side dish recipe instead of just the regular grilled veggies. When I think fancy, I think creamy and deep flavor. To do this I added some Orzo, creamy Goat Cheese, and a Homemade Balsamic Dressing.  This  fancy side dish is the perfect compliment for any main course, or it could be your main course if you’d like. Either way, you will love it and so will your spouse!

To get started, For the Veggies:Preheat grill to med-high heat. Cut up all vegetables.

Place all veggies in large bowl and season with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat.

Put veggies in grill basket and grill for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until tender.

Take 2 cups of the finished veggies and set aside to use later this week. Put the rest in a bowl and set aside for the rest of this dish.

For the Dressing: In the meantime, add balsamic vinegar, stone ground mustard, garlic, basil, salt, and pepper to a bowl.

Whisk until thoroughly combined,then slowly add olive oil. Continue to whisk until dressing thickens. (you will know it is done when it sticks to the back of a spoon)

For the Rest: Fill a medium saucepan with water, bring to a boil. Pour orzo in boiling water and cook for 8-10 minutes. Once finished pour strained orzo over grilled vegetables. Crumble softened goat cheese over orzo and pour balsamic dressing over entire mixture. Mix together until cheese is melted and everything is completely combined.

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