Corn, Basil and Orzo Salad

Corn, Basil and Orzo salad accompanying some grilled chicken breast

This recipe is one from an older copy of Cooking Pleasures, now known as Cooking Club, magazine. I'm not sure why I never tried it earlier since I like corn, onions, bell pepper and completely adore fresh basil. Maybe it was because I hadn't tried orzo and didn't know if I would like it. I have no idea.

Corn, Basil and Orzo Salad

1/2 medium red onion, finely diced

1/4 cup white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons kosher (coarse) salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
6 to 8 large ears corn
8 oz. orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium red bell pepper, diced 1/4 inch
1 1/2 cups torn fresh basil or lemon basil

In a large bowl, stir together red onion, vinegar, lime juice, salt and pepper. Let stand 15 to 20 minutes while preparing corn.

Holding ears of corn upright on cutting board, cut off kernels, being careful not to cut too deep. (You should have about 5 cups kernels.)

This is what 7 ears of cut corn looks like on my standard cutting board.

Meanwhile, bring large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add orzo; cook 8 minutes or until just tender.


Add corn kernels; cook until water returns to a boil, 1 to 3 minutes*. Drain; rinse with cold water to cool.

*My pot never returned to a boil because it sucks. I just let the corn heat until it was tender-crisp but drained it before the orzo became overcooked. That means that after the corn was added, I let it cook about 5 minutes.

Whisk oil into vinegar-onion mixture.


Add orzo, corn, bell pepper and basil; toss until evenly combined.


Refrigerate at least 1 hour and stir before serving.

This batch was refrigerated 3 hours. Thus it's dark in my kitchen, hence the drastic color change.

Not too difficult to prepare. The kitchen was a bit of a wreck from cutting the corn, but nothing out of control.

The taste? Awesome! I love this stuff! Rodney liked it too, but I don't know that we'll be able to eat all 10 cups -- it's a lot. I'll keep this in mind in case I have another potluck in which I need to bring a dish.  This would be perfect as it's a nice, light, fresh-tasting dish that can easily accompany other food and best of all, doesn't have to be reheated.

The corn, pepper and onion, quite mild after marinating in the oil mixture, were crisp. The orzo was tender, but not mushy. The basil packed a punch even after sitting in the fridge for three hours. And the salad looked completely fresh even after refrigerating.

Rodney, hater of bell peppers, didn't even acknowledge the fact that they were in the salad and I didn't notice that he picked any out. Usually the bell-pepper-picking-from-food is a grand production. Is it possible he didn't know they were bell peppers, thinking they were diced tomatoes? Either he was being extra nice or his palate/stomach does not really have an aversion to bell peppers like he insists.

Cost:

• red onion: $0.35
• lime for juice: $0.26
• corn on the cob: $1.75
• red bell pepper: $1.03
• basil: $1.52/bunch
• everything else, SWAG: $1

Total: $5.91 or $0.59 for each one-cup serving.