I often source inspiration for meals from my instagram feed by saving recipes into categorized folders to look back on later. I was feeling rather uninspired around dinner time so turned to my trusty catalogue to help me out and rediscovered a recipe for an arugula and orzo pasta salad via @dianemorrisey. It was serendipitous really, because I had just recently purchased a box of Jovial Foods’ gluten-free orzo made with cassava flour!
This dinner was fun to assemble because there’s a lot of things going on here. To start, I suggest warming up a pan over a medium flame and boiling a pot of water while you gather up your ingredients:
arugula, lemon, orange, clementine, pepitas, dried cherries, olive oil, scallions, parsley, orzo, and pine nuts.
Begin by adding your orzo to the pot of water and setting your timer as per package directions. Then begin toasting your pine nuts in the warm pan, keeping them moving until they take on a golden hue. Remove the pine nuts from heat and set aside, then gloss your pan with a bit of olive oil, and place your salmon flesh side down to cook for 4ish minutes before flipping to skin-side and letting cook until finished (another 3-5 minutes).
While that’s going down, you can start assembling your salad! Put a hefty amount of arugula in a bowl, zest half of an orange and just a bit of a lemon for an extra punch (option to add some olive oil if you prefer a bit more density to your dressed greens).
Then slice your citrus up and squeeze 1/2 orange and 1/4 lemon atop your greens and toss. Peel and segment a clementine and add to the bowl, along with pepitas, your toasted pine nuts, and dried cherries.
At this point your orzo should be good to go - drain and rinse with cold water, ensuring it has cooled and dried enough to add to your salad. Toss everything together, add your salt and pepper, then lay your beautiful piece of fish across the top and admire your work!
This salad is perfectly zippy from citrus, peppery from arugula, and lush from the assortment of toppings! Sure to be a mainstay in my repertoire.
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