Where I come from everyone has a signature dish. My mom had several. Her signature cookies were probably oatmeal butterscotch, her signature bars were Mrs. Carmodie's and she had, despite her lack of seasonal cooking, quite a few seasonal summer salads. One of her famous ones was potato salad, which true to all of her dishes, there is no actual "recipe". And I think through her confidence in making it she got a bit 'food snobbish' I guess if you will about anyone who served a store bought version that was most certainly not as good as hers... (So that's where I get it....) I can picture her on a hot summer day making this. The process involved enormous metal bowls as my mom never did anything small, pounds of potatoes and pouring vinegar, squirting in mustard and scooping in mayo (or as my grandma calls it "salad dressing"). Another salad that made quite a few appearances was a tuna salad, which also had celery and onion, and mayo oddly.... wait, also vinegar... come to think of it they were almost the same. Besides the tuna/noodle/potato thing.
Whenever there was a barbecue or graduation party and my mom would offer to bring something, people would request for her to bring this (it was her specialty after all) the same way she always knew what to ask her friends to bring. Everyone has a strength I guess which is how your signature dish becomes your signature dish. That and the predictability of it. My good friends wouldn't be surprised if I was asked to bring a side dish in the summer and I showed up with this so I guess you could say this is my signature summer salad. But don't worry, it can be yours too... it's definitely not difficult.
Whenever I have made it for barbeques or friends I have always been asked for the recipe so I'm pretty sure you will like it too. It comes from a cookbook that I have shared with you before, The Bride & Groom Cookbook. The dressing is light; no mayo (or salad dressing) here, and instead of vinegar it has lemon juice. I like that it's easy to eat since it's made with orzo (a rice sized shaped pasta), so if you're outside balancing a beer in one hand and a plate in another you could probably manage.
My mom and I had different tastes when it came to some things but she was quite a fan of this recipe as well, in fact over Memorial Day when we were cleaning up camp (for those of you non-Yoopers out there, that means cabin/cottage) I found a piece of notebook paper with this recipe written on it. I remember making it and bringing it out to camp for a day on the pontoon and everyone loved it so my mom had to have the recipe, but I'm not sure that she ever made it. Although I guess that doesn't surprise me, she clearly had already claimed her signature dish; there wasn't much room for one more.
Trish's Tips:
This keeps well but I would hold off on adding the basil until right before you serve it. I've made it without olives for some olive-hating friends but I think it's pretty perfect as is. Add more or less of whatever you like. Have you toasted pine nuts before? I've probably told you this, but toast them in a dry skillet. Watch closely though as they go from lightly golden to black real quick! I buy a whole bag and do it all at once then keep them in the freezer in a jar so I have them at the ready.
Orzo Salad with Lemon, Feta and Pine Nuts
Adapted from The Bride & Groom Cookbook
by Mary Corpening Barber & Sara Corpening Whiteford
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
2 TBL fresh lemon juice
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more as needed
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper, plus more as needed
1 Cup Orzo
1/4 cup pine nuts (toasted)
1/4 cup golden raisins
3 TBL finely chopped kalamata olives
3 TBL finley chopped red onion
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
2 oz feta cheese, drained & crumbled
Directions:
Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, oregano and salt and pepper. Set aside. Cook orzo according to package directions in boiling salted water. Drain, put in large bowl and pour dressing over and mix. Let cool to room temperature while you chop the remaining ingredients.
Add the pine nuts, raisins, olives, red onion and basil and stir to combine. Add the feta and toss lightly. Adjust the seasonings with more salt and pepper as necessary.
