Recipe Blogging: Fall Tomato Salad

We’ve got an abundance of wonderful cherry tomatoes in our tomato thicket.  (Mexican Midget tomatos from Seed Savers.) Yes, I wrote that correctly.  We have a thicket of tomatoes courtesy of a large number of volunteer plants which took off.  I just sort of point them to the fence and over a few poles I had up for our beans and peas.  They go nuts and give us billions of wonderful cherry tomatoes.

I love tossing these tomatoes in with some just-cooked orzo pasta, a bit of minced garlic, some parsley, and some top-notch extra virgin olive oil.  It’s a killer dish, plus it’s quick and easy to make.

Fall Tomato Orzo Salad

1.5 c. cherry tomatoes

1 c. orzo pasta

1 small clove garlic, minced

3 – 6 Tbs best-quality extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbs minced parsley

Parmesan cheese

• Bring a fairly large pot of water to boil.  Add a good pinch of salt to the water, then boil the orzo until just cooked, about five minutes.
• While the orzo’s cooking, mince the garlic using a bit of salt (helps get the oils out).  Scrape into a nice serving bowl and add the olive oil, parsley, and tomatoes.
• When the orzo’s done, drain it well and stir into the bowl while still piping hot.  Dust with parmesan cheese.

Notes: 

I love garlic, but don’t get carried away with it in this salad.  You want just a hint of it, not a 2x4 in the chops.