Sriracha-Lime Summer Orzo Salad

My friends know how much I dread warm weather. Just like clockwork, I find myself watching Lake Tahoe webcams in May with morbid curiosity as the snow melts inch-by-inch. We can't control the change in seasons, but we can control how we choose to enjoy it. So let's start summer off right with a recipe that's been a hit at my recent barbeques!

You'll love my sriracha-lime orzo salad because your guests won't even notice that you conveniently forgot to pick up the expensive meat that the host always gets stuck buying. Oh but hey, thanks for buying the plastic forks man. 

Orzo, a rice-shaped pasta, takes a hot bath in chicken broth before it joins the party of grilled vegetables, avocado, and black beans that are ready to throw back a few shots of spicy sriracha and fresh squeezed lime juice. You can make this ahead of time so you can spend more time on the patio and less time in your sauna of a kitchen. Let's get started...

Sriracha-Lime Summer Orzo Salad

The Play-By-Play Version 

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15-20 minutes

Serves: 8-10 people

Ingredients:vegetable

1 cup dry orzo

2-15 oz. cans of reduced-sodium chicken broth (vegetarians can use vegetable broth)

15 oz. canned black beans, drained & rinsed

2/3 cup frozen roasted corn

3/4 cup red onion, chopped

12 cherry tomatoes 

1lb. zucchini, quartered into spears

3 small sweet peppers (or use 1 small red bell pepper, de-seeded)

2 small semi-firm avocados, diced

5 tbsp. lime juice, fresh squeezed (about 3 limes)

2 tbsp. sriracha sauce (or to taste)

1/4 tsp. salt (or to taste)

1/4 tsp. pepper (or to taste)

1 tbsp. olive oil

Instructions:

1) Bring 2 cans of chicken broth to a simmer and cook orzo to the instructions on the package. For me, that was 8 minutes. (Edit: My friends at The Sriracha Cookbook pointed out that you can make this a vegetarian friendly dish by using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth!) In the last 2 minutes of the orzo's cook time, add the frozen roasted corn into the chicken broth. If you can't find frozen roasted corn, it's totally fine to use any of the other types of frozen corn.

2) Drain the orzo and corn and cool completely under running cold water to stop the cooking. Transfer the orzo and corn into a non-metallic mixing bowl. Combine with drained & rinsed black beans, red onion, lime juice, sriracha, salt, and pepper

3) Rub zucchini, sweet peppers, and tomatoes in olive oil. Add salt and pepper to your taste and grill them until they have a nice black char on all sides. Learn from my mistake and don't slice your tomatoes before grilling. Save yourself the trouble and do it after! If you don't feel like grilling, you can always roast your vegetables in the oven at 450° until they brown.

4) Plate the vegetables when they are done grilling and cool them down in the freezer for 10 minutes. Not only are they much easier to handle while chopping, but they stay at the same temperature as the rest of the ingredients in the dish. Chop the vegetables and add them to the mixing bowl. Stir thoroughly.

5) Dice your avocados. Here's an easy to way to do it. 

Gently stir the avocados into the salad to prevent it from turning into guacamole. This is why its better to use semi-firm avocados for this particular recipe.

6) As always, take a bite of your creation and make any adjustments.  Remember that too much of a spicy ingredient like sriracha can ruin the dish for some of your guests. Be conservative with it in the dish and leave the bottle of sriracha out on the table for guests who like it spicier.

Sriracha-Lime Summer Orzo Salad
The Sportscenter Highlights Version

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15-20 minutes

Serves: 8-10 people

Ingredients:

1 cup dry orzo

2-15 oz. cans of reduced-sodium chicken broth (vegetarians can use vegetable broth)

15 oz. canned black beans, drained & rinsed

2/3 cup frozen roasted corn

3/4 cup red onion, chopped

12 cherry tomatoes

3 small sweet peppers (or use 1 small red bell pepper, de-seeded) 

1lb. zucchini, quartered into spears
2 small semi-firm avocados, diced

5 tbsp. lime juice, fresh squeezed (about 3 limes)

2 tbsp. sriracha sauce (or to taste)

1/4 tsp. salt (or to taste)

1/4 tsp. pepper (or to taste)

1 tbsp. olive oil

Instructions:

1) Bring 2 cans of broth to a simmer and cook orzo to the instructions on the package. In the last 2 minutes of the orzo's cook time, add the frozen roasted corn into the chicken broth. If you can't find frozen roasted corn, it's totally fine to use any of the other types of frozen corn.

2) Drain the orzo/corn and cool rapidly under running cold water. Transfer the orzo and corn into a non-metallic mixing bowl. Combine with black beans, red onion, lime juice, sriracha, salt, and pepper

3) Rub zucchini, sweet peppers, and tomatoes in olive oil. Add salt and pepper to your taste and grill them until they have a nice black char on all sides. If you don't feel like grilling, you can always roast your vegetables in the oven at 450° until they brown.

4) Plate the vegetables when they are done grilling and cool them down in the freezer for 10 minutes. Chop the vegetables and add them to the mixing bowl. Stir thoroughly.

5) Dice your avocados and gently stir them into the salad.

6) Taste the final creation and make any necessary additions based on your personal flavor preferences.