The best orzo and wild rice salad you’ll ever have! Made with orzo pasta, wild rice and toasted pine nuts tossed in a zesty citrus dressing. It’s a refreshing and bright salad perfect to serve as a side dish.

How this recipe was created

Who would have thought the combination of a small pasta and wild rice would make such an amazing salad? It kind of all happened by accident one day when I was in a pinch to come up with a salad to take along to a potluck event. I had orzo, wild rice, pine nuts, and cranberries in my pantry plus lots of fresh produce in the refrigerator. By some miracle, I combined a bunch of these ingredients and came up with a prize salad that everyone loved!

The ingredients you need for this salad

Wild Rice
Orzo Pasta
Pine Nuts
Red Bell Pepper
Green Onions
Dried Cranberries
Parsley
Lemon and Lime
Honey or Agave Syrup
Dijon Mustard
Canola or Grapeseed Oil
Salt & Pepper

The salad being assembled

Packed with bright flavours, varied textures and colourful ingredients in a zesty citrus dressing, this salad is irresistibly refreshing. It’s just the perfect salad to bring to a potluck or to serve for dinner as a side dish. The salad compliments fish or roasted grilled meats nicely.

Orzo Pasta

Orzo is a small pasta shaped like a melon seed made from semolina flour that’s popular across Europe. Orzo holds its shape when cooked to “al dente”. It’s very versatile and is often used in soups, side dishes and salads like this one.

Wild Rice

Although wild rice is called “rice”, wild rice is actually a grain that is grown in shallow marshes. Once cooked, the skins swell and some curl slightly to reveal a creamy interior. Wild rice adds a nice texture to many dishes. You can find it in most grocery stores or at your bulk food store.

Pine Nuts

Pine Nuts are the edible seeds of pine trees. Beige, small, tear drop shaped, they are definitely one of the more expensive nuts because of the time required to grow and harvest them. Pine nuts benefit from a quick toast to bring out the natural oils, flavour and aroma. Mild, sweet and buttery with a slight pine-like flavour, pine nuts are often used in pesto and many other sweet and savoury dishes.

Refrigerate the salad for at least 2 hours to give the ingredients a chance to mingle. Serve cold or at room temperature. Enjoy this refreshing and bright salad!

Zesty Orzo & Wild Rice Salad

A refreshing and bright salad made with orzo pasta and wild rice tossed in a zesty citrus dressing. Perfect as a side dish or for a potluck.

Servings 8 people

Author Rita Jakobschuk

Ingredients

Salad Ingredients

½ cup wild rice
¾ cup orzo pasta
½ cup pine nuts toasted
1 red bell pepper diced
4 green onions white and green parts, sliced
⅓ cup dried cranberries lightly chopped
¼ cup freshly chopped parsley

Citrus Dressing

1 lemon zested
1 lime zested
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice from the zested lemon
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice from the zested lime
1 tablespoon liquid honey or agave syrup
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
¼ cup canola vegetable or grapeseed oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

In a small saucepan add the wild rice and 3 cups of water. Bring to a light boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook for 30 minutes. Drain and let cool.
In a medium saucepan bring 5 cups of water to a boil over high heat. Add orzo and cook for 10 - 11 minutes until the orzo is al dente. Using a fine mesh sieve, drain orzo and rinse lightly with cold water. Let cool.
In a small skillet over medium-high heat, toast pine nuts tossing them constantly until they just begin to look golden. The nuts toast quickly - do not leave unattended. Immediately transfer nuts to a plate to cool.
Once the rice and orzo is completely cooled, add them to a large salad bowl. Add red pepper, green onions, toasted pine nuts, cranberries and parsley.
Meanwhile, prepare the citrus dressing. In a medium bowl, whisk together lemon zest, lime zest, lemon juice, lime juice, honey or agave syrup, mustard, oil, salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients and toss to combine. Refrigerate the salad for at least 2 hours before serving.