Pretty Little Apron

fresh parmesan cheese

Mediterranean Orzo and White Bean Salad

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Truth be told, I learned something about myself today. I don’t know how to spell the word Mediterranean. I tried many times. Is it two d’s? Two t’s? Heck I have no clue, I still don’t think I could spell it right if I wanted to! I’m not even convinced Google knows how to spell it.  Thank you auto-correct! Regardless, that doesn’t take away from how much I love this pasta salad! *Insert blogger sales pitch about how amazing this pasta salad is* The orzo, the feta, the veggies, the beans, the salty sweetness, I mean really it is just a party in a bowl all around. I searched high and low for whole wheat orzo because I wrongly assumed it was a thing. Why wouldn’t every grocery store carry it? We are living in 2014, you know… the future, where people have woken up to the fact that the bleaching and enriching process is poo-poo! Thankfully, my search ended at Wegman’s where I ran into a box of whole wheat orzo and the rest is history.


I have been making pasta salads all summer because they are quick, easy, and able to pack protein and veggies. I love putting pasta salads over spinach or greens and eating it for lunch (no dressing required). My lunch is usually just shoving some food in my face because I’m too busy feeding hungry boys to even think about what I am eating. Even though I’m home with them I can relate to the people at day jobs who feel too busy to eat and a lunch like this is a great solution. You don’t have to fiddle around with those stupid plastic dressing containers, or a bunch of baggies. Throw some spinach and pasta salad in a container and you have a meal in a bowl. One bowl, one spoon/fork and there you have it!

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The dressing for this salad is a mix of a few bold flavors, which is what makes is so good! Whole grain mustard, tomato paste, and red wine vinegar come together to create the perfect companion for olives and feta. My husband’s grandparents hooked us up with some yellow tomatoes and they were super sweet and complimented the saltiness of this salad perfectly. If you can’t find a sweeter tomato, I would suggest adding a few extra sun dried tomatoes, or even a handful of dried cranberries to give the salad a nice balance.

I struggled with what to call this flavor bomb, but I think Mediterranean White Bean and Orzo Salad about sums it up, right? Sheesh I really need to start getting more creative but it seemed better then “The Best EVER Pasta Salad Recipe!” agreed? 😉

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Whole Grain Breadcrumbs

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breadcrumbs Store bought breadcrumbs are one of those items that make absolutely no sense. How do these companies take something as simple as bread and turn it into 59 ingredients… yes 59 ingredients!!!!! Not only are they using 59 ingredients, they are also using a cocktail of dangerous and cheap ingredients. Here is the list:

Ingredients


Bread Crumbs (Enriched Flour [Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid], High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil [Soybean and/or Cottonseed and/or Corn and/or Canola], Water, Salt. Contains 2% or Less of: Yeast, Honey, Molasses, Sugar, Wheat, Gluten, Whey, Soy Flour, Whole Wheat Flour, Rye Flour, Corn Flour, Oat Bran, Corn Meal, Rice Flour, Potato Flour, Butter, Dough Conditioners [Mono- and Diglycerides, Sodium and/or Calcium Stearoyl, Lactylate, Soy Lecithin, Calcium Carbonate], Yeast Nutrients [Ammonium Sulfate, Calcium Sulfate, Monocalcium Phosphate], Vinegar, Nonfat Milk, Buttermilk, Lactic Acid, Calcium Propionate and Potassium Sorbate [Preservatives, Sesame Seeds), Oat Flour, Salt, Dried Parsley, Spices, Onion Powder, Garlic, Natural Flavor, Egg, Sunflower Seeds.

So you can see they are using HFCS, Partially Hydrogenated Oils (trans fats!!), and preservatives. No wonder these things never go bad! What makes me downright angry about these breadcrumbs is people use these when they are cooking at home and never think to read the ingredients on something that seems so simple.

Thankfully making your own is super simple and easy. If you use breadcrumbs a lot you can even make these in big batches and keep them in the refrigerator or freezer. These breadcrumbs taste ten times better then the store bought version and are able to be used in a number of ways. It is also important to point out that I use a preservative free, sprouted grain bread found in the organic freezer section of my local grocery store. Click here to learn more about the bread. I also freshly grate my parmesan cheese because the powdery parmesan can contain additives and preservatives. Here is the micoplane I use to grate the cheese as well as the oat flour and adobo seasoning used in the recipe.