Summer Orzo Salad with Garbanzo Beans is perfect for a summertime picnic, or a holiday potluck. Add a chicken breast on top for a lovely lunch or dinner!

blue bowl filled with orzo salad with fresh tomatoes and feta

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Looking for a quick and yummy salad to bring to a summer BBQ? Well, look no further than this orzo pasta salad made with the freshest ingredients and our favorite orzo pasta!

Summer Orzo Salad with Garbanzo Beans

Today I’m sharing a sweet hospitality story, plus this delicious Summer Orzo Salad with Garbanzo Beans recipe–so tasty served cold or at room temperature.

Summer Orzo Salad with Garbanzo Beans

Perfect for summer entertaining

Room temp salads are perfect for outdoor entertaining, especially on hot summer nights. [Oh, and don’t forget to add salt to your water when you boil orzo. Never add oil.]

blue bamboo bowl filled with orzo salad with fresh tomatoes and feta cheese

Ingredients for orzo salad

  • Whole wheat orzo
  • Olive oil
  • Sweet onion
  • Garbanzo Beans
  • Grape tomatoes
  • Cucumber
  • Lemon juice
  • Kosher salt
  • Feta cheese
  • Fresh basil

Use a premium brand, like DeLallo Whole Wheat Orzo!

Summer Orzo Salad with Garbanzo Beans

And don’t be afraid to undercook it by a couple minutes. We always undercook our pasta when we are making a salad! It’s easy to prepare, and easy to serve!

Sharing your family and friends

Sharing your friends and family with others is what makes the world go around. The more connected we become in life, the richer our lives become. It’s easy to keep the same routine by inviting the same people all the time and only hanging out with our family members, or the people in our church. It’s easy to not reach out and meet new neighbors, because we feel that we already have enough friends.

But we need to keep growing and expanding our circles. Because we are told that we are to love, and loving others takes risk and intention sometimes.

Summer Orzo Salad with Garbanzo Beans

New neighbors hospitality

For example, we noticed that we had new neighbors just down the street. So Paul and I grabbed a bottle of wine, and I reached for a classy gift from my gift box under my bed (we have little space in this house for storage), and we walked down and welcomed our new neighbors over the weekend.

They invited us in and introduced us to their friends and family. We talked for awhile, and we told them that “we’ll have you over for dinner soon!”

Picture expanding your circle of friends by introducing those friends to new people, including your family members, and seeing those friendships take off. I really think we have a great responsibility in life to not hoard what we’ve been given, but to use it to expand our circles for the good of others and ourselves.

It’s how we learn to grow, give, and love in deeper ways. We live a connected life, and we experience levels of thankfulness and the soul-gifts that others offer.

Summer Orzo Salad with Garbanzo Beans

Soul gifts

The soul gifts come in many sizes, and they last forever.

Where gifts (from our gift closet) are a nice gesture (who doesn’t love a bottle of wine, or a beautiful bouquet of flowers?), actually taking our time and using our cooking skills to reach out to get to know others, is in my mind, the best kind of gift.

Summer Orzo Salad with Garbanzo Beans

And you know what? The next day, these beautiful flowers were brought to our front door.

Thank you for welcoming us to the neighborhood! We can’t wait to get together soon!

Summer Orzo Salad with Garbanzo Beans

blue bowl filled with orzo salad with fresh tomatoes and feta
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Summer Orzo Salad with Garbanzo Beans

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 6
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Ingredients
 

  • 1 pound whole wheat orzo, I buy DeLallo
  • 6 Tbsp. olive oil, divied
  • 1 medium sweet onion, chopped
  • 1 15 oz. cans Bush’s Garbanzo Beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2 cups halved grape tomatoes
  • 2 cups diced cucumbers, I love English cucumbers
  • 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tsp. kosher salt
  • 4 oz. feta cheese
  • ¼ cup thinly sliced basil

Instructions
 

  • Bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente, according to package instructions. Drain and toss with a little bit of olive oil to prevent sticking. Set aside.
  • Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat; add the onion and cook until tender, 6-8 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
  • Place the cooled pasta in a large bowl. Add the drained beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, and cooled onions.
  • In a small bow,  mix the lemon juice and 4 Tbsp. olive oil; salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the salad mixture and gently mix together.
  • Sprinkle with feta cheese. Drizzle with remaining 1 Tbsp. olive oil; serve.
Cuisine: American
Course: Salad
Did you make this recipe?Tag @reluctantentertainer on Instagram and hashtag it #reluctantentertainer!

More salad recipes: Broccoli Bacon Cashew Salad [RE], Lentil Grape Mint Walnut Salad [RE], Grilled Summer Vegetable Salad [A Family Feast], Zucchini Noodle Salad [Two Peas and Their Pod].

blue bamboo bowl filled with orzo salad with fresh tomatoes and feta cheese sprinkled on top