I love a good pasta salad- and this is a nice spin on the classic. I’m bringing this salad tomorrow to our Fourth of July picnic as a side, but it could easily adapt to a main dish as well. I like this salad a lot because you can serve it warm, room temperature, or out of the fridge and it’s just as tasty!

Here’s what you need:

6 cloves of garlic minced (yes, I said 6), 1 white or yellow onion, chopped, 1 bag of baby spinach, 1 box of orzo pasta, 6 ears of corn- roasted in the grill with kernels removed from the cob (or, you can buy a frozen bag of roasted corn kernels at Trader Joe’s to save you time!), 10 ounces of fresh spring English peas- or any less you can find, 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro, salt and pepper, lemon juice, olive oil 

Here’s the plan:

Put about 1-2 tbsp in a large sauté pan, heat the oil, and add the garlic and onion. Sauté in pan until soft and translucent on medium heat. Add the bag of spinach and stir until spinach cooks down and becomes soft and wilty. Add the corn and peas, cook for about 7 minutes, stir occasionally, every minute or two, then, lower the heat to low. Meanwhile, in a separate pot, boil water to cook the orzo in. Once water is boiling, add the orzo and cook for 7-10 minutes until orzo is tender. Drain. Add the drained orzo pasta to the vegetables in the large sauté pan. Add about a tbsp of salt and 1 tbsp of pepper, to taste. (Psst, I have a salty palate, so feel free to later salt to your taste!) Add 2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice and the 1 cup of chopped cilantro to the pan. Mix well, remove from heat, and serve, or refrigerate to later!