This Southwestern Orzo Salad recipe is full of veggies, black beans, orzo, & feta cheese all smothered in Tessemae’s Caesar Dressing! Plus a dressing giveaway below! (This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Tessemae’s. The opinions and text are all mine.)
I’m not the kind of person that craves a salad. Well, I should clarify – a green salad. When my husband and I go out to dinner, he’s usually the one that orders the salad while I order a burger. Hehe.
But other kinds of salads? Pasta, chicken, orzo? Yeah, I’m in like Flynn. 🙂
Orzo is one of the coolest little pastas. It cooks really quickly and has a neat texture, almost like rice but a little heartier. You can buy regular orzo or whole wheat, both are great.
This orzo salad recipe has a few great things going for it:
- it’s full of veggies (which means you can skip the green salad!)
- the only cooking you have to do is the orzo pasta
- the dressing isn’t something you have to blend together or mix up – it’s made entirely from Tessemae’s Caesar Dressing!
Have you tried Tessemae’s All Natural Dressings yet? Holy cow. I am super impressed with them!
Both the Ranch and Caesar dressings are dairy free and use coconut milk along with other clean ingredients. If you’re on the Whole 30 diet, their dressings are Whole 30 approved. They’re also paleo and vegan which is pretty awesome!
They’re inexpensive, too. I’ve been able to find them easily at my grocery stores here in California. If you can’t find them at your store, you can easily purchase them online at their website HERE. Use this coupon code: JengoesTesse to get 10% off your order!!
In keeping with the healthy theme of Tessemae’s dressings, I wanted to make this salad as healthy as possible but also hearty. Using whole wheat orzo keeps this salad clean and it’s also a vegetarian-friendly side dish (check to make sure your feta uses vegetable-derived rennet to be sure).
The Caesar dressing is what makes this salad special. It has a wonderful zesty flavor from the lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and mustard in the dressing. It pairs perfectly with the veggies and orzo in this salad! This orzo salad recipe is a delightful addition to your dinner, especially a barbecue meal!
Now for the exciting news, Tessemae’s is letting me giveaway one bottle each of their delicious Ranch & Caesar Dressings! Enter below for your chance to win!!
Just a quick side note: Many of the Tessemae’s dressings & marinades are olive oil based and therefore, the olive oil solidifies when chilled in the frig. When you store your dressings in the frig (refrigerate for quality up to 7 months), it’s important that you know the dressings haven’t spoiled/gone bad! Just let your dressing warm to room temperature on the kitchen counter or place the bottle in warm water for a few minutes (I use a mug filled with hot water from the tap).
Southwestern Orzo Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked orzo
- 3 to matoes diced
- kernels cut from one corn cob
- 1 bunch of green onions chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped jicama
- 1 yellow pepper
- 1 green pepper
- 1 14-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 3.5-oz container feta cheese, crumbled
- 1/2 cup Tessemae's Caesar Dressing
- 1/2 tsp. salt or more to taste
- 1/4 tsp. pepper or more to taste
Instructions
- Cook orzo according to the package directions.
- Meanwhile, combine the tomatoes, corn, green onions, jicama, bell peppers, black beans, cilantro and feta cheese in a large mixing bowl. Toss lightly together.
- When orzo is cooked, drain and rinse lightly with cool water. Drain well and pour into vegetable-feta mixture. Pour dressing and salt and pepper over the top and toss until combined. Taste and add more S&P if needed.
- Serve and enjoy!
I am always looking for tasty, healthy products. I’d love to try it!
I am always up for trying to new dressings! 🙂
Oh my goodness! This sounds awesome! I love orzo, they are so fun to eat and delicious. Great idea on the caesar dressing in this, can’t wait to give it a try. My fam is going to love it!
This looks like such a simple, delicious salad, I love feta cheese in pretty much anything, so this recipe looks like a winner to me! 🙂
I’m trying to give up sugar and one of the things I’m really having a hard time finding non-sugar versions of is prepared salad dressing. I could make my own, but my repertoire is pretty much limited to vinaigrette. These looks great; I wonder if local stores carry them.
I LOVE the texture of orzo, and it looks amazing in this salad! I definitely don’t like a light-weight lettuce salad, this looks just perfect 🙂
We eat a lot of salads in the summer and I am always looking for healthy all natural dressings.
This orzo salad looks amazing! I love all the flavors in here Jen! Especially since you added jicama, it is one of my favorites and yet I am always forgetting about it. That needs to change, starting with this salad! Pinned!
This looks great!
The salad sounds absolutely yummy
I would like to try the Caesar dressing because I cannot have dairy
This salad looks tasty. I’ve been wanting to make something with orzo.
I am always looking for healthy, delicious dressings to try!
I haven’t tried Tessamae’s dressings yet, but I will now be on the lookout for them! I am always looking for ways to improve our eating habits and add to my choices for meal planning!
This looks like one of those salads that I could eat every day for lunch and never get tired of it. Pinned 🙂
Apparently, I’ve been told I’m the queen of salads and so having a healthy dressing to go along is the icing on the cake. I also love being introduced to new amazing products.
That salad certainly does look delicious and so colorful! I’ve never tried this brand, but would love to. Our family has a salad every night and having a dressing that’s both healthy and delicious is fantastic.
I’m not sure why I have yet to make orzo. This looks delicious!
Yesss! I love orzo! This salad looks so delish—I could seriously eat it all!
Orzo is a summer staple! I love how it can be paired with fresh veggies and flavors. Gorgeous recipe!
These do sound delish and healthier too.
For those two reasons and the fact they use coconut oil and Paleo friendly has me intrigued.
I would love to try their dressing, it fits my diet plan
They look so delish, and who doesnt love all natural!? Great giveaway!:)
I’m always looking for a great salad recipe! This one fits the bill.,,,looks awesome!!
I’m a salad fiend, but a lot of the times I’m much too lazy to make my own salad dressings. For this reason, I love finding good quality bottled dressings to use. I’ve never tried Tessemae’s dressings, but I love the fact that they are natural with no crazy ingredients!
I’m a sucker for new dressings & one that’s natural?! I’m all in!!
My favorite worktime snack is fresh veggies with ranch. i’m excited for the opportunity to try this!
I’d like to try the Ranch dressing cause I’m really fussy about my Ranch Dressing and I would like to try this one and I’ll bet it would become a favorite!
I have never tried this brand and their flavors look delicious.
Whaat?! A DAIRY FREE- SOY FREE Ranch?!? Sign ME UP. 😀 Seriously some of the best news everrr. This salad looks absolutely amazing too. Pinning.
I really want to try their Ranch, it looks soooooo different than the white goopy stuff that I’ve grown to abhor.
This Orzo Salad looks delicious, I’m planning on this for a bridal shower lunchen, along with pulled pork. How many would this recipe serve?
Hi Sandra! I would estimate this recipe to serve 4 larger portions but up to 6 with smaller portions. I’m so happy you’re going to make this! It’s super easy and tastes amazing!