In an effort to use up the ingredients filling our cabinets, I made a lovely pasta salad with orzo and a few other items I had on hand last week. Simple to put together, this recipe uses items I commonly have on hand in my kitchen and is a riff on a Rachael Ray dish I made a few weeks ago. Hers combines many of the same flavors: walnuts, parsley and feta. Mine has the addition of chopped dried apricots and lemon juice. Fairly virtuous, this easy dish works well for lunch with egg salad sandwiches or as a side dish at a potluck.

Orzo with Feta, Walnuts, Parsley, Lemon & Dried Apricots

Serves 2

1/2 c. orzo pasta

2 tbsp. feta, crumbled

2 tbsp. chopped walnuts

2 tbsp. chopped Italian flat leaf parsley

Juice from 1/2 a lemon

2-3 dried apricots finely chopped

2 tbsp. evoo

Bring a pot of water to a boil. When it’s boiling, salt the water and add the orzo. While the orzo is cooking, place the feta, parsley, walnuts and apricots in a bowl.

After the orzo is cooked, drain and rinse. Add it to the bowl with the juice from half a lemon and a drizzle of evoo. Sprinkle with a good helping of freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste. Stir to combine.