Fresh Approach Cooking

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When it comes to making a dainty lunch...I tend to fail. Sure, sure, I can create breathless salads and shimmering soups, light as a feather and just right for a warm summer day or as dinner after a late lunch, but I never seem to be able to stop with making just one thing, you know? It's always three soups, two salads and a few desserts...just in case...(In case of what? Umm...in case someone doesn't like one of the first few things? In case they have allergies? See? In case...)

Luncheon at my house may be lighthearted, or even enlightening, but I have yet to have a guest go home saying it was just so light, they ate just enough...over the top baby, that's my gig. I fear I may be a gluttony-enabler.

And potlucks are no exception. Ask me to "bring a dish" and you will have unknowingly sent me into a miasma of options. What to bring, what to serve? What is in season? What is simple, yet refined? What will coyly shame every other dish off of the table? What will leave them begging for more?

Should you too have this dilemma, may I suggest my recent solution: Greek style pasta salad. All the flavors of a Greek salad, but with a twist.

Scrumptiously delicious. A kaladiscope of vibrant colors. A medley of peppy perfection. And bonus! Quite balanced nutritionally, and low in fat. Bravo!

Serve it for lunch and see how filling, yet light, it really is. Ideal indeed.

Try it, and enjoy!


1 cup semi de melone pasta (or orzo) cooked in heavily salted water
3teaspoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon freshly minced oregano
1/4 cup minced parsley
10 kalamata olives, pitted and minced
1 small red onion, minced
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1 large flame roasted red pepper, diced
1/4 cup feta cheese
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest


When the pasta is just finished cooking, drain and rinse with cold water to prevent it from cooking further. Let drain in a fine mesh strainer (the pasta will slip through a common collender.) then pour into a bowl and toss with the vinegar, then the oil. Let absorb a few minutes, then add the rest of the ingredients. Season to taste and serve.

If you want to make it ahead, leave out the fresh herbs until just prior to serving.

Makes enough for four

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Semi de melone [ say-mee day may-LOH-nay ] Italian for "melon seeds," culinarily term describing tiny, flat melon-seed shaped pasta

The word feta comes from the Italian word fette, meaning a slice of food. The word oregano comes from the Greek, meaning “joy of the mountain.”

Labels: Entree, Pasta, Side-Dish, Vegetarian