This is the perfect pasta salad to bring along to summer barbecues. The recipe (and entire cookbook) was originally recommended to me by my dear friend Lauren, to whom I will be forever indebted, because I am seriously in love with this salad. And really, the entire cookbook — The Bride and Groom First + Forever Cookbook — is full of amazing recipes. My go-to recipes for chili, meatloaf, pancakes, biscuits, and risotto all came out of this one book. Enough said.

Orzo Salad with Lemon, Feta, + Pine Nuts

Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, plus more as needed
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 cup orzo
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup golden raisins
3 tablespoons finely chopped black olives
3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
2 oz. feta cheese, crumbled

Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, + sugar in a jar. Shake it like a polaroid picture. Set aside.

Cook orzo according to package directions, making sure to leave it al dente. Pasta salad is no good with overcooked, soggy pasta. Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium-low heat. Shake them constantly + don’t take your eye off of them — they’ll burn in a split second. They should toast up in just a couple of minutes. They’re done when you can smell them.

Drain the orzo and transfer it to a medium bowl. Add the dressing to the hot pasta and toss to coat. Let cool to room temperature. (I stick mine in the fridge to speed this up.) Add the pine nuts, raisins, olives, red onion, and basil and stir to combine. Add the feta and toss lightly. Taste and adjust the seasonings to your liking.

I think this is best made at least 4-6 hours ahead so the flavors have time to meld together. It’s fine right away though, and delicious the next day. Enjoy!