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Think charred asparagus, creamy artichoke hearts, orzo, butter beans, and fresh herbs like dill and parsley, tossed in a sweet honey lemon vinaigrette. Like what more could you want? Plus, this Mediterranean Orzo and Asparagus Salad is packed with over 15 g of fiber and 18 g of protein per serving (this salad serves 3). Whether you make this for a quick weeknight dinner or prep it for lunch during the week, don’t let asparagus season go by without making this lemony spring orzo salad!
What You’ll Need For This Spring Orzo Salad
Here’s everything you’ll need to make this easy spring orzo salad.
- Asparagus:
- Orzo: If you’re gluten-free, they’re are tons of gluten-free orzo brands out there. And if you don’t like orzo, feel free to sub in giant couscous. Giant couscous is twice as big as the more common small, yellow, semolina-based couscous from North Africa. Plus, it’s toasted, rather than dried, which gives it a nutty flavor and a light yet hearty texture. Like pasta, it has a chewy bite, can stand up to a good sauce, and is great mixed into salads.
- Butter beans: I highly recommend Strianese canned butter beans (also labeled as fagioli bianchi di Spagna); they taste amazing! And for those curious, butter beans are just lima beans, but with a cooler name (depending on where you are the names are used interchangeably). Lima beans refer to a broader group of beans that have a large range of colors, hence the confusion around green lima beans and beige butter beans.
- Green pitted olives
- Jarred artichoke hearts
- Fresh parsley
- Fresh dill
- Lemons: You’ll need both the juice and zest.
- Extra virgin olive oil:
- Honey: Feel free to sub in maple syrup if you’re vegan.
- Garlic cloves: While I recommend using fresh garlic for this dish, you can opt to use 1/4 tsp garlic powder instead to save on prep time.
- Black pepper
- Kosher salt
Ingredients:
- 1 bunch young asparagus.
- 3/4 cup orzo, dry, cooked according to package instructions
- 1 can butter beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup green olives, pitted and roughly chopped
- 6–7 artichoke hearts, halved
- 1/2 cup parsley, finely minced
- 1/2 cup dill, finely minced
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
A Few Recipes Notes
- Get asparagus with thin stems. Thinner stemmed asparagus tends to be more buttery and tender, than thicker asparagus stems which are usually woody and fibrous. Plus, the thinner stems char better when roasted!
- In the original recipe I included green peas, so feel free to add them to the salad if you like that version. You’ll need 1 cup of frozen green peas, blanched in hot water for 3 minutes.
- Make this salad your own by adding in crumbled feta cheese, pine nuts, etc. If you eat meat, feel free to throw in some shredded chicken to make this heartier!
Directions:
- Preheat your oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Rinse and chop the asparagus, discarding the woody bottom third. Place on the baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and salt, and toss to coat. Bake for 20-25 minutes until browned and slightly charred.
- While the asparagus roasts, cook the orzo as per package instructions, salting the water.
- In a large bowl, combine the roasted asparagus, cooked orzo, butter beans, olives, artichoke hearts, parsley, and dill.
- For the vinaigrette, combine lemon juice, olive oil, honey, lemon zest, minced garlic, and black pepper in a saucepan. Heat over medium-high, whisking occasionally until it froths and bubbles. Remove from heat.
- Pour the vinaigrette over the salad, toss to combine. Adjust salt to taste. Let the salad sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.
More Recipe Suggestions:
Garlic Butter Chicken Bites with Lemon Asparagus
Honey Balsamic Chicken with Asparagus and Feta
Parmesan Roasted Asparagus and Tomatoes
Garlic Butter Chicken Bites with Lemon Asparagus
Mediterranean Orzo and Asparagus Salad
Think charred asparagus, creamy artichoke hearts, orzo, butter beans, and fresh herbs like dill and parsley, tossed in a sweet honey lemon vinaigrette. Like what more could you want? Plus, this salad is packed with over 15 g of fiber and 18 g of protein per serving (this salad serves 3).
Servings 3 Servings
Equipment
Ingredients
Orzo Salad:
- 1 bunch of young asparagus chopped
- 3/4 cup orzo dry, cooked according to package instructions
- 1 can butter beans drained and rinsed*
- 1/2 cup approx. 20 green olives, pitted, and roughly chopped
- 6 –7 artichoke hearts halved
- 1/2 cup parsley finely minced
- 1/2 cup about 1 bunch dill, finely minced
Honey Lemon Vinaigrette:
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp honey**
- 2 tsp lemon zest about 1 lemon
- 1 clove garlic finely minced or grated
- 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Start by preheating your oven to 450°F and lining a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Next, rinse the asparagus thoroughly and chop into small 1” pieces or slightly smaller. I usually don’t use the bottom 1/3 of the asparagus as it tends to be woody and tough. Add the chopped asparagus onto the prepared sheet pan and drizzle with a generous amount of olive oil and salt. Toss to coat the asparagus thoroughly. Bake the asparagus in the oven for 20-25 minutes until it’s browned and slightly charred.
- While the asparagus roasts, cook the orzo according to package instructions. Make sure to salt the pasta water!
- While the orzo and asparagus cook, add the butter beans, chopped olives, artichoke hearts, parsley, and dill to a large serving bowl. Once the asparagus and orzo are done cooking, add them to the serving bowl.
- In a saucepan, add all of the vinaigrette ingredients. Place on the stovetop, and heat on medium-high heat, whisking occasionally. Once the marinade starts to froth and bubble, take it off the heat.
- Pour the vinaigrette over the bowl and toss to combine and adjust for salt as needed. Let the salad sit for 5-10 minutes before serving!
Notes:
- *Any type of white bean works here, for instance, cannellini beans would work great as a substitute.
- **Feel free to sub in maple syrup for the honey if you’re vegan.
