Smoked Salmon and Spinach with Orzo

Name: Smoked Salmon and Spinach with Orzo
Yield: Serves 2

Mix up your usual dinner routine with delectible smoked salmon and orzo (also known as risone)! Orzo is a rice-shaped pasta, frequently used in soups and baked casseroles. Despite its rice shape, orzo is made not of rice but of hard wheat semolina. Recipe adapted from Syrie Wongkaew's beautiful food-focused blog, Taste Buddies. As she says, Syrie strives to eat “sustainably and ethically—free-range, locally and organically; wild seafood—not farmed, nor trawled.”

Smoked Salmon and Spinach with Orzo

Ingredients

2 cups of Vital Choice smoked salmon chunks OR one 6 ounce portion of Vital Choice non-smoked salmon
1 teaspoon sea salt for pasta water
4 cups of baby spinach, washed
2 tablespoons of roughly chopped fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons of roughly chopped fresh dill
1/2 cup of crumbled feta cheese
Juice from 1/4 lemon
Sea salt and organic coarse ground black pepper

Instructions

Place baby spinach in a saucepan with 1/2 cup of water. Cover and gently heat over a medium-high heat. Poach spinach for about 2 minutes or until it just wilts. Remove from heat and drain. Set aside.
Cook pasta according to packet instructions in a pot of boiling, salted water. Reserve about 1/4 cup of the pasta water and then drain pasta.
IF USING SMOKED SALMON: Place pasta along with smoked salmon, wilted spinach and feta cheese in a large mixing bowl. Stir well to combine. Next, add the fresh herbs and season pasta with a little salt and pepper. Plate and serve immediately.
IF USING FRESH SALMON: Heat 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil in a non-stick pan over a medium heat. Once the oil starts to swirl, place the salmon skin-side down and fry for 2 minutes. Flip the salmon over and fry for 2 minutes. Turn the salmon again and fry another 2-4 minutes until the salmon is cooked through. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Once the salmon is cooled, shred it into large chunks with a fork. Place pasta, salmon, wilted spinach, feta cheese and herbs in a large mixing bowl. Stir well to combine and serve immediately.

Serves: Serves 2