Recipe: Maple Roasted Tomato Orzo Salad

Here we are with our third maple recipe for you – Maple Roasted Tomato Orzo Salad.

So far, we already shared Mason Jar Maple Martinis and.

This recipe started from a love of roasting tomatoes. At the end of the tomato growing season we always seem to end up with an abundance of cherry tomatoes that are too small for making sauce.

So, a few years ago we began roasting them in olive oil and herbs and then freezing them to use in dishes throughout the year. In fact, just the other night I made a chicken dish with some we still had left from the summer.

I thought it only seemed appropriate during our week of maple recipes to try one with roasting tomatoes – and again, this one is quite easy.

INGREDIENTS - Package of cherry or grape tomatoes

- 1/4 cup of maple syrup

- 1/ 4 of olive oil

- 1 Tbsp. of balsamic Vinegar

- 1 Tsp. of minced garlic

- 1 Tsp. of salt

- 1 Tsp. of black pepper

- 1 Tbsp. of parsley

- 1 Tsp. thyme

- 1/2 lb of uncooked orzo

DIRECTIONS - Preheat oven to 250 degrees

- Combine syrup, oil, vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, parsley and thyme and whisk them together

- Add tomatoes and mix

- Place in a baking dish or stone

- Bake for about 2 hours

- Cook Orzo according to directions on box

- Combine everything from the baking dish and orzo and chill overnight or several hours

- Before serving add some additional balsamic vinegar to taste and salt and pepper to taste

- Serve over salad greens

This would make for a great luncheon dish or to bring to a barbeque.

Thanks so much for reading and happy cooking!