This Orzo with Black Olives and Asparagus recipe is an easy side dish with just 5 simple ingredients and only a few steps. It’s a perfect companion to your favorite spring meals.
Disclosure: I was provided with Lindsay olives for this recipe.Â
The star of this Orzo with Black Olives and Asparagus recipe is the olives. Olives have long been one of my favorite foods and something I grew up eating. One of my younger siblings couldn’t pronounce “olives”, so they were called “labids” — which really doesn’t sound like “olives” at all, but the name stuck around. If I say “labids” to any of my siblings, they know exactly what I mean.
For this recipe, I used Lindsay Olives, which are my favorite brand of olives. Most of their varieties would work well in this recipe, but I’m a black olive lover and I absolutely love their Naturals Black Ripe Olives. Not only are they delicious, but I really love how they look. While they are black olives, the tone is more of a dark brown, earthy color.
To make this Orzo with Black Olives and Asparagus recipe, you’ll start with your orzo. You will need to cook it according to the package instructions and drain it well. Trim the ends off of the asparagus and discard. The asparagus spears are then cut into thirds.
In a pan, olive oil is heated and the asparagus pieces which are cooked until starting to become tender-crisp. The heat is turned off and the orzo is gently stirred into the asparagus. The beautiful Lindsay Naturals Olives are added next.
The zest and juice of a large lemon are added and the orzo is seasoned with salt and pepper. Then it’s ready to be served. You can serve this warm, or it’s equally as good served cold. It even makes a great dish to take to potlucks or picnics because of how great it does taste when it’s room temperature.
Orzo with Black Olives and Asparagus Recipe
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Orzo with Black Olives and Asparagus Recipe
Description
This Orzo with Black Olives and Asparagus recipe is an easy side dish with just 5 simple ingredients and only a few steps. It’s a perfect companion to your favorite spring meals.
Ingredients
- 1 pound orzo
- 1 large lemon
- 12 asparagus spears (adjust according to preference, see note at end of recipe, ends trimmed)
- 2–3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 can Lindsay Naturals Black Ripe Olives (6 ounces, drained)
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Cook orzo according to package directions, Drain.
- Zest the lemon and cut lemon in half. Cut asparagus spears into thirds.
- In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add asparagus and cook, stirring frequently, until tender-crisp and just barely beginning to brown. Turn off heat. Add the orzo to the skillet and gently toss until the orzo is combine with the asparagus and the orzo is coated with the olive oil. Add the olives and combine with orzo and the asparagus. Add the lemon zest and squeeze both halves of the lemon over the orzo mixture. Gently mix to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
Feel free to adjust the amount of asparagus. I usually use about 12 spears regardless if they are thin or thick, but you can adjust it to your personal preference.
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
I’d love to know what’s your favorite way to use olives — leave me a comment and let me know!
Sherry says
Yum. Two of my favorites in one dish. Thanks for sharing at Home Sweet Home.
Jann Olson says
Sounds super yummy! Thanks for sharing the recipe with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
Miz Helen says
Hope you had a wonderful weekend and thanks so much for sharing your special post with us at Full Plate Thursday! Have a great week and come back soon!
Miz Helen
Sheri says
I’ve never tried orzo, i’ll have to! Pinned! Thanks for sharing at the To Grandma’s House We Go DIY, Crafts, Recipes and More Link Party. Hope to see you again this week!
Helen at the Lazy Gastronome says
Pinning this one! I love orzo! Thanks for sharing at the What’s for Dinner party!
AnnMarie says
I love the combination of ingredients in this dish. Sounds so good! Thanks for sharing it.
Joyce says
This recipe looks amazing! Thank you for sharing this with us at Funtastic Friday link party.
Angelina says
Beautiful dish and sounds delicious. Thanks for linking up with Thursday Favorite Things – look for your feature this week. Bisous, Angelina & Peonies & Orange Blossoms
Cristina at Ava's Alphabet says
Oh, yum! I love every thing about this recipe! Pinned and sharing. Thank you for joining us at Family Joy Blog Link-Up Party. I hope you will join our next party starting Sunday at noon EST.
Marilyn Lesniak says
Thank you so much for linking at #overthemoon! I look forward to seeing what you share every week. Please come back for #WonderfulWednesday or #ThursdayFavoriteThings. Enjoy your week ahead.
Alison's Allspice says
Olive and asparagus are my favorites! I will make mine into a work lunch pasta salad by adding some protein! Thanks! I found you at the This is How We Roll Link up.
Helen at the Lazy Gastronome says
Yum!! I love orzo!! Thanks for sharing on the What’s for Dinner link up~
Jennifer | The Deliberate Mom says
Mmmmm, I love asparagus and black olives! What a tremendous combo!
Thanks for sharing (and for linking up to the #SHINEbloghop).
Wishing you a lovely evening.
xoxo
Frugal Hausfrau says
A fun side dish! I don’t use orzo enough! Thanks for linking up to us on Throwback Thursday!
Mollie
Theresa @DearCreatives says
Looks so yummy & perfect for spring. Shard Thanks for joining the Inspiration Spotlight Party.
Amy says
This looks delicious!
Martie says
Three of my favorite foods in one recipe! I will definitely try this one! I’ve been finding asparagus on sale lately, so that helps. This looks so good! 🙂
Victoria @DazzleWhileFrazzled says
Love orzo! I may use kalamata olives instead as those are my fave. Visiting from The Creative Gallery.
Maria Antoniette says
I love this recipe, thank you for posting it because its totally playful. I used this as my base to test a Easter side dish. I had a few add ins on hand to use up. I already had kalamata olives and I had some baby artichoke hearts I had quartered.that were in their jar marinated oil so I added the olives with their juice and artichokes with a little of their juice. less olive oil was needed- added to asparagus and sauteed with zest of lemon then completed with al dente Orzo with 1/4 cup of parmasean cheese and juice of lemon It is delicious, hot/room temp or cold ! Thank you
Sarah says
Sounds easy and delicious! Adding this to our Easter dinner. Thanks Brandie! I had featured u in the post of Top 7 Refreshing Side Dish with Asparagus on AllFreshRecipes, looking forward to ur renewly recipes!
Caroline Bailey says
Do you think I can make this a day early? Happy Easter
brandie says
Hi Caroline,
While I haven’t made it a day early, I do think it would work. We’ve had the leftovers the next day and they were just as good.
Abbie @ Lovin' Our Chaos says
Oh MY! I absolutely love EVERY S.I.N.G.L.E one of the ingredients in this recipe. How did you get in my head?! 😉 I can’t WAIT to try this one! <3
brandie says
Thanks Abbie! That’s how I felt…it was all the ingredients I love. Really good stuff!
Tammilee Tillison says
Love Lindsey Olives! I have never made orzo before. It looks amazing.
Jennifer says
Oh wow, this sound very unique and interesting! Hubby loves black olives, so I will have to try it out.
Ronni Keller says
You know I totally pinned this to make soon! Asparagus and black olives! Y U M!
Tamara says
This looks delicious, I love olives too, have them as often as I can thank you for this recipe will have to try it soon.
Carrie @ poet in the pantry says
Beautiful dish! We used to put olives on our fingers as kids and call them gorilla fingers. 🙂 Such fond memories. Those natural olives look delicious!