GREEK ORZO AND SHRIMP SALAD (for twenty)

1-1/2 one-pound boxes orzo (rice-shaped pasta)

1-1/2 bunches green onions, chopped

¾ pound feta cheese, crumbled

¾ cup fresh dill, chopped

1 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and halved

7 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

6 tablespoons olive oil

3 pounds uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

1-1/2 English hot house cucumbers, quartered lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/4 inch thick pieces

2 baskets cherry tomatoes, halved

½ English hot house cucumber, sliced into rounds

fresh dill sprigs

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1.  Cook orzo in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, about 9 minutes.  Drain.  Rinse with cold water to cool.  Drain well.  Transfer to a large bowl and add green onions, feta cheese, chopped dill, olives, lemon juice and oil.  Mix well.

2.  Cook shrimp in a large pot of boiling salted water until pink and just cooked through, about 5 minutes.  Drain.  Rinse with cold water to cool and drain well.  (Or, heat a lightly oiled medium skillet until hot but not smoking and sauté the shrimp, tossing, occasionally, just until curled and pink, 3 to 4 minutes).  Mix into salad and season to taste with salt and pepper.  (Salad can be prepared to this point 8 hours ahead.  Cover and refrigerate.)

 3.  Mix cucumber pieces and 3/4 cup of cherry tomatoes into salad.  Transfer to a clean large bowl, arrange cucumber slices and remaining cherry tomato halves around edge of bowl.  Garnish salad with dill sprigs and serve.

from Bon Appetit Magazine, June, 1994