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My lower belly has always been problematic for me, ya know that problem area most women face that I once discussed.
For the longest time, I figured I just had to workout harder to get rid of my stubborn belly fat, no matter how much I would work out and eat right, my tummy just never seemed to go down to a size that was acceptable to me. 
So what did I do? In addition to working out, I tried giving up nut butter, I also tried going gluten-free and low-carb. Although limiting my gluten intake definitely did help me reduce belly bloat, it alone wasn’t enough. I saw real results when I finally cut down on dairy. Yup!!!
Ladies, hear me out. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard friends and health food bloggers talk about dairy causing weight gain, I just never thought it would affect me too.
In the past month, I experimented and minimized the amount of dairy I consumed, and my stomach reduced to half its size, especially when combined with a gluten-free diet. Crazy right?!?!? I know!!! 
While I can’t give up dairy for good because I need the calcium and also love cheese, I do plan on reducing my dairy intake and learning to adapt to a more dairy-free lifestyle. So far it’s been okay. 
And with that, I bring you a Mediterranean Orzo Salad that is dairy-free, almost vegan, healthy, and 100% whole wheat. Who says you need dairy to eat delicious food? Hope you guys try it.
Mediterranean Orzo Salad
INGREDIENTS
for the orzo pasta
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- 3/4 cup red onion, chopped
- 1 cup cucumber, chopped
- 1/2 cup kalamata olives, sliced in half
- 1 cup whole wheat orzo pasta
- add lemon vinaigrette, see recipe below
- 1 cup chickpeas, canned, rinsed & drained
- 1 large avocado, diced
- 3 tbsp capers
- large handful fresh parsley, chopped
- sprinkle dried oregano
- sprinkle crushed red pepper
for the dressing
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp honey, for vegan option, use brown sugar or maple syrup
- to taste salt
- to taste black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
- Bring a pot of water to a boil - roughly 8 cups.
- Here are the ingredients you need for this recipe.
- Chop the cherry tomatoes, cucumber, red onion and kalamata olives. Place the ingredients in a large bowl.
- Check on the pot of boiling water.
- Now add 1 cup of uncooked orzo pasta - I used whole wheat. Cook for 8-10 minutes on medium heat until al dente.
- In the meantime, make the vinaigrette. Place the ingredients in a mason jar.
- Shake it up well for about 10 seconds.
- Gather the remaining ingredients... chickpeas, avocado, capers and parsley.
- The orzo pasta should be done. Add the hot orzo pasta to the big bowl of veggies.
- Top with lemon vinaigrette.
- Add the remaining ingredients... chickpeas, avocado, capers and chopped parsley.
- Now toss. Allow the flavors to marry together for 15 minutes before serving. So good!
NOTES
** for a gluten free option - use orzo pasta that is gluten-free.
*** for a traditional Mediterranean Orzo Salad, if you can handle dairy, feel free to add some feta cheese to this salad - it would be delicious.
**** for vegan option - skip the honey and opt for brown sugar or maple syrup.
Nutrition
I want to make your recipe but don’t understand some text that seams to have been corrupted. In 4 places in the recipe there are the characters
insteadย of words or numbers.
Please clarify,
Hi. Ignore the characters or anything in <>. The post needs to be fixed.
Here are the ingredients:
Ingredients
for the pasta
Cherry Tomatoes – 1 cup sliced in half
Red Onion – 3/4 cup chopped
Cucumber – 1 cup chopped
Kalamata Olives – 1/2 cup sliced in half
Whole Wheat Orzo Pasta – 1 cup uncooked
Lemon Vinaigrette – all of it see recipe below
Organic Chickpeas – 1 cup
Avocado – 1 whole diced
Capers – 3 tbsp
Fresh Parsley – big handful chopped
Dried Oregano – sprinkle on top for garnish
Crushed Red Pepper – sprinkle on top for garnish
for the lemon vinaigrette dressing
Extra Virgin Olive Oil – 2 tbsp
Fresh Lemon Juice – 1 1/2 tbsp
Honey – 1 tsp for vegan option, use brown sugar or maple syrup
Salt – to taste
Black Pepper – to taste
If you’re keeping dairy in your diet for the calcium you might want to reconsider – dark leafy greens have much higher concentrations and don’t have the associations with osteoporosis that high dairy diets do.
HI Jack, this is a dairy-free salad.
Just made this…I served it over a bed of greens and added shelled pistachios on top. It was SO good!! Highly recommend to anyone
Hi Stacey. I so appreciate the feedback. So glad to hear you liked it. xoxo