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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
instead 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
Looks good, but it isn’t vegan – the dressing uses honey.
You’re right! I missed that. I will correct it. 🙂
I rarely eat/drink dairy but that hasn’t help my stomach size or weight loss. Keeping my sugar consumption low is what works for me. But congrats on figuring out what works for you 🙂
❥ tanvii.com
Yes Tanvi.. and sugar too. I’ve been doing low sugar for so long now that I forgot about it. lol. It takes a lot to reduce belly bloat.. but all things in moderation right! Thanks for your comment. 🙂
I love your blog and recipes. But I really wish you didn’t mention gluten-free as a fad. Makes it really hard for us celiacs to be taken seriously and eat at restaurants without the wait staff rolling their eyes at us because of the “fad”
Most packaged gluten free food (pasta, crackers etc) actually have more fat and sugar in them than regular.
Natual gluten free foods (fruit, veggies, meats) may help you lose weight, but the packaged gluten free most likely won’t.
Thanks Tasia. And you are right about what I said.. I shouldn’t have referred to gluten-free as a “fad” especially since there are people who can’t eat gluten. I get it and I’m sorry, didn’t mean to offend anyone. Yes, I usually stick with the natural gluten free foods like quinoa, sweet potato, etc. The gluten-free junk food I do snack on is usually okay in fat and sugar (at least at Whole Foods) – I always check since I know this is true. Just yesterday I was looking at Gluten Free All Purpose Flour – a lot of fat. Thank you for your advice and I’ll be more aware next time. 🙂
I appreciate it !!!
🙂
I love this salad Nisha!!!! It looks delicious and I love the dairy tips. Thank you my friend!
Thanks Allie. Yes, think we can all use some tips around here and I love sharing stuff that works for me. 🙂
We love big salads — and nothing but salad! — for dinner at this time of the year. This looks perfect — full of flavor, healthy, and I’ll bet just plain tasty. Thanks!
I love big salads too, this would be perfect with some grilled chicken. Yes, very tasty. Thanks John! 🙂
wow! Seems yum! Will add it to my Salad recipes list!
Glad you like it. Let me know if you try it. 🙂