Orzo Ham Salad

I made this salad last night to use up leftover ham. This was awesome! Everyone, even my 12 yo to my 83 yo MIL, raved over how good it was. There were a couple things I changed, only for my family's taste or my pantry inventory. I put the tomatoes on the plate instead of within the salad, as my 12 yo won't eat them. I always have vidalia onions so I used one instead of the red onion. I used an orange pepper instead of green because I don't use green peppers, they don't "agree" with any of us. After my 12 yo second helping she "gave it the thumbs up" which means it's great. I'm sure she thought the orange pepper was carrot. Only after dinner did I tell her it was peppers. I think I can check off one more veggie she will now eat because of using it in the recipe. Oh, I didn't have any chives, which I will add next time. Otherwise, the recipe was made as stated. This will become a staple recipe for us and I may use this when hosting book club. Thanks for sharing!

I made this salad last night to use up leftover ham. This was awesome! Everyone, even my 12 yo to my 83 yo MIL, raved over how good it was. There were a couple things I changed, only for my family's taste or my pantry inventory. I put the tomatoes on the plate instead of within the salad, as my 12 yo won't eat them. I always have vidalia onions so I used one instead of the red onion. I used an orange pepper instead of green because I don't use green peppers, they don't "agree" with any of us. After my 12 yo second helping she "gave it the thumbs up" which means it's great. I'm sure she thought the orange pepper was carrot. Only after dinner did I tell her it was peppers. I think I can check off one more veggie she will now eat because of using it in the recipe. Oh, I didn't have any chives, which I will add next time. Otherwise, the recipe was made as stated. This will become a staple recipe for us and I may use this when hosting book club. Thanks for sharing!

This is good, but I found the red onion a little overpowering after a night in the fridge. I could see leaving the tomatoes out and serving this in tomato "cups" for a change. I'd probably add extra ham the next time. This is a nice way to use up that leftover ham.

The recipe calls for 2/3 cup of uncooked Orzo (Organic Durum Wheat Semolina-enriched macaroni product) which will yield about 1 3/4 cups when cooked. I did not add all of the black pepper and used garlic salt instead of plain salt. I also added celery seeds and sprinkled the top with paprika. I used the tomatoes as a garnish as some of the family are not fond of them. This salad would also be good with grilled chicken instead of ham.

Made this for Recipe Group: 23, April '11. We have never had orzo, so I was excited to try this. It has good flavor, and the longer it sits the flavors meld even better. We think it needs a few more spices - just seems like it is missing something. I will make this again and it will be nice for a different summer salad.

I made this for the "Recipe Group" We really enjoyed it. I used finely diced red, yellow and orange bell peppers and I also added some finely diced celery. Rather than mixing in the grape tomatoes I used them more as a garnish. This would make for a great summer meal. I will be serving this at a hawaiian themed graduation party. Perfect because it can be made ahead of time. Thanks for a great recipe.

I made this today for "recipe group" on Allrecipes. I thought it tasted pretty good. I liked the combination of ingredients. I was surprised though at the mayonaise base. For some reason I was thinking it would be lighter, and it also had a strong mustard taste. I did use stone ground mustard for the dijon, so that may be the reason. I would only use dijon next time and 1 Tblsp. at most. I might also cut the onions back by half or more, for personal preference, as I thought the onion was a little strong. The only main change I really made was using lite mayo and sour cream, which I do in most every recipe. And, I left out the black pepper, which I also do in every recipe, because I don't like it. This is a very filling salad and would work fine as a main dish with the ham in it. I got at most 4 decent sized servings instead of the six. So, I would double if I made it again. The orzo is cooked perfect in the recipe and the salad seems adaptable to slight changes like a macaroni salad, which I liked. With a few changes in the amount of onion, mustard, and black pepper, it is a really good way to use up some leftover Easter ham. Thank you.

Made this for Recipe Group and thought that it was very good! I didn't have fresh chives, so I had to use dried, and vidalia onion in place of the red onion. I had some plum tomatoes that needed used, so I seeded them and chopped them up instead of the grape tomatoes. I thought the flavors were very nice in this without being too overpowering of any one ingredient and I loved thet I was able to use my leftover easter ham in a new and yummy way! Thanks for sharing. :)